Chobe National Park

A great place for wildlife lovers

Chobe National Park is an amazing place for wildlife and safari lovers.
The parc is really beautiful and the guides very competent. I did an early morning drive and saw lions, baboons, elephants, giraffes...
I also did the cruise on Chobe river and it will remain as one of the highlights of my stay in Botswana. Everyone is very quiet and respectful of the animals, you can observe crocodiles, hippos, herds of elephants and a large variety of birds.
I definitely recommend this place!

Exciting and inspiring!

I think it was great. All of it. From the beginning of the drive till sleeping in the tents.

Elephants' swimming pool

I stay in CNP in september 2015, during my 16 days tour in Southern Africa with kiboko Adventures.
Chobenationalpark was the very first place where I finally saw wild animals in my life, expecially hippos, my favourite guys. It was an amazing experience, as I was very lucky. In fact during two days and three game drive I saw lions (a family with puppies), Leopard, elephants, hippos, baboons, giraffes, crocs, vultures, marabous and several species of Birds. Our guides allows us to take fantastic pictures, thank you guys! I think the only bad think was the huge Number of vehicles and boats during our game drives. It seemed to stay on a hightway...By the way I came home with Africa in my heart...and I ll come back as soon as possible.

Chobe gives the opportunity to experience the bush in a river setting and a rich mix of species.

We visited Chobe, whilst staying in Kasane, as part of a road trip from Cape Town to Namibia and Botswana. There has been little winter rainfall this year in Southern Africa and Etosha in Namibia was very dry and dusty. Chobe, with its river location, was, by comparison, green and lush. This results in a varied mix of animal and bird species in a relatively small area.
We completed the whole trip in a two wheeled drive VW Polo, which was perfectly adequate for the majority of the trip and was very frugal on petrol. However, this means that access to Chobe National Park in your own vehicle is not possible, due to the sandy nature of the roads in the Park and the need for good ground clearance. Instead it was necessary to use game drives, which whilst costly, has the advantage of a driver / guide, which gives you a greater opportunity for viewing and photography.
Elephants abound in Chobe and it is nice to see them visit the river in groups for bathing and drinking. Buffalo are also common.
It is particularly important to visit the Park on a boat trip from Kasane. Not only does this give a different viewing dimension but it provides the opportunity to have close encounters with Buffalo , Hippo and Crocs. The rare Puku and Red Lechwe antelope species were easier to see from the boat. The bird species seen along the river are also impressive. Fish eagle, open billed stork and giant kingfisher, being highlights.
Kasane offers a range of accommodation from safari type lodges to bed and breakfast accommodation to suit all tastes. It also has an excellent range of shops, banks, petrol stations and eating establishments. As independent travellers we found it is easy to organise the game drives and boat trips. As a bonus, it is also a good location to visit Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

so many game and not soooo much tourist.
Great nature

A Beautiful Time in a Beautiful Place

We have not been directly in the Chobe National Park, but we stayed three days at the Savute Safari Lodge in the Savuti area, one of the four distinct areas of the Chobe National Park and situated in the most western part of it.
Beside the amazing view of literally hundreds of elephants we have had the rare opportunity to see other big mammals like lions, leopards, african wild dogs, buffalos, impalas and so many more.
Moreover we also encoutered a lot of birds (mostly birds of prey) and reptiles.
The most amazing and special experience was the hospitality of the people who were host to us in the lodge. They told us a lot about their culture, lifestyle habits and they seemed very curious about the european culture and our lifestyle. Truly an exchange we enjoyed a lot.
We will never forget this unique trip.

Chobe is the jewel in Botswana's wildlife crown -- just take a trip down the Chobe RIver and you'll see why. There are animals everywhere here, from swimming elephants to lounging leopards. Don't expect to be the only one watching that pride of lions, but if you can eschew the luxury lodges and do some camping out in the wilderness, that's the way to experience Africa. Try to stay two days or more, since every day you'll see something different. And one more thing -- be ready to feel very depressed when it's time to leave.

So many elephants! Great guides and it didn't feel too 'touristy' or developed.

Overwhelming game.Safari heaven for first timers

I was overwhelmed by the vast numbers of game and superb birdlife in Chobe, the last of the 4 National Parks we had visited during our 10 day wild camping safari trip.Well, it's the perennial river isn't it? The lifeline of water which sustains truly enormous herds of elephant, buffalo, zebra and provides the ideal environment for Malachite Kingfishers and Fish Eagles. And which of course brings day trippers in their thousands into this easily accessible Park. We came into Chobe via the Ngoma Gate and had previously been in Moremi and Savute, classic Parks with iconic landscapes. It was a shock to gradually find a one way road system as we approached the most popular part of the Park and to be jostling past so many other vehicles, packed with first timers , eager to tick off the star sightings. Not that anyone could be disappointed in that.If you only have a day to fit in a safari (though why why why?)then Chobe Riverfront is THE place to come.

It's not got the iconic African landscapes of the Delta or Moremi and it hasn't got that wild bush feel, but it packs such a punch in terms of animals that you can't fail to be impressed. For a first timer, it must be safari heaven. I love lion and on our first morning drive, a male and female sauntered lazily past our vehicle, almost within touching distance;a young male began calling further off then followed the pair up into the shrubbery to find shade.
And this is where, like all National Parks, it can be frustrating because the rules mean no off roading, so unlike Sabi Sand or other private concessions, you can't follow them; you can only sit and watch as they disappear out of sight, thrilled at the encounter as ever but wanting more.

We chose Mosu Safari Tours for our 10 day safari trip, an excellent operator who assigned us Custard as our guide/driver and Kilos as our cook, with LT as camp assistant.They made our trip, really first class guys. A testament to their expertise, both Custard and Kilos had been employed by the BBC while they filmed their documentary about the lion pride that had learned to take down elephant.Custard knew everything there was to know about the animals and got us some incredible sightings and Kilos' cooking is well known as the stuff of legend.

One of the most thrilling moments of the whole trip came as we left Chobe by the Kasane Gate; just 100 yards away, resting beside the main road ,we spotted a pack of wild dogs with several puppies, a superb sight.
We took the Sunset Cruise with Thebe River Camp, where we stayed for two nights and fortunately found ourselves with just two other fellow birdwatchers.
I didn't think there was much else to see to be honest after 9 days and 15 or so Game Drives but the view from the river was wonderful.And the birdlife was mesmerising, with malachite kingfishers the highlight.The river bets very busy and there are some big, crowded boats around so it may be worth checking how many fellow passengers there are,depending on what you want out of it.
Being in the boat also gets you closer to the elephants,as they seemed to me much calmer round these than the vehicles.We followed a mother and calf as they swam back to shore, the baby using his trunk like a periscope.A beautiful sight.

Thebe River Camp was first class, with a nice bar area, spotless showers and toilets and well maintained.We enjoyed our stay here very much,especially after the wild sites we'd been in the rest of the trip.No hyenas at night! The camp is well protected by electric fencing so it's very safe.
We did our trip in mid till late September and this time , for me, was just too hot.40C or 104F in the shade.Like being in an oven.Next time - Green Season!

River cruise was excellent but safari drive was more like Dakar Ralley

The Chobe river cruise was excellent. Plenty of wildlife, relaxing and a great sunset. I did a safari on a safari vehicle, 9 people and it was dusty and more akin to the Dakar Ralley I thought. Guide didn't take time to show in detail, everything was rushed.