The Chobe River runs along the northern border of the Chobe National Park in the far north-east of Botswana. The river is the border between Botswana and Namibia. It then flows into the Zambezi River which borders Namibia and Zambia and Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The river is a buzz of wildlife and activity. Much like most of the national parks in Botswana, the wildlife population is abundant. With that, however, brings more tourism. There are quite a few boat safaris along the river, as well as a few permanently set up houseboats. It wasn’t too busy while we were there, though I can imagine it getting quite crowded during the peak season.
During the dry, winter season the river is packed with elephants, all gathering around to cool off and drink in the river. We were there in November and they had already had some decent rains so the elephants and large population of antelope had already migrated into the Savuti marshlands. I’ll admit to being really disappointed about this as elephants are my favourite animals, and the main reason that I fell in love with Botswana on my first trip into the country. Nonetheless, we still saw loads of animals and I was able to fall a little bit more in love with the hippos of the river.
For other elephant and wildlife lovers, the best time to go is during the winter months of May through to September / October. However for serious bird lovers, the Chobe area is amazing in the wet summer months when the migrant birds are in full colour, and the antelope start having their young. I have never seen so many baby impalas!
Chobe River Safari Cruise
Most of the lodges in the area will likely have their own boat, like Ngoma Safari Lodge where we stayed. They offer an activity for a full day safari which kicks off with a river safari cruise in the morning, followed by a game drive for the rest of the day. It’s a whole lot easier when your accommodation sorts this all out for you, as you then don’t have to worry about transfers to and from the river as well as trying to find a decent tour company to take you. The boat that we went on was quite spacious, comfortably fitting seven of us (with space for a few more!).
The cruise probably lasted about two hours, though I was having so much fun I didn’t take note of the time. We saw some incredible sightings while on the river, including hippos, crocodiles, antelope, buffalos, lions, and a few birds. We then saw even more wildlife on our afternoon game drive after the cruise. So, all in all, it was a great game viewing day.
Chobe River Safari Cruise in 12 Photos
When describing a safari, the best way is always with photos. So I’ve picked out twelve of my favourite photos from the boat cruise, that I hope will relay how incredible the experience was.
The beautiful Chobe River. The calm river has a mirror effect of the clouds from above. It’s the most peaceful environment.
This photo was actually taken while on the game drive already, but we saw this pride of lions from the river and this was taken right next to the river. This young male was walking back to the pride under the tree after having a drink in the river.
A crocodile just chilling on the banks of the river, I caught this pic just as he was going into the water after getting tired of us staring.
A hippo standing in a shallow section of the river.
We were lucky enough to see quite a few fish eagles, one of my favourite birds!
If this guy didn’t peak his head up we would never had known he was there. Made us think what else was lurking below the boat that we had no idea about…
A mother waterbuck sitting and watching over her young.
A lechwe on the banks of the Chobe River.
Hippos just chilling in the water.
A houseboat parked on the Namibian side of the Chobe River.
We came across a huge family of baboons on the side of the river. This guy looking particularly handsome (if you can even call baboons handsome…).
We learn’t that the Cape Buffalo is one of the most dangerous animals in Africa – purely because they don’t mock charge you, they just go for it.
Thank you to Africa Albida Tourism and fastjet for sponsoring this trip. As always, all views and opinions expressed are my own.
Interested in a trip to Chobe and Victoria Falls? Here’s the Perfect Six-Day Victoria Falls and Botswana Itinerary.
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