Having seen White Rhinos at the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia, I signed up for a safari to the Chobe National Park in Botswana, in the hope of seeing some more Big Game.
I was staying at the excellent Elephant Trail Backpackers in Kazungula, Kasane and with a fellow guest, I signed up for their Chobe National Park Combo Tour. It included a 6-hour Game Drive and, after lunch, a 3-hour boat cruise.
There don’t seem to be tourist agencies for Chobe National Park. Each lodge seems to operate its own tours. So, as a solo traveller, I was happy to find another traveller ready to go. It is also the low season now.
Chobe National Park is famous for the Big 4.
The Big Five are the African Elephant, Lion, Buffalo, Leopard, and Rhino. These beautiful animals were the most sought-after by hunters who saw the dead carcasses as nothing more than trophies. They were as hypocritical as the Swiss, who Ooo and Rrrrr over animals in the Summer and then return in the Fall to shoot them.
Chobe doesn’t have Rhinos. Luckily, I had seen them in Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park back across the border in Zambia.
And if you want to see the Great Wildebeest Migration in the Serengeti National Park, you’ll need to go on a Safari in Tanzania.
But there is so much more to Chobe National Park or any other National Park in Africa than just the Big 5. It seems that the Big 5 are as popular today with tourists and now Instagrammers as they were with hunters back in the day. If you didn’t see the Big 5, then what were you doing in Africa all that time. Perhaps that’s one reason why I never bothered before.
Pick up is at 05:30
It’s a 30-minute drive to the Chobe National Park. We get there at 6 am:
African sunrise through the dust:
Then we drove, seemingly randomly but the driver knows the way of the animals, where to find them depending on the time of the day. They have a daily ritual just like us.
Elephants are pretty common in this region and having seen quite a few of them in my time here, you can’t help but be impressed by these magnificent beasts:
I love to watch the Impala:
You see warthogs everywhere:
Giraffes are so elegant and graceful, don’t you think?
And then I spotted a Jackal. Jackals love to scavenge and when you see one, it’s a sure sign that there is ‘something’ near by. And that something was a young African Buffalo. Taken down by a male lion, probably the night before:
Apologies for the mediocre photos. It’s really not easy with a cell phone. And anyway, I much prefer to take a few shots and then spend my time watching them:
Then we headed to a water hole. Elephants galore:
We saw the African Buffalo down by the Chobe River, a long way off, which we saw, much closer, on the Chobe National Park Sunset Cruise and zebras, Kudus, Tsessebes, Vultures, Eagles, Baboons.
I am so glad I made this safari. And recommend the Combo-Tour because much of the wildlife is seen after 9 am.
Then back at the Elephant Trail Backpackers, there is the lunch cooked by the lovely staff and then you can freshen up a bit before being picked up at 2:30 pm for the Chobe River Sunset safari.
It has been a fantastic way to wrap up my 2023 African Safari #NomadicBackacker