Bucket list experience:
Chobe National Park, Okavango Delta, Central African Republic (CAR)
One of Africa’s most spectacular wilderness areas, Botswana’s Chobe National Park is an easy day-trip from Victoria Falls. Guided tours include a game drive in the Park, but the highlight is a game-spotting cruise on the Chobe River, with its profusion of hippo, crocodile and birdlife.
Chobe is famed for its thousands of elephants – so if you want to get up close to wild herds of elephant, this is the place to visit – as well as the prides of elephant-hunting lions that prey on them. (The kills invariably happen though at night, so you’re unlikely to see one).
The Park is home to more than 400 species of bird, making it one the top birding spots in Africa, as well as the only place in Botswana where you can spot the threatened Puku antelope.
Tours run throughout the year, departing early for the 2-hour drive to Botswana (remember your passport). Cruises on the Chobe River take place in the morning, followed by lunch at a riverside hotel and an afternoon game drive in the national park before returning to Victoria Falls at around 6.30pm.
Lunch at a riverside hotel is included with full-day tours; expect a hearty meal heavy on the meat, so vegetarians be warned! Note: half-day tours from Victoria Falls to Chobe are available, but given the long drive, it’s hardly worth it.
Safaris are available all year round, seven days a week. Start times vary by operator, but most will leave around 5am-5.30am.
Game viewing is easiest in the dry spring months August to December, when thousands of animals converge at the river; however, game drives in the parched Park then can be disappointing.
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