Chobe National Park

The elephants and birdlife were spectacular with a trip along the Chobe river being an unmissable experience.

Chobe is one of the eaier Safari parks where the roads are easily passable and the wildlife is plentiful. We stayed at Senyati just outside the park, which had an excellent waterhole complete with a hide so that you could get close to the elephants who came to drink in the evenings.

Chobe Safari

an excellent experience
staff very knowledgeable and accommodating
both land and river activities were awesome - soooo many photos

With an experienced guide and camping in the park, we had immediate access to the animals and scenery immediately.

Never seen so many lions!

We stayed at the new Chobe Bush Lodge, sister accommodation to the Chobe Safari Lodge. Really nice rooms, everything still fresh and new. We went for a game drive in the morning and a boat cruise in the afternoon. We were at the gate of the park at 6 in the morning; it was still dark and very cold. I sat shivering in the vehicle, and probably the animals were still curled up in bed as well. We did see a leopard in the half-light, but not much else. That is, until we heard the lions. There were many. A pride of about 10 was chased away from their kill by another pride, and they were angry! Growling, with foam around their mouths. Now I almost couldn't hold my camera for the adrenalin rushing through my body. (I managed, though, as you can see here: ) We didn't see much game other than the lions - but it was fantastic anyhow. The boatcruise was fine as well - the sunset on the Chobe river is a beauty. However, it gets really busy with boats in the afternoon, so that bush vibe wasn't really there. Also, when you are staying in the Bush Lodge or the Safari Lodge, the boat is really big, so it can't come close to the banks. Food at the lodge was okay, though the menu promised more than was actually given. My ciabatta with mozzarella, pesto and tomato turned out to be a cheese sandwich without any pesto or mozzarella. It tasted good, but was not what I expected.

Memories forever - elephants and hippos eating on the riverbank, a few meters only from our boat! Croqs, lions, giraffes, every wild animal you can wish to see. Amazing place. Best safari(s) we've done.

Very nice experience !

We decided to visit Chobe mostly because it was very close to Victoria Falls, which was our intended destination. Given the fact that accommodation in Victoria Falls is quite pricey, and there was not much of interest for us to do in terms of activities to occupy us for more than a day, we decided to stay near Chobe, and do a one day VF trip during our stay.

We did not expect much from Chobe, since the only thing we knew about it beforehand was that it was famous for elephants.
Our stay was fantastic, we enjoyed very much the boat cruises, from which you can really enjoy all of the wildlife on Sedudu island.
I am not a big fan of birding, but we did see lots of interesting birds, and some people apparently seemed very into the matter and enjoyed it very much !

We also did a morning game drive, which was good, but not excellent. There were too many vehicles compared to some private game reserves, and since we could not get off-road, the animals we saw where quite far away. Still, it was a good experience, and the park still has lots of animals, and for a much more affordable price than what you pay in a private game reserve.

Overall, our experience was very nice, people were very friendly, the scenery was fantastic, and we did see lots of animals !

A magical day

Our group (of 9 people) booked the Chobe Full Day Trip hosted by Kalahari Tours (http://www.kalaharichobe.com). Apart from a delay in our border pick-up from Zambia, the day went smoothly.
After a quick morning tea, the first half of the day was spent in a boat on the Chobe River - we found our guides informative and entertaining. We were delighted by the amount of bird life along the river seeing, among many others, African Fish Eagles, White-fronted Bee-eaters and Great White Egrets. There was plenty of animal life along the banks too - crocodiles, elephants and hippos.
After lunch which was simple but filling, we spent the afternoon in a specially-modified 4x4 vehicle in the Chobe National Park. A highlight of this was seeing the after-math of a leopard-kill. We had a close (but safe) encounter with some elephants, and saw several baboons, impala and giraffes. Unfortunately no lions that day, and zebras were 'out-of-season' - their migratory pattern means they simply are not present in Chobe in June. Again, our guide was knowledgeable and entertaining.
I would thoroughly recommend a visit to Chobe National Park, and fully intend to go there myself when I am next in southern Africa. To see some pictures from that day, visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/s-haydon/albums/72157655902764278.

Amazing landscape entouring an outstanding fauna

The best part of this park, compared to other great parks in Africa, is the landscape. Concerning animals, it is the best place to see elephants that I know.
Good organisation, guides and food with Kananga.
Do not miss the boat at the sunset, you really dont know where to look at.

Thoroughly enjoyed the boat trip! Hundreds of animals within minutes.

After experiences safaris via vehicles, the boat was a nice change and offered us a unique opportunity to view animals in a different way. We witnessed dozens of elephants swimming, babies holding their mom's tails, lots of hippos, crocodiles, birds, buffalo, deer and other animals up close and personal. Plus Chobe is much more colorful than Kruger in early September. Beautiful area. Highly recommend the day trip out of Victoria Falls!