Chobe National Park, Botswana & Namibia

We flew into Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, on Saturday 22nd December and immediately drove to Botswana to begin our adventure...

We passed numerous herds of elephants roaming the major highway and hundreds of trucks waiting to catch a ferry into Zambia (apparently trucks can regularly wait up to 2 weeks). We were very happy to have our transfer organised as road signs do not appear to be a priority in Botswana. From what we saw around Kasane and discussed with local Batswanans, there appears to be a better distribution of wealth in Botswana than South Africa. They have a very buoyant economy from mining and a stable government since Independence in 1965 and appear to be a lot more supportive to the less privileged. The minimum standard of living was certainly higher with locals living at least a brick houses with power and running water.

We were staying at Elephant Valley Lodge for a couple of nights which is nestled in a forest, 2km down a narrow sandy red dirt track from the main highway. It is just outside the boundary of Chobe National Park; however, seeing there are no fences around the NP animals roam freely around the area. Thank goodness there was a perimeter fence around our tents!

Beers at the end of the day- tough life!

Wet season is from December to ~March, therefore the savannah was luscious & very green. Whilst it made a good cover for some of the animals to hide behind, we still saw a lot of game. We were taken on a safari twice daily into Chobe NP which was amazing. We saw herds of buffalo, prides of lions, literally hundreds of elephants, spotted hyena, wild dogs at prey (we saw them kill an impala on the side of the Chobe River which was exhilarating), hippo's, crocodiles, hundreds of birds of bright colours, the list goes on and on.....

Bin & Jen with the vista at Elephant Valley Lodge

The most exciting experiences were seeing lions and hearing their impressive roars (we saw a large pride everyday), witnessing the kill of an impala by a pack of wild dogs (very rare to even see wild dogs let alone witness a kill), and roaming amongst herds of elephants. The largest herd we saw had over 50 elephants...

Wild dogs shortly after the kill

Due to booking the holiday so late, we got to sample 3 different types of accommodation within the area!

Second stop was the Chobe Savanna Lodge in Namibia, where we stayed for 2 nights. Passing through customs was a unique experience. We arrived in Namibia by a small tin boat from Botswana and were told to 'follow the rocky path about 1km up the bank and then you will see the customs office'. Thoughts of dead or alive did cross our mind....

The Chobe Savanna Lodge in late evening sun

The Savanna Lodge was very relaxing and offered superb views of the Chobe River. Their speciality is river cruises along the Chobe River so we went on those twice a day. The advantage of this was the ability to get a little closer to hippo's, although not too close. They are the most feared animals by Africans.

A highlight of this accommodation was a visit to Kasenu, a remote Namibian village. The Lodge employs some people who come from this village and they wanted to share with us their way of life. They live in traditional mud brick houses with thatch roofing. Certainly no plumbing or electricity! There are some canvas tents which were given to them from the government 2 years ago after massive floods in the area. They all wear a mismatch of western style clothing and appear quite fashionable, given their circumstances. The lodge was giving them some clothes they had collected over the year. It was hilarious watching the clothing being distributed as a lot of the girls was a bit unhappy by what they were given- most of it was very old, an odd fit & unfashionable!!


Last stop was Chobe Game Lodge which is in the National Park in Botswana. We once again passed through customs (this time we were old hands!) back to Botswana. They specialised in local cuisine with game including buffalo, impala, kudu and warthog. The braai of kudu was our favourite- a delicious tender smoked flavour.

The sunsets were stunning in Chobe National Park.