Elephant Archives - Under One Botswana Sky Blog

5 Unusual Things to do in Chobe

admin — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 13:21:46 +0000

Improve any Chobe safari with something a little more unusual.

A couple of weeks ago, we took part in the #ThisisChobe travel campaign to celebrate everything we love about the abundant plains and waterways in northern Botswana.

The winding Chobe River establishes Botswana’s border with Namibia and forms the upper boundary of the enormous, game-rich Chobe National Park. With plentiful water sources and a sprawling protected wild habitat, Chobe is a sanctuary for many birds and animals. Most magnificent of which has to be the high concentration of elephants. Nowhere else in Africa can you see more of these massive mammals.

5 unusual things to do in Chobe

Explore northern Botswana and use these five ways to make sure your next Chobe trip is unforgettable.

1. Visit Kasane’s baobab prison tree

Just a short walk away from Chobe Safari Lodge, this historical landmark baobab has an unusual history. Almost entirely hollow in the middle, this big tree was broad enough to hold prisoners. Strategic points were sealed off so that the mighty mowana (which is the Setswana word for baobab) could be used as a cell during the 1800s.

The historic tree sits beside the far more modern Kasane police station and there are several information boards around it so you can learn more about this intriguing botanical history.

2. Try a mopane worm

Just past the old baobab tree, you’ll find street vendors and the informal market stands set up around Hunter’s Mall (where the Spar grocery store is). Wander the stalls and you’ll find colourful wax cloth, shoes, electronics and local food. The most unusual for visitors to Botswana is surely the humble mopane worm.

Commonly called a worm, these caterpillars are actually the juicy grubs of the wide-winged Emperor moth. The colourful worms are plucked from the prolific mopane trees that grow in the area, dried and packed to serve as little protein snacks. They can be eaten dry or fried up again with a sauce. According to a Zimbabwean nutritionist, Marlon Chidemo, these “worms are high in healthy nutrients and contain three times the amount of protein as beef”.

For a tamer taste of the Chobe, you can always try the locally-farmed Chobe River Bream instead. Battered and served with fries, you’ll find it on the menu at Chobe Bush Lodge.

3. Sundowners at Sedudu Bar

Have you ever heard the story of Sedudu?

Once upon a time, Sedudu didn’t have a home. An island, Sedudu is completely surrounded by the Chobe River and many tried to claim it (even though it vanishes underwater for months at a time when the waters flood down from Angola). In Namibia, Sedudu is known as Kasikili Island. However, Botswana won the right to stake the name as Sedudu and welcome it within its borders.

The land dispute was a matter so dear to these residents, it had to be resolved by official intervention from the International Court of Justice in 1999.
Order an icy St Louis beer (the local beverage of choice) and celebrate Botswana’s victory by enjoying a Chobe River sunset from Sedudu Bar. Find it inside the Chobe Safari Lodge campsite and don’t forget to bring your binoculars to watch the wonderful waterbirds flying home to nest.

4. Enjoy a dinner cruise on the Chobe River

One of the most unusual things you can do in Chobe. End off your stay in style with a memorable meal served in the smooth waters of the Chobe River. A candlelit-table will romance any evening. Then, once delectable dinner is over, the upper deck serves as a sensational stargazing site. Read more about dinner cruising on the Chobe River here.

5. Don’t miss a river safari

Last but not least, Chobe is famous for its unusual game-spotting approach. Where else can you glide alongside a herd of elephant wading in the water? Join in the merriment of an afternoon sunset cruise with well-qualified guides, such as Connie Moremong. She’ll tell you about the 731-kilometre journey the Chobe River takes from source to sea, about the fish and frogs who call these waters home, and more. “If I had to just name frogs it would take the whole trip!”, she exclaims.

Otherwise, hire a private boat in the morning (between 7am and 2pm) for a more intimate experience of the Chobe River.

Where to stay in Chobe

Kasane is home to two Under One Botswana Sky’s Chobe lodges. This wild town in the northernmost stretch of Botswana has no fence to the park and wildlife often roams free.

Game you can expect to see in the neighbouring Chobe National Park includes the four of the Big Five (elephant, buffalo, lion and leopard). Plus, the watery Chobe plains offer sightings of hippo, Red lechwe, puku, sable, crocodile and even wild dog.

Also read: How to Choose Safari Accommodation

Chobe Safari Lodge

A true, trusted establishment in Kasane, Chobe Safari Lodge has helped travellers explore Chobe National Park for over fifty years. Set up to overlook the charming Chobe riverfront, this lodge is the only one in town sharing a border with Chobe National Park.

Chobe Bush Lodge

Still fresh on the safari scene Chobe Bush Lodge feature contemporary design and is a more intimate, modern stay. Riverine views are a short walk away and the quieter setting offers a more relaxed

The post 5 Unusual Things to do in Chobe appeared first on Under One Botswana Sky Blog.

#ThisIsChobe: In Abundance

admin — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 10:30:54 +0000

There’s so much to love about Chobe National Park that there’s even a four-day long #ThisIsChobe campaign dedicated to celebrating it – and it starts this weekend!

What is #ThisIsChobe?

The #ThisIsChobe campaign began in 2014 as a ‘Twitter safari’ to give both those who know as well as those who want to visit Chobe a chance to celebrate their love for or find out more about this top safari destination by simply following the hashtag.

Four years on and the campaign has extended to include Facebook and Instagram, but it continues to remain “dedicated to exploring and sharing the very best of Chobe”. This Saturday marks the start of this year’s event, which will continue through until this upcoming Tuesday.

What will we be doing during #ThisIsChobe?

The Chobe River, which Chobe Safari Lodge and Chobe Bush Lodge look across, is a well-known haven for local herds of elephants who come to quench their thirst or wallow in the cool water. On Monday, Chobe Safari Lodge will be hosting the #ThisIsChobe Team as well as representatives of Elephants Without Borders and CARACAL, two organisations that do wonderful wildlife conservation work throughout Africa.

We’ll be on the ground covering some of the events taking place over the four days. So, if you’re keen on joining us on our online safari in Chobe, check out our feed on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Why do we love Chobe?

Elephants everywhere: This lush paradise is the stomping ground of more elephants than anywhere else in Africa. If you love elephants like we do, you definitely need to plan a safari to Chobe National Park.

Diverse animal species: It’s not just about the ellies though. Chobe is also home to a wonderful variety of big cats like leopard and lions as well as plains game such as giraffe, zebra and different types of antelope.

Feathered friends from afar: Over 450 species of birds are found in Chobe and many of these are migrants who come to enjoy the warm and wet summers.

Water-based safaris: The mighty Chobe River and its waterways make for the perfect way to encounter game from a mokoro. And watching the sunset from a boat is simply spectacular.

To find out more about the #ThisIsChobe campaign or to book your Chobe safari, contact us.

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Mesmerising Skies in Botswana

admin — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 13:42:04 +0000

One of the most memorable aspects of your safari in Botswana will be the mesmerising skies.

No sky is ever the same on safari in Botswana and just when you think it can’t get any more beautiful, Mother Nature proves you wrong. Prepare to be amazed by the magical skies in Botswana, from the break of dawn to the magical golden hour when the sun sets.

Here are a few of our favourite photos of the incredible skies in Botswana from our guests:

©John Finch

©Leon de Wet

Get in touch with us to book your safari in Botswana, and experience these magical settings for yourself.

The post Mesmerising Skies in Botswana appeared first on Under One Botswana Sky Blog.

10 Reasons why you need to visit Botswana

admin — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 12:42:18 +0000

Botswana is the ultimate safari destination .

Dubbed the ultimate safari destination, Botswana is a paradise for travellers wanting to experience the true essence of an African safari. From exciting activities to unforgettable experiences, Botswana has it all.

Here are 10 reasons to consider beautiful Botswana for your next safari in Africa:

1. A Birding Paradise

Over 500 species have been recorded in Botswana’s wide range of habitats, making Botswana a paradise for any avid birdwatcher. Birdwatching in the open floodplains is generally easier and better than in rainforest regions where thick vegetation and high forest canopies seriously limit sightings.

Oliver Martin photographed Botswana’s national bird, the lilac-breasted roller.

2. The Elephants in Chobe National Park

If you want to see elephants on safari then Chobe National Park in Botswana is the place to be. This park is renowned for being home to the world’s largest concentration of elephants in Africa (estimated 120 000) and the largest continuous surviving elephant population on Earth.

Elephants photographed by Reto Boltshauser

3. Eco Friendly Accommodation

‘Going green’ on safari is easy when you are in Botswana as most camps are 100% eco-friendly, for example, our camp Moremi Crossing. Moremi Crossing features the latest in solar and waste disposal technology, enabling guests to enjoy their safari knowing that they have had little to no negative impact on the environment.

4. You Don’t Have to Go Far to See Wildlife

The great thing about a safari in Botswana is that most of the camps embrace their natural surroundings without fences, allowing the wildlife to roam free in their natural habitat. Elevated walkways at our new camp, Rra Dinare, link the rooms to the main lodge, except for the last two units on the northern end where the path drops down to the ground level allowing the passing game to stroll through. The resident Buffalo dagga boys are a common sight around camp, hence the name Rra Dinare which means Father Buffalo in the native language.

Buffalo at Rra Dinare

5. Mokoro Trips

You don’t have to be stuck in a game vehicle to explore the wildlife in Botswana. A safari by mokoro (dug-out canoe) is an activity not to be missed while on safari in Botswana. Imagine the joy of gently meandering through the exquisite watery paradise, with only the call of the fish eagle to break the tranquillity.

6. Sunsets

The sunsets in Botswana are something that cannot be explained. They simply must be experienced first-hand to fully grasp the true beauty. During the magical golden hour (dusk) the sky appears to be on fire as it bursts to life in hues of bright orange, red, pink and yellow. It is a sight best enjoyed with a traditional sundowner drink in hand.

Sunset captured by Gerda Robbertse

7. The Okavango Delta

The Okavango Delta is one of Botswana’s major tourist attractions. It is known for its extensive grassy plains, which flood seasonally, becoming a lush watery animal habitat. It is surreal to watch how animals adapt to their wet surrounding. Elephants are often seen swimming from island to island in search of more lush vegetation to devour, and the lions even learn to hunt in the shallow waters.

8. The Wildlife

Home to a variety of fascinating wildlife species including the iconic Big five (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino), as well as a vast number of different kinds of antelopes, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, hippos and so much more, Botswana is arguably the best place to visit to see wild animals in their natural habitat. It’s simple really: if you love wildlife, you’ll love Botswana.

Lions on the hunt in Botswana photographed by Reto Boltshauser

9. The weather

The weather in Botswana is mostly sunny throughout the year with colder nights during the Winter months and occasional afternoon showers during the Summer months.

10. Zebra migrations

The Serengeti has the big migration of the wildebeest and Botswana has the zebra migration. The annual zebra migration takes place around November every year, and it is a spectacular sight. At the beginning of the rainy season, up to 25,000 zebras start their migration through the Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pan National Parks in search of water and lush grazing grounds.

Botswana offers travellers an unforgettable experience that only very few places in Africa can match.

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Botswana – National Geographic Traveller

admin — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 08:39:35 +0000

Their trunks are each other, two teenage tugging and pulling twisted around elephants knee-deep in water, before letting go and continuing the with jostling their foreheads.

Soon, another male joins this play fight and all three are piled up, bodies together, legs and proboscises akimbo, roughhousing in the Chobe River in the afternoon sun. These prepubescent males hold me transfixed, as does the rest of their family, as I watch from a small boat a short distance away. There’s the matriarch alongside the other adult females in the group, plus the three teenagers and two babies, all at the edge of the river, drinking, floating, scratching themselves on the ebony and jackalberry trees, playing and swimming, taking delight in the fact that here in the water their bodyweight is reduced by half by the buoyancy in their bellies.

The babies mostly find shelter under the legs or the trunks of the females, but sometimes they stand alone, tentatively working out what this trunk thing does — up until they’re a year old elephants can only use their mouths to drink water but when they’re fully grown they can take in eight litres with one big snort. These babies are a comical sight — with big moon faces and fuzzy hair on their heads — and as I marvel at them, the tiny elephant singing ‘in a military style’ during Colonel Hathi’s March in The Jungle Book springs to mind. And so, gazing at the largest animals in Africa going about their daily business, I hear the refrain ‘hup, two, three, four’ and ‘We’re a crackerjack brigade. On a pachyderm parade. But we’d rather stroll to a water hole.

For a furlough in the shade.’ Chobe National Park, in Northern Botswana, has one of the largest concentrations of game in Africa, and the Serondela area — e fectively the Chobe riverfront — is the prime spot for viewing Kalahari elephants, whose large, flapping ears are said to resemble the shape of the African continent. On a very good day you can see hundreds of pachyderms as they come down the red hills in a diagonal line towards the water, where they might remain for some hours.

Today is a good day. Some tentatively skirt the edge of the river, while others plunge right in and splash water behind their ears to cool their veins. Others mix sand with water to make a sort-of mud bath that helps them su focate biting parasites as well as reduce their temperature. Babies trip over their own feet, or those of others, or hang on to their mother’s trunks or legs for stability. The whole thing is such an utterly breathtaking spectacle I well up at the privilege of seeing it.

“Here in the water is when you see that the true colour of the elephant is not in fact grey or brown but a charcoal black,” says Isaac, my captain and guide. As he tries to keep the boat steady, he tells me that elephants live in social structures but also split up into a breeding herd that’s led by the grandmother, the matriarch, and a bachelor herd led by a patriarch, who instils discipline in the young, marauding boys. He points to the rough-playing teenagers. “When those naughty boys are in puberty — between the ages of 12 and 18 — the matriarch kicks them out to try to avoid interbreeding.”

Further along the Chobe, we come across a solitary male, standing in marsh grass in the middle of the river, tugging up great tuffs of green, swishing them around and beating them a bit, before putting this in his mouth. He’s out here on his own because he’s older and prefers solitude to the fighting and power struggles among younger adult males. “Solitary bulls have had enough of the young men in the breed so they keep to themselves,” Isaac explains. “They shake the grass to take care of their molars.

They have six sets in their lifespan of 65 years so they need to slow down the flattening of this last set or they won’t be able to chew grass and will suffer from malnutrition.” As we putter along the Chobe, the abundance of birdlife is astonishing — over 450 species of bird call this place home. I see kingfishers (malachite and pied), pygmy geese, helmeted guineafowl (‘Chobe chicken’), and beautiful southern carmine bee-eaters — their plumage bright in breeding colours — flying in and out of nest chambers as they excavate. Sitting on the skeleton of a tree is an African cormorant, its red throat slightly puffed up as it lazily spreads its wings so that it can dry off after the rains, cleaning itself with its own natural oils before it’s able to fly away. Further down the river, up on another tree, are a pair of fish eagles — I watch as one swoops down and pulls its prey out of the water with its talons before returning to share the spoils with its monogamous partner.

Along the water’s edge, impala and lechwe lick mineral salt from the dirt to help neutralise the high levels of tannins in the leaves they’ve eaten from the acacia tree. There are Cape buffalo — accompanied by little oxpeckers, quietly picking away at ticks and scabs on the body of the animal — considered the most aggressive of the Big Five. “In Southern Africa, buffalo are nicknamed ‘the dagger boys’,” says Isaac. “And in East Africa, they’re known as the Black Death.” We rise at dawn the next day for a game drive out from Chobe Safari Lodge into the park. A pride of lions has been seen and we’re going to track them down. The low morning sun begins to rise and dust whips up around our viewing vehicle but our guide finally spots spoor — lion footprints. He scans the land with binoculars. We wait. And then they come — five of them, nonchalantly crossing the red road in front of us. Just as quickly, they’re gone.

Famous footsteps

It’s when I take a single-prop aircraft from Kasane airport that I learn to appreciate the wide Botswana sky and the colours of the land. Vast tracts of uninhabited wilderness unfold below me — I watch the umber tones of the earth change to a salty white and follow the watery trails of the Okavango Delta.

We land at a tiny, basic airstrip, where I’m met by two men driving a big red tractor with a trailer attached carrying a chair for yours truly. The men introduce themselves: Shakapira, the guide for my stay at Moremi Crossing, and Shooting, his deputy, a trainee guide who shadows his mentor to learn more about the wildlife and the landscape around us. The waters of the Boro River and its channels are low on my visit so our activities are confined to slow, gentle excursions both on foot and in a mokoro — a traditional canoe once dug out of ebony but now less regally carved from fibreglass. First we head out in the poled mokoro, brushing past reeds and waterlilies, accompanied by bright-red dragonflies skimming the water’s surface and a plopping soundtrack of catfish plunging into the shallows looking for bugs. We see fish eagles as well as saddle-billed and marabou storks.

But it’s not long before we stop. Shakapira — who’s poling — is suddenly cautious. “Hippo,” he says. There are a tail of small crafs behind us and Shakapira takes to his radio and warns the other guides that he’s seen a hippo in the long grass. But they go on. We stay where we are and then suddenly the hippo, which has slipped unseen into the water, breaches baring its enormous fat teeth and starts charging towards us.

Quickly the little boats turn and make haste the other way, amid peels of laughter, masking the underlying fear of a close encounter. “I don’t like hippo,” explains Shakapira. “When I was 14, I went fishing with my friends. We caught a lot of fish in our two mokoro and suddenly I realised that my mokoro was on top of a hippo. Then the hippo kicked my mokoro — luckily my bag of fish flew out and landed on the bank. I swam to the edge and went up on the sandbank and watched the hippo fight with the mokoro. He trashed it. That is why I don’t like them. Whenever I see a hippo, I tell the guys we should turn back or take a diferent route.” And so it is that the hippo stalls us time and time again. Three times we turn around, and take to the bank — Shakapira, me, then Shooting, walking amid palms, leadwood, knobthorn and sausage trees (named afer its huge, hanging fruits, which, should you wish to keep your head, it’s important to avoid).

All the time we’re accompanied by the call of the Cape turtle dove — which Southern Africans like to say is them singing, ‘work harder’ and ‘drink lager’ — and the grey lourie, a creature known locally as the go-away bird, which emits a nasal call that sounds like ‘g’way’. As we walk, Shakapira stoops to examine tracks for freshness. “Elephants have three pads on the back,” he explains. “Cats keep their nails retracted and only put them out when they’re attacking.”

We brush past heavily aromatic sage and wild basil, with butterflies all around us. We see zebras, wildebeest and ostriches. Side-striped jackal. A python. A lonely bull elephant spots us and starts shaking his ears. Shakapira whispers us away. From the top of a termite hill, we look out and view a group of hippos frolicking, some yawning, all revelling in the muddy water blithely ignoring the tremulous sound of thunder and their three human observers.

Back at our tented camp at Moremi Crossing, Shakapira, Shooting and I sit on the deck overlooking the delta, listening to the torrential rain (known as pula, which is also the name of the local currency) drumming on the thatched roof and making the hippo grass dance under its weight. Shooting has a guide exam in less than a week and I’m keen to sit in on the lesson. The student points out the kudus grazing on the other bank, then helps me identify mangosteen, learn the difference between pampas and hippo grass and discern the call of the cucka bird.

Shakapira and Shooting ask about my country, Scotland, which they think is in England, and smile when I tell them I’m from Livingstone’s country.“Dr David Livingstone would be proud of us,” says Shakapira. “Since we got independence we’ve never been in a war and we have a good democracy. My best lieutenant in my life is Seretse Khama [Botswana’s first president] — he gave us everything. And now our people believe in sitting in parliament talking, not shooting people with guns. I love Botswana. I love my country.”

Before independence in 1962, Botswana was a British protectorate known as Bechuanaland. Since taking hold of its own reins, it’s become the most politically stable country in Africa, and its first president, Sir Seretse Goitsebeng Maphiri Khama, is a national hero. His son, Ian Seretse Khama, is the country’s current president and has spearheaded the drive towards the preservation of wildlife with a vigorous anti-poaching strategy — most particularly with regard to rhinos — that’s helped to make Botswana the wildlife haven it is today.

A saddle-billed stork flies over an elephant, over on the other side of the channel; the pula continues to batter on the roof and I take a moment to ponder my location. In Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels set in Botswana, the lady detective, Mma Precious Ramotswe, says, ‘I am just a tiny person in Africa, but there is a place for me, and for everybody, to sit down on this earth and touch it and call it their own.’ This country is not my own, but the Batswana have welcomed me like they did Dr David Livingstone. I can see why my countryman chose to make this country his own.

Originally published in the National Geographic Traveler Magazine by Audrey Gillan (print magazine article).

Visit the National Geographic Traveler website.

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Chobe National Park

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 12:54:32 +0000

I had always wanted to get to the great game parks of Botswana which include the Kalahari, Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park but the only legitimately easy, albeit expensive way to get there was flying from Johannesburg. From Livingstone, Zambia however, it is only an hour drive or so and a day trip will run you $135 and that’s a steal for what you get! I jumped on the opportunity I didn’t think I would have this trip and Chobe National Park and its unreal stock of elephants and beautiful waterways didn’t disappoint.

I left Fawlty Towers with my Dutch friend at 7am for the hour drive and ferry across to Botswana. From there it was another 10km or so to Kasane and the Chobe Safari Lodge. The Lodge was the base for the Safari which included breakfast, lunch and drinks plus a 3 hour boat cruise safari and a 3 hour game drive in a nice safari mobile Land Cruiser which can comfortably seat 10.

There were 8 people all together in my vehicle and we combined with another car of a large bilingual German family living in Zambia. The other people in my car were a South African family with two very smart and adorable children and two Italian Nationals living in Mozambique. Everyone was very nice and we shared a nice lunch together at the lodge between the morning cruise and the afternoon game drive.

The morning cruise was probably my favorite part. First, I love boat trips. Second, the relaxed atmosphere and amazing scenery made the boat trip really fun. We got up close and personal with a medium sized alligator as you can see although I am convinced he was full size because he was massive. We saw a ton of hippos and cool birds, although bird watching is not really my thing but the South African kids’ enthusiasm made it better.

Finally, we got some great views of a family of elephants drinking and washing at the river’s edge. This was really cool to see from the water because you really got to see how they work to get their water and to make sure the baby is cool, washed and gets enough water. They work as a unit.

But perhaps most surprisingly to me and a nice little added bonus was that we got an unexpected landing on the Caprivi Strip in Namibia. After some light pestering of the tour guide I convinced him to land us in Namibia, albeit illegally, but there was nobody around to see. So I was in Namibia which I had originally planned to save until next trip to do with Angola and I still will because there is a ton in Namibia I want to do but it was a nice little surprise to land on the Caprivi Strip as you don’t realize how far the arm of Namibia extends eastward.

After lunch we headed out on our game drive that lasted about 3 hours. If you’ve ever been on safari before, you’ll know this is about the perfect amount of time for a drive because you will see a lot of animals and you won’t get bored. I had always heard good things about Chobe National Park and what I found out id that they have more elephants in Chobe than I think any other park-they have more than 50,000 and I think I saw every one of them!

There were so many elephants that at one point you didn’t even pay attention to them. However, the beautiful landscapes with waterway backdrops gave Chobe an amazing look and made it very unique from the other big African Parks I’ve done safaris at. Some of the views of the elephants and gazelles, along with warthogs and monkeys across the Chobe Savannah were breathtaking. The light and vast landscapes made it very memorable to see.

We also had some cool run-ins with elephants along the truck path as they are very protective and we were charged and elephant roared at several times. Elephant roared at is my term for the noise elephants make when they’re pissed off at you and the flail their ears out and mount a charge. These elephants are absolutely massive and wild and you never know what they’re going to do so it’s a little worrisome. But alas, they never do make contact with the car; it’s generally just a threat to let you know not to mess with them.

Aside from thousands (literally) of elephants we only saw one other big 5 member and that was one solitary female lion who was resting in the shade of the hot afternoon. She was just chilling as we snapped pictures but it was nice to find a lion as they are always cool to see whether they are prowling or just resting.

Aside from that, we saw several warthog families, antelopes, waterbucks, lizards, birds, monkeys, baboons, giraffes and even a really cool dung beetle (above) but we didn’t see the remaining big 5 members (buffaloes, leopards or rhinos-which Chobe has none of) or even any wildebeests or zebras which normally you see a million of in the other parks I’ve been to. However, I will remember Chobe for the vast amounts of elephants and the great landscapes that are relatively unique to this part of Africa. It is much drier up by the equator in the great parks of Kenya and Tanzania which leads to the great migration each year but here it is lush and wet and there is plenty of water.

Chobe National Park lies within Botswana on the intersection of four countries; Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana and is a great place to see elephants and some great African vistas. If you head up to Victoria Falls or to Livingstone to see the Falls, definitely take a side trip an hour away to Chobe. My only advice would be to get multiple entry visas to both Zambia and Zimbabwe, depending on which way you enter from and leave.

Originally published on the Lee Abbamonte blog.

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Praises for Chobe: “The Land of Elephants”

admin — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 16:15:56 +0000

The Chobe area or “The Land of Elephants” as some prefer to say, is the ideal travel destination to witness the largest concentration of ellies in a single region. The area lends itself to sizeable herds of grey giants, as they freely roam wild on the riverbanks or bathe in the Chobe waters, quintessential to Botswana. . As a recent visitor of the Chobe Bush Lodge notes on a Tripadvisor review: “The surrounding Chobe park has the most animals I have ever seen in a game park.”

Many of the Chobe visitors are not only astonished by the sheer abundance of wildlife, that encompasses the area but also by the fact of how close you can get to the wild animals in their natural habitat. “The elephants gaze distractedly at you and occasionally a young bull trying to establish a place in the pecking order will approach and bellow at the jeep.” This is how a recent Chobe Safari Lodge guest describes a game viewing experience in the Chobe National Park.

Pair your game drive with a boat safari excursion to view all the incredible inhabitants that roam the skirts of the Chobe River. A Chobe Safari Lodge visitor says it best when they say “In the afternoon we did the boat safari which was even more incredible and gave us a totally new and different perspective of the hippos and elephants.”

If seeing one of the largest wildlife concentrations in Africa is something you have always aspired to do, then a visit to the Chobe area should certainly elevate to the top of your travelbucket list. This Botswana paradise will not disappoint with its endless selection of four-legged friends to photograph and admire.

Chobe Safari Lodge Contact Details:

Web: www.chobesafarilodge.com
Email: reservations@chobesafarilodge.com
Tel: (+267) 625 0 336

Chobe Bush Lodge Contact Details:

Web: www.chobebushlodge.com
Email: marketing@underonebotswanasky.com
Tel: (+267) 625 0 336

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