Boat safari on the Chobe River in Botswana

Published: April 13, 2024

In November 2023 we left our “home base” in Nairobi to travel further south to southeastern Africa for a few weeks. A work-related project took us to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, from where we made a holiday trip to the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and to Chobe National Park in Botswana. In this post we take you to a trip to Kasane, Botswana, and to a boat safari in Chobe National Park.

From Lusaka, Zambia to Kasane, Botswana

The most natural starting point in Zambia for visiting both Victoria Falls and Chobe National Park is the small town of Livingstone by the Zambezi river in southernmost Zambia. There is a small international airport in Livingstone, but it is also easily accessible by land from Lusaka, if you are prepared to spend a day on a bus. According to bus company representatives, this approximately 500-kilometer journey on reasonably good roads takes about seven hours, but in practice 9 hours is closer to the truth, so it is a good idea to set off as early in the morning as possible.

To get from Livingstone to the Botswana border, we took a shared taxi called lift, to Kazungula – lifts seemed to usually be seven-passenger cars that leave when they get full, without any exact schedule. Kazungula is a town on the banks of the Zambezi River, from which a beautiful new bridge leads to Botswana. There used to be a ferry service between the countries, but that was discontinued with the completion of the bridge. From the bridge, you can see the Zambezi and Chobe rivers meeting each other, and you can see to no fewer than four different countries; in addition to Zambia and Botswana, also Zimbabwe and Namibia meet at this confluence of two rivers (but there is no border crossing to them here).

After crossing the bridge, we arrived at the border post, where we were stamped out of Zambia and into Botswana. The border formalities were really easy and quick, and with an EU passport you can travel to both countries without a visa. Botswana’s abundant fauna was immediately visible at the border, as we spotted hippos from the bridge, and at the border post we were greeted by a large herd of baboons. The border workers warned us about walking around, since there are a lot of elephants in the area. Wow. We didn’t manage to spot any elephants though, and actually didn’t walk very far, since soon after we left the border, a local taxi driver picked us up and offered a ride to the town of Kasane. We stayed two nights at the Chiloto Guest House (33 euros per night), a small, nice and affordable guest house with swimming pool and breakfast.

The magnificent Chobe River

The main attraction of our short visit to Botswana was Chobe National Park, and especially the scenery of the Chobe River. Botswana is one of the world’s least populated countries, and large part of the country’s surface is wildlife habitat. There are rivers and river deltas, vast savannas and meadows, home to a wide variety of mammals, reptiles and birds. In addition to Chobe National Park, the attractions of northern Botswana include the roadless Okawango Delta. Okawango is a popular safari destination with lodges that can only be reached by small aircraft, and the nature of the delta can be explored on canoe trips.

In Chobe National Park it’s possible to do “classic” safari trips by car, but we ended up booking a half-day boat safari on the river instead. The afternoon safaris are scheduled so that you return from the approximately four-hour trip at sunset. A boat safari is a great way to observe the inhabitants of the river and its banks, such as the huge number of hippos, at close range. In order not to disturb the animals too much, the boats avoid getting too close – in any safari it’s always important to respect the nature by keeping distance to the animals.

Especially during the dry season, the Chobe River is a vital source of water for many wild animals. Chobe National Park is particularly famous for its elephants, as it is home to the world’s largest concentration of African bush elephants. During the dry season, it is common to see dozens, even hundreds, of elephants on boat trips on the river – they come to the river to drink and cool off. This year, the rainy season arrived quite late in Zambia, and even at the time of our trip in early November, large herds of elephants had been seen on the river. Unfortunately for us, the first rains had come just a couple of days before our visit, and this had caused the herds of elephants to wander away from the river.

Despite the absence of elephants, the Chobe River was full of life, and during the safari we saw large mammals including hippos, buffalo, warthogs and various antelopes such as impala, eland and waterbuck. The Chobe River is also home to a range of reptiles and hundreds of bird species. We managed to see several Nile crocodiles and also a few Nile monitor lizards.

The largest bird we spotted was a handsome African fish eagle, and during the boat trip we also saw glossy ibises, African openbills (a species of stork), Spur-winged geese, Egyptian geese and great cormorants.

The sunset on the Chobe River was magnificent, and admiring it was a great way to end the boat trip. As the boats slowly returned to the jetty in Kasane, the colours on the river changed from pale pink to blazing orange.

Practical tips for a boat safari on Chobe River

There are quite a lot of different options for safaris in Chobe National Park. The easiest way to book in advance is to use international services such as Viator and Get Your Guide, but at least outside the busiest season, it is easy to book a trip on site. In the center of Kasane, there are several tour operator offices next to the Spar store, and the boat dock is located right next to them. Note that it is worth asking to see the boat before booking the trip. We were happy with the small 15-seater boat, since the small boats are more agile and it’s possible to get a bit closer to the animals with them. Various longer trips, such as those that include meals, are done on much larger boats.

The price of the 4-hour sunset boat trip was 450 Botswanan Pula, which was about 30 euros, and it included the national park entrance fee of 270 Pula (about 18 euros in 11/2023). The entrance fee is per day, so it is possible to do also a car safari with the same national park entrance fee. A popular combination is to do a car safari in the morning and a boat trip at sunset at the end of the day.

For a boat safari, you will need comfortable, light clothing and shoes (at least we didn’t have to get our feet wet anywhere), and perhaps a long-sleeved shirt or scarf to protect you from the sun and the possible early evening chill. Even small boats have a roof, but the sun can still occasionally reach the passengers, so it’s a good idea to protect yourself with sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat. Bring your camera, of course, and binoculars are also a nice addition. Our trip included bottles of juice and water, and you can also bring your own sundowner refreshments.