Chobe National Park is Botswana’s first national park, and also the most biologically diverse. Located in the north of the country, it is Botswana’s third largest park, after Central Kalahari Game Reserve and Gemsbok National Park, and has one of the greatest concentrations of game in all of Africa.
The park is noted for having a population of lions which unusually prey on adult elephants.
History
The original inhabitants of this area were the San Bushmen (also known as the Basarwa people in Botswana).
They were nomadic hunter-gatherers who were constantly moving from place to place to find food sources, namely fruits, water and wild animals. Nowadays one can find San paintings inside rocky hills of the park.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the region that would become Botswana was divided into different land tenure systems.
At that time, a major part of the park’s area was classified as crown land. The idea of a national park to protect the varied wildlife found here as well as to promote tourism first appeared in 1931.
The following year, 24,000 km2 (9,300 sq mi) around Chobe district were officially declared non-hunting area; this area was expanded to 31,600 km2 (12,200 sq mi) two years later.
In 1943, heavy tsetse infestations occurred throughout the region, delaying the creation of the national park. By 1953, the project received governmental attention again: 21,000 km2 (8,100 sq mi) were suggested to become a game reserve.
Chobe Game Reserve was officially created in 1960, though smaller than initially desired. In 1967, the reserve was declared a national park.
At that time there were several industrial settlements in the region, especially at Serondela, where the timber industry proliferated.
These settlements were gradually moved out of the park, and it was not until 1975 that the whole protected area was exempt from human activity.
Nowadays traces of the prior timber industry are still visible at Serondela. Minor expansions of the park took place in 1980 and 1987.
Geography and ecosystems
The park can be divided up to 4 areas, each corresponding to one distinct ecosystem: The Serondela area (or Chobe riverfront), situated in the extreme Northeast of the park, has as its main geographical features lush floodplains and dense woodland of mahogany, teak and other hardwoods now largely reduced by heavy elephant pressure.
The Chobe River, which flows along the Northeast border of the park, is a major watering spot, especially in the dry season (May through October) for large breeding herds of elephants, as well as families of giraffe, sable and Cape buffalo.
The flood plains are the only place in Botswana where the puku antelope can be seen. Birding is also available. Large numbers of carmine bee eaters are spotted in season. When in flood spoonbills, ibis, various species of storks, ducks and other waterfowl flock to the area.
This is likely Chobe’s most visited section, in large part because of its proximity to the Victoria Falls. The town of Kasane, situated just downstream, is the most important town of the region and serves as the northern entrance to the park.
The Savuti Marsh area, 10,878 km2 (4,200 sq mi) large, constitutes the western stretch of the park (50 km (31 mi) north of Mababe Gate). The Savuti Marsh is the relic of a large inland lake whose water supply was cut a long time ago by tectonic movements.
Nowadays the marsh is fed by the erratic Savuti Channel, which dries up for long periods then curiously flows again, a consequence of tectonic activity in the area. It is currently flowing again and in January 2010 reached Savuti Marsh for the first time since 1982.
As a result of this variable flow, there are hundred of dead trees along the channel’s bank. The region is also covered with extensive savannahs and rolling grasslands, which makes wildlife particularly dynamic in this section of the park.
At dry seasons, tourists going on safari often view the rhinoceros, warthog, kudu, impala, zebra, wildebeest and a herd of African bush elephants. At rain seasons, the rich birdlife of the park (450 species in the whole park) is well represented.
Packs of lions, hyenas, zebras or more rarely Southern African cheetahs are visible as well. This region is reputed for its annual migration of zebras and predators.
The Linyanti Marsh, located at the Northwest corner of the park and to the North of Savuti, is adjacent to the Linyanti River.
To the west of this area lies Selinda Reserve and on the northern bank of Kwando River is Namibia’s Nkasa Rupara National Park.
Around these 2 rivers are riverine woodlands, open woodlands as well as lagoons, and the rest of the region mainly consists of flood plains.
There are here large concentrations of the lion, leopard, African wild dog, roan antelope, sable antelope, a hippopotamus pod and enormous herds of elephants. The rarer red lechwe, sitatunga and bask of crocodiles also occur in the area. Bird life is very rich here.
Between Linyanti and Savuti Marshes lies a hot and dry hinterland, mainly occupied by the Nogatsaa grass woodland. This section is little known and is a great place for spotting elands.
Elephant concentration
The park is widely known for its spectacular elephant population: It contains an estimated 50,000 elephants, perhaps the highest elephant concentration of Africa, and part of the largest continuous surviving elephant population.
The elephant population seems to have solidly built up since 1990, from a few thousand. Elephants living here are Kalahari elephants, the largest in size of all known elephant populations.
They are characterized by rather brittle ivory and short tusks, perhaps due to calcium deficiency in the soils. Damage caused by the high numbers of elephants is rife in some areas.
In fact, concentration is so high throughout Chobe that culls have been considered, but are too controversial and have thus far been rejected. At dry season, these elephants sojourn in Chobe River and the Linyanti River areas.
At rain season, they make a 200-km migration to the southeast stretch of the park. Their distribution zone however outreaches the park and spreads to northwestern Zimbabwe.
Roads
Road conditions in Chobe National Park depend greatly on the season and rainfall and one would need a 4×4 vehicle to travel in the Park.
Thick sand becomes a problem in the Chobe River Front during the dry months, particularly as the temperature rises and during the wet season the roads near the river become muddy.
Savuti
Savuti roads, mainly the western Sandridge Road from Mababe Gate and the roads both north and south of the Savuti channel are typically thick sand and tricky to drive.
When rain has fallen, driving along the marsh roads, as the wet black cotton soil becomes unnavigable, carries the rick of getting stuck.
Nogatsaa
Nogatsaa roads are waterlogged during the wet months and very little of the road network can be driven at this time. During the dry months, game drives from one pan to the next are on roads with small, thick sandy patches.
Once leaving the tar road from Kasane, people would have to drive through thick sand for the first 20 km (12 mi), before reaching a sand road.
Chobe Accommodation
Chobe Accommodation is private lodges and tented camps inside the Chobe national park. There are also some lodges on the outskirts of the park’s borders and located in the Chobe Forest Reserve or Elephant valley.
We refer to them as Chobe Accommodation as they are in the wild. Chobe Park has no fences, so animals move through the Forest reserve and elephant valley region.
These lodges are on concession areas and are off limits to the public. Chobe accommodation strives to uplift a high level of eco-tourism.
These lodges and tented camps are within the natural environment. It is not uncommon to have wildlife all around you when visiting these properties.
There are a few lodge and accommodation groups and individual owners. The groups offer a set standard, and you can be assured to expect the same level of service and quality throughout these properties.
Chobe accommodations offer fully inclusive packages for the duration of your stay. These properties are remote, and access is generally by charter plane and 4×4 safari vehicles only. These lodges don’t accommodate self-drive clients.
This exclusion allows for controlling conservation and the environment. You need to make arrangements before your arrival.
No children under 12 at these lodges. The age limit will be for the safety of the families as children are vulnerable to predators roaming free in these natural surroundings.
Chobe accommodation offers fully inclusive services during your stay. The remoteness of these lodges makes it easier to include all services provided.
Activities will consist of game drives, nature walks, boat trips, and birding. Some concessions allow for night game drives.
The rates seem high. Once you experience these remote locations, you will understand the logistics that are required in offering these luxurious accommodations.
