Chobe National Park

Chobe - Home of the Elephant

Established in 1968 and covering 11,700km2 (4450 sq miles), this vast northern park, named after the Chobe River, encompasses a variety of diverse habitats which are home to the greatest concentration of game on the southern African subcontinent. From the dense riverine forests and swamplands of Chobe and Linyanti, towards the eastern Nogatsaa region, the countryside changes first to mopane and mixed deciduous forest, and then to open grassy plains and rocky kopje outcrops at Savuti in the southwest. Due to the seasonal availability of water across this vast terrain, Chobe is the site of a dramatic annual zebra migration. At this time the roads become almost impassable, congested with tens of thousands of animals forming a solid mass moving across the landscape. Throughout the year herds of elephant and buffalo can be seen drinking along the river’s edge, their numbers swelling into the hundreds and sometimes thousands during the dry season. The park has four distinct areas: the Chobe River frontage including Serondela; the central area around Nogatsaa and the associated pans, which attract great concentrations of wildlife long into the dry season; Linyanti with its riverine marshes and papyrus beds; and the Savuti area which includes the Mababe Depression. The most commonly used route into the park is via Kasane, near the Kazungula border post where the four countries of Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia meet at a single point.

KASANE
This scenic little town just east of the national park entrance gate is strung out along a shady tree-lined avenue on the Chobe river bank and is 12km (7 miles) west of Kazungula at the end of the main highway. The boundary of the Chobe National Park butts right up to the western edge of the town and, as it is unfenced, many animals including elephant and hippo can be seen wandering casually through the streets and camp sites of Kasane. There are several shops, garages, banks and river lodges in the village, which is also serviced by one of Botswana’s few international airports, just some 4km (2.5 miles) from the town centre. The crumpled remains of an ancient and once huge baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) can be seen from the main road in the police station grounds. The trunk is hollow and the tree was used as the local jail for many years before the current brick structure behind it was built.

Sedudu Island
The large flat grassy expanse of Sedudu Island fills the central channel of the Chobe River opposite Kasane. This island has always been contested between Namibia and Botswana, and is reputed to have been the site of the first shots of World War I fired between the Germans and the British. The debate was eventually resolved in
2000 with Sedudu being confirmed as part of Botswana after an international court studied the riverbed to determine exactly where the boundary ran. This has been an important decision as it is
now part of the national park and is a vital grazing sit There are two gates into the national park from Kasane, one south of the river near the airport called Sedudu gate, which is the direct route to Ngoma gate some 65km (39 miles) to the west and onward to Savuti. The main gate is 2km (1.2 miles) west of Kasane on the main road through the village. Soon after this gate is a turn-off to the left through Sedudu Valley which joins the Ngoma road to the Nantanga Pans 20km (12 miles) away. There are several water holes along the Sedudu Valley road as well as many large dead trees; these died when the valley last flooded. This is ideal terrain for seeing the area’s considerable leopard population.

The Four Main Areas in Chobe

THE RIVER FRONTAGE

Along the 15km (9 miles) of river frontage between Kasane and the remains of Serondela the road branches into numerous loops, many of them following the river floodplain and offering some of the best game viewing to be found in Africa. The road network is well-developed and maintained and the concentrations and variety of game, especially in winter, are overwhelming. It is possible to negotiate most of these tracks in two-wheel-drive vehicles, although you are likely to scrape the bottom of your vehicle in some places. The Game Scouts at the main gate recommend that you stick to the main roads. Shortly after the national park’s gate is the turn-off to the luxury Chobe Chilwero Lodge followed within a few kilometres by the Chobe Game Lodge, made famous as the honeymoon venue of international film stars, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

NOGATSAA AND TCHINGA

This pan-speckled grassy woodland lies some 70km (42 miles) due south of Serondela near the eastern park boundary. After the rains the pans hold water for several months making this area one of the finest game-viewing regions in the country.

SAVUTI

This famous corner of the Chobe National Park has been hailed as Africa’s prime wildlife area. The annual zebra migration passes through it; sightings of leopard, cheetah and wild dog are not uncommon; and it is here that you’ll find the greatest concentration of that king of all beasts, Panthera leo. The main attraction of Savuti is the abundance of game and predators to be seen; at any time of year the sizes of herds can be staggering, while sightings of lion and hyena are almost guaranteed. The Savuti area covers almost 5000km2 (1900 sq miles) in the southwestern corner of the park, encompassing the Savuti Marsh, which is now a vast open plain, the Mababe Depression and the Magwikwe Sand Ridge. Northern Botswana is at the tail end of the active Great East African Rift Valley and the region is traversed by numerous deep fault lines which can be seen in the sharply changing river courses.

Savuti Marsh
This marsh is originally what attracted the vast numbers of game to Savuti, providing an unlimited supply of water and rich pastures in an otherwise arid landscape. The game settled permanently in the area as did their predators and the lion and hyena populations grew dramatically, sustained by limitless prey. According to the reports of early explorers the Savuti Channel filling the marsh flowed regularly between 1850 and 1880. It then suddenly dried up for almost 80 years before flowing again in 1957. This flow continued almost until 1982 when it once again inexplicably stopped. To explain this flow, which is quite unrelated to the volume of the Linyanti River, geologists have measured the drop along the course of the Savuti Channel which is just a tiny 1 in 5300 over its entire length. After years of study many experts now believe that in order to stop the flow of the river the ground level of the Mababe Depression must be raised by as much as 9m (30ft) by the continual heaving and buckling of the faults in the area. For the river flow to change so frequently the ground must be in continual motion. Most of the camp sites in Savuti are along the banks of the channel overlooking a very noticeable line of dead camel thorn (Acacia erioloba) and knobthorn (Acacia nigrescens) trees that stand like gaunt sunbleached sentries along the length of the dry riverbed. These distinctive trees are flood victims, drowned when the river started flowing again in the 1950s. Their mature height shows that the channel must have been almost completely overgrown by that stage. With the final drying of the Savuti Marsh, it has changed from a perennial wetland to semidesert in just a few short decades. Even the natural water table has dropped without the replenishment of the marsh, and the route of vehicles is now marked for miles around by the billowing black dust that drifts behind them. Fortunately there are many natural pans in Savuti which hold water into the winter months, after which the animals must rely on the three pumped water holes, which see ever-increasing concentrations of game as other supplies dry up. In the last months before the rains (September and October) visitors must contend with soaring temperatures, but boreholes provide some splendid game viewing with droves of elephants, kudu, impala, buffalo, wildebeest, sable, lion, hyena, and the occasional cheetah vying for a chance to drink. When the rains return the pans fill and lush green grass carpets the plains. With the rains come the zebra, moving in their thousands down from Linyanti into the area of the Savuti Marsh and the Mababe Depression.

Bushman Paintings
There are over 20 Bushman painting sites to be found in the rocky hills in Savuti. Most are badly faded, but the best, which depict a variety of recognizable game including a puff adder and a hippo, can be seen on the eastern side of Bushman Hill. These artworks have been dated at over 3000 years old. While it is generally not permitted to get out of your vehicle in the national park, one can do so at Bushman Hill and a rough track leads the way to the paintings. There is a very large baobab tree near Bushman Hill which is worth a visit. The sandy soils of the Savuti support a variety of grasses, especially in the marsh area, which is dotted with tiny ’islands’ of feverberry bushes and the larger raintrees (Lonchocarpus capassa). To the south in the Mababe Depression there is less vegetation with the area being predominantly covered with scrub thornbushes. However, throughout the sandy soils of Savuti wild sage bushes (Pechuelloeschea leubnitziae) grow well, giving the area a distinctive and pleasant smell.

LINYANTI

In the furthest corner of the Chobe National Park lies the forgotten paradise of Linyanti. Secluded and uncrowded, this short strip of swampy river frontage is reminiscent of the Okavango’s permanent waterways with papyruslined lagoons, reedbeds and a towering canopy of trees. The Linyanti Swamp covers an area of almost 900km2 (340 sq miles), which follows the river and fills the area between the converging courses of the Kwando and Linyanti rivers. The national park only touches the river for a short section on the far eastern edge of the swamp. The wildlife is plentiful, especially in the dry winter months when great concentrations of elephant, buffalo, and zebra congregate along the river, with giraffe, impala and the unusual roan antelope being seen in the forests. The bird life is diverse, if not overwhelming in its numbers. Water birds, including pelican, are common while you are likely to hear, if not see, Pel’s fishing owl. The wilderness areas around the park have for many years been hunting concessions making the game, even within the park boundaries, wary and shy of humans. The operators of these hunting areas have stated their intention to reduce the seasonal hunting activities and concentrate more on photographic safaris. If this happens the quality of game viewing will improve, and in the hunting season (April to September) visitors will not be disturbed by the sound of distant gunshots.