Sitting shivering by a water hole in the half light of a Namibian dawn in Etosha National Park it would have been easy to return to camp. But moments later, emerging from the greyness came a giant eagle owl, a splendid and imposing bird that I had only seen once before. Immediately the cold of the previous hour and the lack of activity by other animals became irrelevant as the huge bird took an early morning drink less than 15 metres away.