With their skin stained white by clay and calcite sand , these elephants look like ghosts haunting the sun-drenched savannah . The unusual-looking animals were photographed by a watering hole in Namibia 's Etosha National Park after cooling off from the blazing heat with a mud bath . Once the moisture dried , a residue of dry white calcite sand and white clay was left covering their leathery skin . Fun and frolics : Elephants play by a watering hole in Namibia 's Etosha National Park after coating themselves with water made muddy by the region 's white soil . 'Ghosts ' : The elephants are said to look like spectres after covering themselves with the water , which stains them white with a combination of white clay and calcite sand . Felix Reinders , 30 , an industrial engineer from South Africa , captured the famous 'white ghosts ' of Etosha National Park in September last year . 'The big Etosha elephant bulls come from all different directions to the Nebrownii waterhole and then will spent the whole afternoon there bathing till late , ' he said . 'It is almost like their social appointment meeting at the bar . They stand against each other or spraying each other with water . ' The word Etosha means 'great white place ' , after the vast expanse of white , salt-laced earth which forms a pan in the centre of the national park . Elephants gather wherever they can find moisture , wallowing in and splashing themselves with mud and water in an effort to cool off beneath the beating hot sun . When the mud dries they are left caked in the white earth , earning them their reputation as the 'great white ghosts ' of Etosha . Famous : The 'great white ghosts ' of Etosha are well known and a big draw for tourists , like South African industrial engineer Felix Reinders , who took these photographs in September last year . Wide open space : The word Etosha means 'great white place ' , after the vast expanse of white , salt-laced earth which forms a pan in the centre of the national park . Survival : Elephants gather in Etosha wherever they can find moisture , wallowing in and splashing themselves with mud and water in an effort to cool off beneath the beating hot sun . 'Some of them will stand and just sleep next to the waterhole , ' said Mr Reinders . 'Then there is a local black rhino that also wants a sip of the water but the elephant bulls do n't like this visitor to their bar . '
Animals are stained white by a mixture of white clay and calcite sand . They live in a region of Etosha covered by an expanse of white earth . The animals coat themselves with water every day to keep cool .