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Wildebeest and zebras in Chobe National Park

408 · The Wider World

Chobe National Park

A great river landscape provides a distinctive setting for understanding wildlife movement and seasonal concentrations.

PhotographGorgo · Public domain

Summary

Chobe National Park is a wildlife landscape in Botswana, with a major river environment alongside woodland and other habitats. The Chobe River shapes animal movement and seasonal concentrations along its banks.

The river gives wildlife watching a distinctive structure. Water, floodplain and animals can be understood together, adding ecological meaning to the park’s celebrated large-mammal encounters.

401–500 · The Wider World

The essentials

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Allow time

4 days as an initial allowance, excluding approach travel

Choose a base

Kasane or a chosen Chobe camp

Getting there

Use Kasane for the Chobe riverfront, with lodge transfers from the airport or regional road routes. Savuti requires a different, longer safari transfer.

Plan ahead

Book river cruises, game drives and accommodation ahead. For self-drive camping, confirm campsite reservations and vehicle requirements for the particular sector.

Practical notes updated 30 September 2026. Visitor information and sources

Botswana · Nature
Country guidesBotswana
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The essential experience.

A detail that changes the visit

The riverfront and more remote park sectors need different routes and time allowances.

The riverfront of Chobe National Park
Chobe River Front, BotswanaPhoto: Joachim Huber from Switzerland · CC BY-SA 2.0

For the curious reader

History, landscape and context.

Chobe National Park is Botswana's first national park, and also its most biologically diverse. The park contains the wetlands of the Chobe River, which flows into Victoria Falls and the Zambezi to the East. Located in the north of the country, the park is part of the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, and partially borders Namibia's Caprivi Strip. The original inhabitants of this area were the San bushmen, known as the Basarwa people in Botswana. The San are nomadic hunter-gatherers who were constantly moving from place to place to find food sources, namely fruit, water and wild animals. San paintings can be found inside rocky hills of the park.

Abridged background from Chobe National Park, by Wikipedia contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and shortened; this adapted background remains under the same licence. Retrieved 23 September 2026. Source revision.

Brown-hooded Kingfisher
Brown-hooded KingfisherPhoto: Christoph Strässler · CC BY-SA 2.0
Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) in Chobe National Park, Botswana
Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) in Chobe National Park, BotswanaPhoto: Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 4.0

From inspiration to a practical plan

Plan your visit.

Physical demands
Game drives involve rough tracks; boat trips add boarding steps. Remote sectors require much more self-sufficiency.
The consequential detail
The riverfront and more remote park sectors need different routes and time allowances.
Add to my travel workbenchResearch access requirements

Through the seasons

A place in the world.

Botswana.

A place in the world
Chobe National Park location mapChobe National Park location map

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Map: Natural Earth
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In pictures.

Watch Chobe’s riverbanks for the movement of elephants and other wildlife towards water.

Wildebeest and zebras in Chobe National ParkPhoto: Gorgo, Public domain
Brown-hooded KingfisherPhoto: Christoph Strässler, CC BY-SA 2.0
The riverfront of Chobe National ParkPhoto: Joachim Huber from Switzerland, CC BY-SA 2.0
Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) in Chobe National Park, BotswanaPhoto: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0
Rear view of a male common impala in Chobe National Park, BotswanaPhoto: Matti Blume, CC BY-SA 4.0
African elephant (Loxodonta africana) in Chobe National Park, BotswanaPhoto: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0
An African jacana on the Chobe RiverPhoto: Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa, CC BY 2.0
The landscape beside the Chobe RiverPhoto: Joachim Huber from Switzerland, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Follow the connection

Keep exploring.

Explore more places in the same country.

Flooded channels and islands from above

63 · Botswana

Okavango Delta

Floodwater brings a moving mosaic of life to the Kalahari.

Rock paintings in the Tsodilo Hills

251 · Botswana

Tsodilo Hills

Rock paintings within an isolated group of desert hills.

Useful links and further reading.

Choose a source for the job: official visitor information for access, the UNESCO record for the named property’s designation, and background or library resources for deeper reading.

Read · Wikipedia

Chobe National Park: background reading

Encyclopaedic context and its bibliography. Follow the cited research for a deeper examination of particular claims.

External resource. Check the provider for access and current arrangements.

Visit · Wikivoyage

Find travel information for Chobe National Park

A clearly labelled search of the community travel guide; check the page’s coverage and the age of practical details.

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Books · WorldCat

Find books about Chobe National Park

Search library holdings and editions, useful for finding specialist histories, field guides and works beyond a general travel guide.

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Maps · OpenStreetMap

Explore the local map

Inspect the surrounding area.

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Visitor information behind these practical notes