Safari to Chobe National Park in Northern Botswana

Chobe National Park in Botswana, along the Chobe River on the northern border of Botswana, was our second big stop on our tour of southern Africa. Chobe is one of the premier game-viewing destinations in Africa, featuring huge herds of elephants and buffalo. We stayed at Chobe Safari Lodge, a moderately priced lodge in the small town of Kasane that we couldn't have been more pleased with. We walked through another lodge in Kasane, the Chobe Marina Lodge, which looked a little nicer and is a little larger, but is much more expensive.

While here, we went on game viewing drives and river cruises in Chobe National Park, and visited a small Namibian village across the river/border in the Caprivi strip, a skinny finger of Namibia that extends along Botswana's northern border.

Quick Tips:

We had no problem booking the activities we wanted out the lodge, e.g. game drives, etc., the day before, but some of the most popular activities, in particular the sunset cruises did become fully booked.

The Chobe Safari Lodge gives a horrible exchange rate for US dollars (like many hotels around the world). If you pay your bill with a credit card, you will be billed in Botswana Pula, and will receive the better bank exchange rate. Since the lodge apparently uses the same horrible exchange rate in posting their activity fees (for game drives and the like), it makes the activities appear much more expensive than they really are. So pay attention to the real exchange rate and the prices that are posted in Pula. There is a currency exchange bank just up the road beside the grocery store which gives a more normal exchange rates.

Bring a good flashlight.

Best Way To Get Around:

Most of the local transport will be taken care of by the lodge. It was no problem walking up the road into Kasane from the Chobe Safari Lodge.

We came to Kasane from Livingstone, Zambia, about an hour's drive, followed by a ferry across the Zambezie river into Botswana, then another 10 minute drive to the hotel. Sounds simple enough, but it was sort of stressful. Chobe lodge quotes a ridiculous per-person rate for transfers from Livingstone (at least when you're doing it for 4 people), so we arranged our own car and driver with help from the hostel in Livingstone. The driver and car worked out fine and he was a big help in guiding us through the Zambia border post. The Zambia border post at the Kazungula ferry is the dirtiest, smelliest border crossing we've ever endured. One the way to Botswana, there was a line of about 15-20 people waiting to get to the emigration windows. Thankfully, our driver/guide aided us in pushing to the front of the line and getting the proper exit forms for us to complete. We never would have jumped the line like that on our own, but it saved us a good wait in a very hot and smelly place. The guide also took care of buying the ferry tickets (but we paid). There is no ferry ticket booth on the Botswana side of the river.

There is no bridge here, only the small ferry, which can take one semi-truck, a couple smaller cars, and as many pedestrians as want to go at a time. As a result, there is an amazing line of trucks waiting on the ferry --- probably 3 days worth of waiting for the truck drivers! (There was no horrible line at all for cars.)

If you only leave Zambia on a day trip to Chobe, you don't have to pay additional visa fees on re-entry. But since we were out of Zambia overnight (3 nights actually), when we had to re-enter Zambia to get to Livingstone to the airport for our flight back to S. Africa, we had to pay their /person transit visa fee. I knew we'd have to pay it, but that didn't make it any more pleasant. British citizens have to pay even more, £35 per person, thanks to their being the former colonial masters of what is now Zambia.

We had a fantastic stay at Chobe Safari Lodge. The lodge and rooms were very comfortable, but the location on the Chobe River keeps you connected with the natural beauty and wildlife that you come here for. The atmosphere of the lodge is very relaxed with an attitude that helps you enjoy your stay. The staff were always pleasant, happy to say "Hello" in passing, and to make sure you were finding everything you needed. It isn't ultra luxurious or elegant, but then you aren't paying for that at this hotel.

There are a couple of two-story main buildings with multiple rooms, all of which face the river. Besides these, there are also a few detached rondavels (round, thatch-roofed cabins), and an area where you can pitch a tent and camp out. Some of the cross-country tours camp out on the grounds here. The camping area is pretty close to the river, with no fence in between, and there are crocodiles in the river. Nobody got eaten while we were there, but I'd think twice before putting my tent there.

The main attraction of the area is Chobe National Park, just a couple miles by road away from the lodge, or just up the river. Among the activities the lodge offers are: Game viewing drives in nearby Chobe Park (morning or afternoon); sundown cruises along the river for really fantastic game viewing (cash bar, but not a big party barge by any means, fine for families); private guided boat rental; visits to a Namibian village; and fishing trips. Their guides were great and their prices were reasonable for most of these and we just picked and paid a la carte for the ones that interested us most. They can also arrange more lengthy excursions such as to Victoria Falls or the Okavango Delta.

In the evenings, the lodge puts on a very grand buffet dinner. There's a ton of food, and they'll typically include some wild game stew or roast. Their game meat (e.g. Kudu) stews were particularly good. The buffet also included salads, desserts, grilled steaks, and a stir fry station.
This is the only dinner option at the hotel restaurant.

It is on the edge of the small town or Kasane, not a bad place to be based. There is a supermarket just 100 yards walk up the road from the hotel. We bought food there to make our own inexpensive lunches and breakfasts. 10-15 minutes further walk takes you to the center of Kasane, with a little more shopping, another grocery store, post office, small market, and an Internet cafe.

Adding to the charm of the lodge was the occasional wildlife on the grounds and interesting birds perched outside our windows. There were frequently a pair of warthogs wandering around, and a gregarious pack of banded mongoose made an appearance most afternoons. Monkeys also came along, and will grab food off your plate if you aren't careful (but weren't a problem at dinner time).

Up and loaded onto safari trucks at the hotel while it was still dark, we started our day with the chilly drive to the entrance of Chobe National Park as part of a fleet of a half-dozen trucks from our hotel. We were very excited to be headed out for a 3-hour game viewing drive. As we headed down the bumpy road in the park, we saw our first big animal, a giraffe, before it was even light out. After watching the sun rise over the bush, we continued our trip. The game drive is scheduled for 3 hours total and the time went quickly. The trip includes a break for tea and cookies near the end of the trip. The highlight for us was finding a group of four lions relaxing in the morning sun, but we saw plenty of other animals, too, including baboons, kudu antelope, hippos, impala, the multi-colored lilac-breasted roller bird, and much more. According to the guides, every day's trip is a little different and you never know exactly which animals you are going to encounter. But Chobe National Park has an abundance of game, so you're just about guaranteed to see many interesting animals.

Chobe National Park is home to the largest herd of elephants in Africa. Literally thousands of them live there. On our morning game viewing drive in Chobe park, we saw exactly zero. But, if you want to see elephants, the time to see them is late afternoon, down by and in the river. On our evening cruise along the river we saw hundreds of elephants that had come to the river to eat, cool off, and play. There were several family groups of about a dozen each along the shore, and hundreds stretched out all along the shallow parts of the river, many eating the marshy grasses.

We rode in an excursion boat with seats for about 50 people or so on the shaded main deck. There was also a smaller upper level observation deck which could only take about 15 people at a time. There was a cash bar at the back of the boat, and a couple guides to help point out animals and explain some of their behaviours. It was never anything like a drunken booze-cruise, just a very pleasant evening and they make the drinks available for those who want to buy them. Besides our two kids, there were other families with small children, also.

Besides the elephants, we also saw hippos, crocodiles, African fish eagles, and buffalo, as well as a very beautiful sunset behind profiles of elephants.

The visit to a Namibian village is one of the excursions offered by the Chobe Safari Lodge. We signed up for the trip and enjoyed it very much. It wound up being just our family, with a guide, Vincent, from the lodge. Vincent was from Namibia, a different village, but one he said was very similar to the one we visited and not too far away.

The trip gave us very interesting glimpse of the way people still live in these traditional mud-hut villages.

We took a small power boat from the lodge, then had to go through the Botswana emigration procedures, and then we got Namibian stamps in our passport on the other side of the broad river.

Even though this was to be a cultural experience, not for wildlife, since the Chobe river is teeming with so much wildlife, you can't avoid it. On our short trip across the river, Vincent took us past trees in the middle of the river where flocks of black cormorants were nesting, and another set of trees thick with nesting yellow-billed storks.

We landed in Namibia on Impalila Island in the Chobe river. Once we finished with the border formalities, we set off on the short walk to the village. The village we visited is centered around a huge, ancient baobab tree and so was known as the baobab tree village.

At the village, we were able to see the mud-walled, thatch-roofed huts the people live in, the gardens, and hear about the difficulties and dangers of life near the river such as hippos and crocodiles.
There's no electricity, but they did have a crank-powered radio supplied by Unicef or an organization like that. We also got the impression that this village is one of the more prosperous owing to the extra income from the hotel visitors like us. For instance, we bought a small reed-woven baskets the women there were selling.

Vincent did a great job of explaining the culture and daily lives of the Namibians. But we didn't really get much chance to talk with the inhabitants (even through Vincent as an interpreter). The head man, for instance, wasn't around as all the men were off fishing or working. If there was anything that would have made the trip even better, it would have been a little more conversation with the inhabitants. Still, we had a great time and it was really an eye-opening experience. And while you might think, "mud huts, no electricity --- how awful!", I think it would be preferable to live in a family village like this rather than some of the shanty-towns of tin shacks we later saw in South Africa.