return to:
Safaris-Namibia
Contact
Links
Safaris

Namibia Safari Vacations to Windhoek, Swakopmund and Etoscha National park through to Botswanas Chobe National Park

Chobe National Park

Chobe National Park is the second largest national park in Botswana. The 11.700 km² park is world-renowned for its wildlife and its 4 distinct ecosystems: in the north the Chobe Riverfront floodplains and teak forests, in the west the Savuti Marsh and in the north-west the Linyanti-swamps. These three ecosystems are separated by a fourth; the hot, dry hinterland.

This diversity of habitat sustains a wide variety of animal species. This includes the water-loving hippos, crocodiles, otters and of course fish in the wetter regions. Elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra and sable antelope can be found at greater distances from the water. In all areas predators abound: lions, leopards, cheetahs and hyenas. Packs of wild dogs are occasionally sighted within the park.

The Chobe National Park is also famous for its magnificent bird life. Over 400 different species have been recorded, ranging from the majestic African Fish Eagle to various species of storks and the brilliantly coloured scarlet carmine bee-eaters. Occasionally the bee-eaters build colonies in the sandbanks of the Chobe River, where they gather and nest in their thousands, offering visitors a spectacular sight.

The premium spots for game viewing by our guests are the Chobe riverfront, the headwaters and the Ngwezumba River and Savuti.

The Chobe Riverfront stretches from Kasane through Serondela to Ngoma Bridge. In the late evenings, especially during winter, elephants come down to drink from the river their thousands. The riverfront is easily accessible to visitors, with the sandy river roads offering excellent wildlife viewing as well as spectacular scenery. While game viewing in this area is somewhat seasonal, due to larger mammals following grazing and rainfall patterns, there is such an abundance of game in the area that our safari guests are almost certain to see a good diversity at any time of year.

The headwaters of the Ngwezumba River are amidst a mixture of woodlands, pans and grassland centered around Nogatsaa and Tjinga Pans. In the winter, breeding herds of elephants congregate around water holes before disappearing back into the forests. This is also the best region for viewing eland. Other animal species that inhabit the headwaters include oribi, sable, roan antelope, buffalo, lion, zebra, reedbuck, impala, duiker
and steenbok.

Savuti covers an area of roughly 5000 square km, near the western boundary of Chobe National Park.
Its landscape is among the most diverse in Africa, reminiscent of the Serengeti plains in Tanzania. The 90 metre high Gubatsa Hills are a striking feature in an otherwise extraordinarily flat landscape. These hills are a series of dolomitic outcrops (inselbergs) formed 980 million years ago. Savuti was once part of the giant Lake Makgadikgadi which was connected to both the Okavango and Zambezi rivers. Lake Makgadikgadi started to dry up some 30 000 years ago, leaving the smaller Lake Mababe behind. This lake also dried up, leaving the Mababe Depression. The dry Savuti channel, dotted with large, dead camelthorn trees, winds its way through the Savuti area. Water last flowed through the channel in 1979, emptying into the Savuti marsh: a vast, open grassland south of Savuti.

Savuti offers our safari guests exciting wildlife viewing opportunities. In addition to its lion population, Savuti has a high concentration of hyaenas, and other large predators such as leopards, wild dogs and cheetahs are also seen regularly. The abundance of predators is fed by equally large populations of tsessebe, wildebeest, impala, giraffe, warthog and black-backed jackal in the marshlands, and kudu, roan, sable and the occasional buffalo in the wooded areas. Guests will also be thrilled by witnessing the annual zebra migrations southward during November and December and northward back to Linyanti between February and April, and the congregations of bull elephants around waterholes in the dry season.

African animals are most active in the cool hours of the day, so an early start to your game drives in the Chobe should prove very rewarding.

Lodges and Camps in Namibia: Beach Lodge - Casa Piccolo - Mahangu Safari Lodge - Mazambala - Oase Guest House - Phantom Farmhouse - The Desert Homestead

Botswana Destinations: Chobe National Park

Zimbabwe Destinations: Victoria Falls

Animals of Namibia: African Wild Dog - African Elephant - Cheetah - Flamingos - Giraffe - Hartebeest - Hippo - Leopard - Lion - Red Lechwe - Roan Antelope - Sitatunga -Spotted Hyena - Springbok - Wildebeest - Zebra