Botswana Travel Guide to Chobe

River boat safari. Elephants on Chobe River
Chobe River Boat Safari

The Chobe River is the northern boundary of the Chobe National Park, where the great elephant concentrations occur on the river during the dry season. The national park encompasses a vast area that also includes Savuti.



More Elephants than You Can Shake a Stick At

Historically the elephants’ migration routes took in the Chobe River, Caprivi Strip of Namibia and the Zambezi floodplains in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Thirty years ago a liberation war was happening in the Caprivi Strip and the elephant fell victim to mass poaching from the military of both sides.

Elephants stopped moving across into the Caprivi and instead gathered on the Chobe River which became their dry season feeding grounds due to the permanent water.
With the end of hostilities the elephants are crossing again.

Botswana has a low impact tourism policy, however, Chobe has been allowed to open to high impact tourism due to its location. With a number of large hotels and lodges on the river and with its closeness to Victoria Falls it is an area of heavy traffic but controls have been put in place to limit the impact. And there are more than enough elephants to go around.

Staying in Chobe

There is a range of accommodation in Chobe, from camping to very upmarket safari lodges and luxury hotels, that these package tours visit.

Elegant Spa and Romance
Chobe River Houseboat Excursion
Colonial River Island Retreat
Self Drive Caprivi and Vic Falls
Chobe Mobile Camping Safari

The Best Time to Travel

For elephant lovers and safari fanatics, the great elephant concentrations on the Chobe River occur during the winter months of May through to September / October.
However for serious birding enthusiasts the Chobe area is spectacular in the wet summer months when the migrant birds are in full colour, and antelope start dropping their young.