Botswana: Chobe National Park

Though Chobe National Park encompasses 4500 biologically diverse square miles, including forests, hills and deserts, it is probably most well-known for its population of elephants, which are thought to number around 100,000. While I don’t think I managed to see all 100,000 on my visit, I did see A LOT of elephants.

My trip consisted of game drives along the Chobe River, and a game cruise on the river itself. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I only had the time to visit the Chobe River portion of the park. It was still great, but it is such a diverse park that it would have been wonderful to have a chance to access other parts of it.

On my first game drive, we caught a quick glimpse of a lioness and cub who were resting under a shrub, but they seemed likely to stay hidden so we moved on quickly.

Down by the river, we found a herd of elephants splashing and drinking. After about 30 minutes, they cleared out. As we prepared to leave, another herd moved in.

This one could have used an orthodontist

We also saw a ragged old hippo resting in the shallows, nursing his battle wounds. Long-legged water birds picked at the flies buzzing around the bloody slashes.

Moving away from the river bank, we found more elephants huddled under trees. They were doing their best to hide from the early afternoon sun. My favorite was the one leaning against a tree while looping her trunk around her left tusk. I love a casual elephant.

At midday, everyone wants a spot in the shade

Safaris can show you the circle of life in action, and we saw it (and smelled it) on the game cruise when we came across the carcass of an elephant being devoured by piles of crocodiles. The boat captain told us that the elephant had died several weeks ago of natural causes (ie it wasn’t poached, but it’s exact cause of death was unknown).

We had yet another elephant encounter at the very end of the cruise, when more elephants came down to the river for an evening splash.

a heard of Cape buffalo surrounds its young

If you go: I really regret not seeing more of this park - try to get beyond the Chobe River area of the park if you can. The park has a sizable population of elusive and endangered African painted dogs, for those looking to tick a few of the more obscure animals off their list (we didn’t see any - I’ll just have to go back...)