Chobe National Park and Linyanti

Botswana

Chobe National Park and Linyanti

The first safari park to be formed in Botswana, and to this day the most-visited, Chobe is a vast wilderness that is perhaps best famous for its staggering elephant and buffalo herds. With four distinct eco-systems, ranging from lush floodplains to mopane forest, Chobe arguably provides a greater variety of terrain than Botswana's other great game regions.

I would like to thank you for organising such a wonderful safari... the 3 of us loved every minute of it.
Adrienne, Conrad and Andrew

Botswana's original safari park, Chobe offers a classic big game safari experience in a region famed for its elephant and buffalo populations.

Chobe provides a greater variety of terrain than Botswana's other great game parks, the central Kalahari and Okavango Delta. It boasts four distinct eco-systems, ranging from huge floodplains formed by the Chobe River, to mopane forest and large expanses of savannah in the western Savuti area.

Thanks to this varied landscape, you can expect to see a diversity of game when you visit Chobe; healthy populations of lion, cheetah, hippo and zebra are to be found throughout the park, alongside plentiful plains game and the huge herds of buffalo for which Chobe is famous.

Chobe is famous above all, however, for having the largest concentration of elephants in Africa. The Chobe elephants can be seen in huge herds throughout the park (and have even been known to wander the streets of Kasane, the largest town in the region). The Chobe elephants are itinerant, and each year complete seasonal migrations of up to 200 kilometres to reach the southeast of the park, where they disperse during the rains. Mammoth herds numbering in the hundreds are not an uncommon sight.

In the furthest corner of Chobe National Park lies the Linyanti region. Secluded and remote, this short strip of marshy river frontage connects Chobe to the Okavango Delta. It has only a handful of safari camps (the Linyanti region as a whole accommodates barely 100 guests), and as such offers a highly intimate safari experience. The terrain has more in common with the Delta wetlands than Chobe, but in the dry season (June-October), Linyanti offers a game-viewing experience to rival the core territories of Chobe, with particularly good wild dog sightings.

In and around Chobe & Linyanti, Botswana
Game viewing in Chobe is conducted primarily in 4x4 vehicles, though walking safaris are also an option at some camps located outside the boundaries of the national park; fly-camping also offers an adventurous safari experience. Water-based safaris naturally aren’t as much of an emphasis in Chobe as in the Okavango, but most of the camps located on the water’s edge do offer boat safaris (nearly always in motorised boats).

The core game-viewing areas of Chobe - the Chobe Riverfront and, to a lesser extent, the Savuti Marsh - tend to get very busy with visitors, attracting both day trippers and those on extended safaris. Linyanti offers a much more intimate safari experience, as do the private reserves of the Okavango. You can escape the crowds in Chobe, however, if you visit the right areas or opt for a mobile safari.

Linyanti is divided into three private concessions—Linyanti, Kwando, and Selinda—and has only a small number of safari camps. If travelling in peak season, you’ll need to book in advance.

Featured itineraries

Victoria Falls & Chobe National Park

This classic six-day safari route covers the magnificent Victoria Falls in Zambia as well as Botswana's Chobe National Park. Starting in Livingstone, you’ll have time to enjoy a variety of excursions and activities focused in and around the Falls, before heading south to Chobe, Botswana’s first and, many would argue, finest safari park.

Destination

Botswana

Experience

Safari and Wildlife Holidays

Prices from £1945 pp

Caprivi and Chobe Safari

This exclusive one week safari will take you to the eastern corner of the Caprivi Strip, where Namibia meets Botswana and Zambia at the confluence of the Zambezi and Chobe Rivers. Staying at the fabulous Chobe Water Villas, you’ll have the chance to explore both Chobe National Park and the remote safari territories of the Caprivi Strip.

Destination

Namibia

Experience

Safari and Wildlife Holidays
Honeymoons and Weddings

Prices from £2135 pp

Khwai, Chobe and Victoria Falls

Stay in one of the Okavango Delta's newest luxury safari camps, Sable Alley, on this 8-night safari itinerary covering the Delta, Moremi Game Reserve and Chobe National Park.

Destination

Botswana
Zambia

Experience

Safari and Wildlife Holidays

Prices from £3375 pp

Southern Africa Odyssey

20-day small group safari exploring Cape Town, Chobe National Park, the Caprivi Strip, and the Victoria Falls. This is a small group tour departing at fixed dates throughout the year.

Destination

Botswana
Namibia
South Africa
Zambia

Experience

Safari and Wildlife Holidays

Prices from £3060 pp

Botswana Green Season Special

This one week safari itinerary visits the most exclusive wildlife areas of Botswana - Linyanti and the Okavango Delta. You will experience superb game viewing with knowledgeable guides and will be accommodated in luxury, fully-inclusive safari camps throughout.

Destination

Botswana

Experience

Safari and Wildlife Holidays

Prices from £2795 pp

Liuwa Plain, Chobe and Victoria Falls

This affordable camping safari offers you the opportunity to explore one of central Africa’s most remote national parks, Zambia’s Liuwa Plain. In November, Liuwa hosts the continent’s second largest wildebeest migration, and is also renowned for its hyena and wild dog hunting packs, famously captured in David Attenborough’s ‘The Hunt’. While the five days spent in Liuwa form the focus of this safari, the programme also includes time in Chobe National Park and in visiting the Victoria Falls.

Destination

Zambia
Botswana
Zimbabwe

Experience

Safari and Wildlife Holidays

Prices from £2360 pp