Victoria Falls – Kasane – Chobe National Park , Botswana

We start the day with a delicious breakfast before we travel to the Botswana border crossing into Kasane where we setup camp on the banks on the Chobe River. We begin our day exploring the park in 4×4 vehicles where we enjoy up close and personal experiences with elephants along the river. Our day ends in the afternoon with an incredible sunset cruise and enjoy a delicious meal around a camp fire.

The second biggest park in all of Botswana, Chobe National Park spreads over approximately 10,600 square kilometres of northern Botswana. The park forms part of the medley of lakes, islands and floodplains created by 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. They can be identified by their frail ivory and short tusks which is probably 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 travelled 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. During 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 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, increasing the park to it’s current size.

Accommodation: Camp: Thebe River Safaris
Facilities: Shared Ablutions Please visit the website of the accommodation provider for a full list of the facilities offered.
Route: Victoria Falls to Kasane ±100 kms
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Included Highlight: Afternoon Boat Cruise
Optional Activity: Visit the falls, bungee jump, gorge swing, helicopter flights
Border Post: Zimbabwe: Kazangula Road, Open: 06h00-20h00. Botswana: Kazangula Road, Tel: +267 62 50330, Open: 06h00-20h00