Traveling through Southern Africa (Part 2) – Chobe National Park, Botswana

Chobe National Park is a diverse area of wilderness with a large mopane woodland that stretches from the Chobe River to the Savute Channel and beyond to the borders of the Okavango Delta. Travelers know the Chobe best for its concentrations of elephant – some 120 000 individuals, but buffalo, antelope, birds, and predators are also prevalent.  One of the most popular sections of the park is the short (15-kilometer) stretch of the Chobe River from Kasane to Serondela. In the dry season, the river is where most animals must go to drink and it’s always teaming with hippopotamus and crocodile.

We left Livingstone and headed to Kazungula where the borders of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia meet at a single point.  From there we took a pontoon ferry across the Zambezi River into Botswana, and after taking care of visas at the border post, continued to Kasane.

Kasane used to be a remote village, but today it has become the gateway to the Chobe National Park and a bustling tourist town.  There are no fences between the park and Kasane, so there is quite a lot of wildlife around, especially warthogs.  They seemed to be everywhere we went, rooting through the garbage. 

We had a great campsite along the Chobe River just outside, but within walking distance, of town.  That evening we took a boat cruise past pods of hippos and sunbathing crocodiles. As the sun lowered in the sky, elephants appeared out of the brush for their evening drink, as did kudu, waterbuck and water monitors.  As we neared the dock, the sun began to set and the sky became a palette of reds and blues.  It remains one of the most beautiful sunsets in my memory.

Chobe Sunset

The next morning we were up before the sun for a game drive.  There was a chill in the air and a mist over the river. The park was still and quiet.  Maybe because of the chill, we didn’t see much that morning, mostly antelope and birds, but it didn’t dampen our spirits.  There was still much more to come in our African Adventure in Traveling.