Chobe National Park

Overview

Chobe National Park, Located on Chobe River in the Northern region of Botswana and bordering Moremi Game Reserve in the south, has one of the greatest concentrations of game found on the African continent. By size, it covers 10,566 sq km making it the third largest park of the country, after the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and Gemsbok National Park. However of the three parks, it is the most diverse.

Chobe was Botswana’s first national park and is impressively famous for its immense numbers of elephants. The Park has arguably the largest Elephant population in the world and is home to great numbers of other game species. The wide Chobe River is the lifeblood of the area and feeds adjacent floodplains much loved by Elephants. The Park covers a variety of the country’s riverine forest including floodplains and the mopane and miombo woodland.

Geography, ecosystems & the wildlife

Chobe is divided into four clearly diverse eco systems;
• Serondela area with its lush plains and situated in the extreme Northeast of the park. The area is covered with extensive savannahs and rolling grasslands, which makes wildlife particularly dynamic in this section of the park. The famous bee-eater is also spotted here, along the river. Serondela is also reputed for its annual migration of zebras and predators. This is probably the most visited park section, partly due to its proximity to the Victoria Falls.
• The Linyanti Swamps located at the North-west corner of the park and to the North of Savuti, is adjacent to Linyanti River. To the west of this area lies Selinda Reserve and on the Northern bank of Kwando River is Namibia’s Mamili National Park. Close to these 2 rivers are riverine woodlands, open woodlands plus lagoons, while the rest of the region mainly has flood plains. Prominent are high concentrations of leopards, lions, wild dogs, Roan antelopes, Sable antelopes and hippopotamuses.
• Hot dry hinterland; Birdlife is very rich here.
• The Savuti Marsh in the west about 50 km north of Mababe gate. The rare red lechwe, sitatunga or crocodile also occur in the area.

When to Visit

This National Park said to be a natural world lover’s haven particularly between May and late September (the dry spell), has immense herds of Buffalo, Eland, Giraffe, Impala, Lechwe, Oribi, Roan, Tsessebe, Waterbuck, Wildebeest and Zebra that can be observed more easily. In other words the animals are superbly visible especially when the foliage has reduced. Such a multiplicity of habitats attracts a variety of natural world.

Safari Activities

Game drives in the Chobe National Park offers excellent game viewing opportunities. Cruise down the Chobe River in a luxury safari boat. In the dry season, Elephants congregate by the river in enormous numbers with the river side area offering magnificent bird viewing. Predators like Leopards and lions are common figures in Chobe National Park; similarly there are several Hippos and Crocodiles in Chobe River. Wild pig, baboons and monkeys also make Chobe National Park their habitat. Birding is also excellent, with many migrants visiting from November to March. It is such uniqueness in abundance of wildlife that makes Chobe a true African safari nature deservedly to experience in anyone’s life span.