Chobe National Park

Elephants, predators and a beautiful river

Great wildlife can be viewed at Chobe. The highlight is the hundreds of elephants who don the landscape in huge herds. Also lots of predators including crocodile, lions, and the elusive leopard! we even spotted one in a tree as our guide parked the vehicle right under the tree. It was the most surreal moment of the safari. Some hairs do stand up on the back of your neck. The lodges there are right in the middle of it all blending in very well.

A destination to view magnificent creatures with minimal interference from man.

My visit to Chobe National Park satisfied the wildlife viewing and photographic opportunities I have been yearning for. I began my stay with a jumper flight from Maun International Airport to the Orient Express Savute Elephant camp. My guide Rob drove us into a remote camp area with amazing views along the way. We spotted zebra, impala, and several species of birds on just the drive in. That evening and every morning and evening thereafter we had game drives to explore different areas of the park and spot game.
We were not disappointed, and although we went in what is typically considered the off season, we were deluged with a variety of amazing animals in the park. Elephant, leopards, lions, cape buffalo, kudu, zebra, giraffe, jackal, mongoose, warthog, ducks, herons, and eagles were just a few of the many animals we viewed.
Our accomodations were in a safari style canvas tent with en suite bathrooms and a beautiful wood deck overlooking the Savute Channel, which was flowing again for the first time in decades. The food was superb, and the service at our camp was truly better than we could have even dreamed. Our guide was an incredibly knowledgeabale young man who not only knew the basics of each animal but was able to go in depth about mating habits, juvenile coloring, pack habits and many many other things. Our daily excursions were tailored to our viewing interests- in our case, we wished to see predators especially! Every day was warm and we had almost no rain during our stay, but there was a high level of humidity.
Overall, Chobe was a once in a lifetime experience that did not disappoint.

Chobe National Park for every one who love nature.

Chobe National Park is a great park for every person who love nature in any different way, from little insects up to big elephants.

The wildlife in this park is containing all sort of animals and all sort of types, insects, mammals, snake and lizards,birds and much more. The amazing part in the park is that the animals are completely free and don't have a fence to keep them in and they still staying in and around.

The park is combining couple of different environments for the animals. In the park there is water, bush, open area and even sand area which give the person who visiting an opportunity to see all kind of different animals in different situations.

My best part in my trip was that I had an opportunity in Sabuti to sleep in a tent in nature and to feel the wildlife all around and actual to hear and feel the nature all around me.

Chobe National park is defiantly my favorite wildlife adventure that i had so far.

Chobe is to touch Africa with all your senses and leave with a place in your heart forever.

The colors and smells of Chobe touched me..all your senses are heightened. The smell of the African Sage, the hippos in the water, the colorful birdlife, the crocodiles and the large herds of elephants playing at the rivers edge. The people are simple and friendly and the camping is a lifetime experience. Wake to a sunrise over the African bush and to the animals venturing out for the day. A monkey swings above you, a hippo serenades you, a warthog rustles through the brush...this is Africa!

Thousands of animals in their natural habitat

Chobe National Park is breathtaking. I have visited other parks in Botswana and Southern Africa before, but I had never seen so many animals all together. During the day you can see hundreds of impalas, zebras, elephants and giraffes going to drink from the Chobe river. There's also plenty of warthogs, buffaloes, kudus and fish eagles. Even the big cats can be spotted if you have a little patience.
Roads are well marked and there are also some resting and pic-nic areas.
Unfortunately tourists are easy to find too: you will often find other jeeps on your trail.

Meeting the African wildlife

The wildlife was the best ever. We first went by boat and watched hippos and crocodiles and birds of all kinds. Great guides that spotted even the smallest animals in the national park and pointed them out for us eager photographers. The weather was great and we had a great dinner at the Chobe Safari Lodge. After that we entered the national park by truck and had a great guide there too. We met elephants, giraffes and lions and a whole variety of different animals.

Wow. If you've ever seen the scene in the movie Jurassic Park where the family finally comes upon the vast plain with hundreds of dinosaurs of different species spanning across a vast plain - that's Chobe. The sheer volume and diversity of species is incredible, multiple antelope species, literally thousands of elephants, lions, leopards, dogs, etc. are easy finds. Herds of buffalo, zebra, and antelope; and large quantities of giraffe and baboon; and easy bird spotting all make Chobe a "destination." You will be spoiled after visiting Chobe. You should go here as your last safari destination. We stayed at Chobe Under Canvas, which is a truly tented camp. The entire camp relocates every 5 days. The advantage of "glamping" at CUC, though, is that at 6 am, when the park opens, you are already in the camp and are not being "picked up" at your out-of-the-park hotel/property. You get earliest spotting and best conditions with no other vehicles/tourists around.

We saw so many cool animals in our two day one night visit. We saw tons of elephants, Kudu, crocodiles, zebra, a honey-badger, nile monitor lizards, hippos, fish eagles, cormorants, lions, buffalos, giraffes, the list goes on. Chobe is amazing and you definitely shouldn't miss it.

Chobe was, in parts, the most touristed and commercialized of the areas we saw. There are areas of the park that I would not return to because of the crowds and zoo-like feel of the wilderness.

One exception was the gorgeous Savuti area. Savuti's exotic-sounding name is matched by its sense of isolation and eerie beauty. This is a harsh, jagged region of primordial vistas that seem to belong in another epoch.

The campground showers here are built like bunkers, to keep thirsty elephants from wrecking them. At night, the walks from tent to toilet are made in pairs, flashlights blazing.

Setting up our camp one afternoon, I heard a sudden thrashing of branches just to my left. As I watched, an elephant walked out of the trees not forty feet away, trundling past my tent and into the next clump of trees.

Chobe's vibes

Our trip to Botswana started at Kazungulu, where we drove in from Zimbabwe early in the morning. As a lucky forebode, we saw a leopard less than a mile away from the border post, sitting some ten metres from the main road watching us curiously. We were welcomed at the Chobe Safari Lodge and then had a river safari just for the two of us. I remember our guide's name, Tobishu, who was extremely well informed. Tobishu was excited when I expressed a particular interest in birds, about which he happened to know a lot. He also shared with us some of the higher politics concerning the ownership of that part of the Chobe river. Neighbouring country Namibia questioned Botswana's claim to this very fertile piece of land; and the matter was brought to the heart of international law in The Hague: The peace palace, just a short walk from our Dutch home! While enjoying coffee, tea and cakes we were brought close to Yellow-billed Storks, nesting eagles, some huge crocodiles, water monitors and the peculiar Hamerkop bird. Big wildlife included elephants, close to and interacting (or not) with waterbucks and the ever elegant impalas. There were many hippos and Tobishu told us about the genuine threat they pose to people and when one made his way to us and started to yawn from not too great a distance this seemed to genuinely frighten our guide. After an excellent buffet served at the Chobe Safari Lodge (built between hugely rooted trees) we had an equally wonderful land safari. Again we saw many birds: different species of vulture, a Martial Eagle, Marabou Storks and lovely strikingly coloured beeeaters and rollers. The driver/guide (whose name I regretfully forgot) pointed out the almost symbiotic relationship the Chobe Park has with the elephants, who come exceptionally close to the four by fours, having learnt not to fear humans. He went further to explain differences between his park and South Africa's famous Kruger Park (which we had just visited), stating that the Chobe Park has no fences (good, but the downside of this: they are short of rhinos here) and the management's policy of not interfering with the animals. When we saw many creatures eating of a fresh carcass, the guide set out to find the lions responsible for the kill, and after some driving we found them: Three lionesses, stuffed and asleep near some not very covering shurbs. When our car got stuck in the mud not far from these apex predators and a colleague guide had to drive towards us and pull us out, we had some thrill moments too! Despite the fact that it was not summer, the temperature was lovely, just not sunny. So Chobe National Park differs considerably from a park like Kruger, and is definitely worth a visit. The day was over before we knew it, and we drove to the exit amidst a large herd of the beautiful sable antilopes: an animal you won't encounter as far south as Kruger. Botswana (and for that matter: Zimbabwe and Zambia) has that edge, a little more roughness than the better known (parks in) South Africa. The guides are friendly, very able, and their English is excellent. In all: Highly recommendable.