Nata to Kasane – Chobe National Park, Botswana
Our journey starts from the Kalahari sands of Nata and ends at Kasane, where we have lunch and a quick siesta before exploring the Chobe National Park by boat. Our leisurely boat cruise allows us to witness the numerous elephants that frequent the river during the afternoon hours, allowing us to get up close and personal with them.
The second biggest park in all of Botswana, Chobe National Park spreads over approximately 11,700 square kilometres of northern Botswana. The Park forms part of the medley of lakes, islands and floodplains created from the river systems of the Kwanda, Linyanti and Chobe Rivers. This region is well-known for it’s enormous buffalo and elephant herds – the population of which is presently around 120,000. The Chobe elephants migrate often and travel up to 200 kilometres from the Chobe and Linyanti rivers, where they gather during the dry season, to the pans in the southeast portion of the park during rainy season. These Kalahari elephants are identified by their frail ivory and short tusks which is possibly due to the lack of calcium in the soils. Because of their high population, much damage to vegetation is caused in certain areas and therefore, culls have been considered but never carried out due to the enormous controversy surrounding the act.
The initial inhabitants of this region were the San people, known in Botswana as the ‘Basarwa’. They were nomadic hunter-gatherers who traveled from place to place searching for the next source of food and water. The San were eventually forced out by groups of the Basubiya people and, in 1911, a congregation of Batawana moved to the area. It was decided in 1931 that a national park would be erected in order to guard the wildlife from extinction as well as to attract tourists. In 1932, an area of approximately 24,000 square kilometres in the Chobe region was declared as a non-hunting zone. Throughout the years, the boundaries of the park have been modified and the people who have settled in the region have been progressively relocated. Chobe National Park was eventually completely rid of human occupation in the year 1975, and in 1980 (and once more in 1986) the boundaries were once again altered to it’s current size.
Accommodation: Two per Room Thebe River Safaris or Kwalape Safari Lodge
Facilities: En-suites facilities Please visit the website of the accommodation provider for a full list of the facilities offered
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Route: Nata to Kasane
Included Highlight: Chobe National Park Boat Cruise
