Things to do in Chobe National Park
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Chobe National Park
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season begins, game returning to the rivers, cool mornings on open vehicles, roads reliable.
Peak Riverfront game with the largest elephant gatherings. September and October are very hot.
Wet green season, peak birding, Savuti zebra migration, dispersed Riverfront game and difficult interior roads.
Shoulder compromise of birds, falling or lower rates and game returning to the rivers.
What's on
- Zebra migration to the Savuti Marsh November to March
Zebra herds move onto the Savuti Marsh with the rains to graze and foal, followed by predators.
- Southern carmine bee-eater nesting season September to March
Colonies nest in the Chobe River banks, the Riverfront's great birding spectacle.
Best things to do in Chobe National Park
Chobe Riverfront
The core Riverfront drive for lions following buffalo, leopard in the forest and elephant herds at the water.
Sedudu Island
Large river island grazed by buffalo, elephant and puku, circumnavigated by afternoon boat safaris.
Serondela Picnic Spot
Designated picnic site where you may leave the vehicle, eat a packed lunch and watch the floodplain.
Savuti Channel
Unpredictable channel that flows or dries for years at a time and decides the character of Savuti.
Gubatsa Hills
Low rocky hills holding San rock paintings, visited as a short guided stop on Savuti game drives.
Kwikamba Pan
Largest clay pan in Nogatsaa, pumped in the dry season and watched by the region's only lodge.
Linyanti Marsh
North-western wetlands for dry-season elephant and buffalo herds, wild dog, sable, lechwe and sitatunga.
Puku Flats
Quiet western floodplain named for its puku, with lechwe, buffalo and elephant away from Sedudu crowds.
Where to stay in Chobe National Park
Riverfront, inside the park
pure Riverfront safari without a gate queue
One permanent lodge, one mobile luxury camp and the Ihaha public campsite, all inside the fence on the river.
Savuti
predators, the marsh and the wet-season zebra migration
Luxury channel lodges, one small mid-range tented camp, a mobile camp and the SKL public campsite in the south-west.
Linyanti and Chobe Enclave
walking, night drives, mokoro and wild dog country
Private concession camps with activities the national park cannot offer, plus five public campsite pitches on the river.
Nogatsaa
exclusivity and the quietest game viewing in Chobe
Exactly one lodge over Kwikamba Pan, with no campsite and no mid-range alternative in the region.
Western Riverfront, Chobe Forest Reserve
the quiet end of the river through Ngoma Gate
Forest reserve lodges outside the fence with game moving freely between reserve and park, minutes from Ngoma Gate.
Chobe River houseboats
a slow river safari and whole-boat group charters
Houseboats sleeping on the river itself, boarded through Kasane immigration, viewing the park by tender boat.
Think twice about
- Nogatsaa without a lodge booking
There is no public campsite and no other bed in the region, so arriving unbooked leaves a long track back to a gate.
- Savuti and Linyanti interior tracks in heavy rain
Deep sand turns to mud, roads close in wet months, and recovery is hours away. Travel in convoy with satellite communications.
- Victoria Falls town as a base for Savuti or Linyanti
A Riverfront day trip from the Falls works, but the interior regions are expedition stays and cannot be done as border-crossing day trips.
- The Chobe and Linyanti rivers for swimming or wading
Crocodiles and hippos make any entry into the water lethal, however calm it looks from a boat or a deck.
Best restaurants in Chobe National Park
Serondela Picnic Spot
Self-catered picnic tables on the Riverfront circuit, the lunch of a self-drive park day.
Savuti Campsite
Campsite tuck shop selling basic groceries and drinks, the only food shop in the park interior.
Camp Savuti
Cooked camp meals on the Savuti Channel for Camp Savuti guests, the only hot food in mid-range Savuti.
andBeyond Chobe Under Canvas
Fire-cooked communal meals under the stars at the mobile Riverfront camp, for guests only.
Chobe Game Lodge
Full lodge dining with river views inside the park, for the lodge's own guests only.
Linyanti Bush Camp
Concession camp table with private deck dining at its Ebony sister camp, for guests only.
Zambezi Queen
All-inclusive upper deck dining served while the houseboat moves between Chobe River moorings.
Outdoor things to do in Chobe National Park
Sedudu Gate
Entry for self-driving the Riverfront in your own high-clearance 4x4, paying only park and vehicle fees.
Savuti Marsh
Wet-season zebra migration ground and dry-season predator arena, seen on drives from the Savuti camps.
Linyanti River
Mokoro, boating and catch-and-release fishing from the concession camps when water levels permit.
Chobe Enclave
Private concession land where guided walking, night drives and scenic helicopter flights are legal.
Chobe National Park Mobile Camping Safari
Fully serviced mobile camping moving between Riverfront and Savuti with guide, crew, tents and meals.
Chobe River
Specialist birding by small boat and vehicle for skimmers, carmine bee-eaters and Pel's fishing owl.
Best hotels in Chobe National Park
Chobe Game Lodge
Only permanent lodge inside the park, starting drives inside the fence with no Sedudu Gate queue.
andBeyond Chobe Under Canvas
Five-tent mobile luxury camp on the northern Riverfront with private boat cruises and fire-cooked meals.
Ihaha Campsite
Public riverside campsite inside the park, so you wake on the Riverfront tracks at gate opening.
Savute Elephant Lodge, a Belmond Safari
Belmond's twelve-tent luxury lodge above the Savuti Channel, with a hide at its own waterhole.
Savute Safari Lodge
Thatch and timber chalets on the Savuti Channel with drives to the marsh and the Gubatsa paintings.
Ghoha Hills Savuti Lodge
Hilltop lodge near Ghoha Gate serving Savuti from the north, with long views and its own waterhole.
Camp Savuti
Five-tent SKL camp on the Savuti Channel, the honest mid-range guided base in Savuti.
andBeyond Savute Under Canvas
Serviced mobile camp by the Savuti Channel with fire-cooked meals and drives in predator country.
Is Chobe National Park expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | BWP 1,500 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | BWP 6,000 a person |
| Splurge | BWP 18,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Kwikamba Pan: weeks ahead
- Savuti Marsh: weeks ahead
- Linyanti River: weeks ahead
- Chobe Enclave: weeks ahead
- Chobe National Park Mobile Camping Safari: weeks ahead
- Chobe River: a few days ahead
- Chobe Game Lodge: months ahead
- andBeyond Chobe Under Canvas: months ahead
- Book Ihaha, Savuti and Linyanti campsites and the small Savuti and concession camps months ahead for June to October.
- Confirm park fees at booking, as the fee rise proposed for April 2026 was postponed and may return.
- Carry cash as well as a card for gates, because gate card machines do not always work.
Is Chobe National Park safe?
- Never walk in an unfenced camp after dark, and never swim or wade in the Chobe or Linyanti rivers.
- Give elephant herds, mothers with calves and bulls in musth a wide berth, on tracks and in camps.
- Chobe is a malaria area, highest roughly October to May, so take prophylaxis advice and cover up at dusk.
- Carry evacuation insurance, as serious treatment means evacuation to Kasane and onward to a major hospital.
Chobe National Park travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- One-day Riverfront trips sold as the whole of Chobe, which has four regions.
- Big Five marketing for Chobe, as rhino are essentially absent from its visitor regions.
- Expecting walks or night drives inside the national park, which are concession activities only.
- Driving the Kasane to Savuti track on a day-trip timetable without recovery kit or satellite communications.
Getting around Chobe National Park: public transport and more
- Sedudu Gate is 6 to 8 km west of Kasane and minutes from Kasane International Airport.
- Savuti is a 40 to 45 minute charter flight from Kasane or roughly 170 km of sand track via Ghoha Gate.
- Gate hours are 06:00 to 18:30 from April to September and 05:30 to 19:00 from October to March.
- There is no fuel, food or supply shop between the gates and the interior camps.
Who Chobe National Park suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Chobe National Park your trip
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