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Wildlife Safaris in Chobe National Park
Botswana's first national park, in the far north-east at Kasane where the borders of four countries meet, defined by the Chobe River floodplains that draw the largest elephant population in Africa. The riverfront concentrates game in the dry season and is famous for boat-based safaris.
Why here
Chobe holds the largest elephant population in Africa, and in the dry season the herds gather in their hundreds along the Chobe River to drink, bathe and cross, watched from boats that drift within meters of them. The riverfront also concentrates buffalo, hippo, giraffe, sable and the lions and leopards that follow them, while the water carries fish eagles, kingfishers and African skimmers. Two ways of seeing it define a Chobe safari: the silent solar-electric boat cruise along the flooded plains, and the open-vehicle drive through the riverfront woodland. Kasane's airport and the four-country border point make this one of the easiest world-class parks in Africa to reach, and a natural pairing with Victoria Falls an hour away.
Best months
The dry season from May to October is the headline, when receding inland water forces game to the river and the elephant and buffalo congregations peak; September and October run hottest and most concentrated. The green season from November brings newborn impala, migrant birds and dramatic skies but disperses the herds across the wider park. Morning and late-afternoon boat cruises and game drives are the productive windows, with heat climbing through the dry months.
Getting there & around
Kasane has its own airport with regional connections and sits at the four-country border with Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, making Chobe unusually easy to reach for a park of this calibre. Most lodges cluster along the riverfront just outside the park gate at Kasane and run their own boats and vehicles. Book boat cruises and drives through your lodge; Victoria Falls is a common day trip or add-on an hour away.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (2)
Chobe Game Lodge
OutfitterThe only permanent lodge inside Chobe National Park, on the banks of the elephant-rich Chobe River and the flagship of the Desert & Delta Safaris portfolio. In 2014 it launched the first solar-electric safari boats and game-drive vehicles in Botswana, and its river game viewing is now run in near silence from that fleet. The 40-room, four-suite lodge is ecotourism-certified and known for its pioneering all-female guiding team.
Chobe Safari Lodge
OutfitterA Kasane institution established in 1959, holding the prime riverfront position on the Chobe just outside the national park gate. It runs twice-daily boat cruises and open-vehicle game drives along Chobe's riverfront, where the largest elephant herds in Africa gather to drink in the dry season, plus scenic flights, tiger fishing and day trips across the border to Victoria Falls. Accommodation ranges from riverfront rooms to a large campsite.