Chobe National Park: Visitor and Heritage Guide

The short version

Chobe is Botswana's most visited park and its most accessible, reached by road from Kasane (BBK) rather than only by light aircraft. It is known above all for elephants, which gather along the Chobe River in the dry season in numbers that are difficult to convey.

⚠ It is not a World Heritage Site

We say so plainly because Botswana does have two — the Okavango Delta and Tsodilo — and it would be easy to let the designation drift onto the country's best-known park. Chobe does not carry it, and does not need it.

The elephants

Botswana holds one of the largest elephant populations in Africa, and northern Botswana is its core. In the dry months, when inland water sources have gone, elephants move to the permanent river and gather along its frontage to drink, bathe and cross — in family groups, then in groups of groups, in the late afternoon, for hours.

Watching that from a boat, at eye level and without an engine running, is the single best thing Chobe does. It is also the reason a Chobe river cruise is on almost every Botswana itinerary and belongs on yours.

The park has four quite different parts

• The Chobe Riverfront — the northern strip along the river, the busiest and most accessible section, and where the elephant congregations happen. Game drives and boat cruises both run from Kasane.
• Savuti — inland and drier, famous for predators and for the unpredictable Savuti Channel, which has dried up and flowed again several times over the last century for reasons that are still argued about. Lion here have a long-documented association with hunting elephant.
• Linyanti and Selinda — marshland in the north-west, quieter, with private concessions and excellent wild dog.
• Nogatsaa — remote pans in the park's interior, seldom visited.

When to go

The dry season, May to October, is when the river frontage performs, improving steadily as the interior dries and reaching its peak in September and October. The green season is much quieter, greener and better for birds and newborn animals, with wildlife dispersed away from the river.

Why Chobe suits some travelers particularly well

It is the least demanding of Botswana's great parks. You can reach it by road, stay in a substantial hotel or lodge in or near Kasane, and see extraordinary wildlife from a boat without a bush flight or a night in a tent. For families, for travelers with mobility needs, and for anyone combining Botswana with Victoria Falls, that matters — see our accessibility guide.

The trade-off is that the riverfront is the busiest area in Botswana. If solitude is what you are paying for, pair Chobe with a private concession elsewhere.

Victoria Falls is next door

Kasane sits close to the meeting point of four countries, and Victoria Falls — on the Zambia and Zimbabwe border — is a short drive and a border crossing away. The Kazungula Bridge to Zambia, opened in 2021, replaced the old ferry and made this much simpler. See our Victoria Falls guide for the Zambian side.

Practicalities

• Malaria is present in this part of the country; see our safety guide.
• Book the boat for late afternoon. The light and the elephants both improve.
• Elephants have right of way on the roads, in every sense.
• Kasane has fuel, banks and shops — the last convenient ones before the deeper parks.

Visiting with LABUSA Travel

Chobe pairs naturally with the Okavango for a full Botswana trip, or with Victoria Falls for a shorter one that still delivers a great river and great elephants. We will tell you which combination fits the time you actually have.