So on to our last port of call, Chobe Game Lodge. This was different to all our other camps in that it had around 40 rooms and was more like a hotel. It is the only permanent game lodge situated within the famous Chobe National Park, and is Botswana’s premier venue for guests looking for a perfect base from which to explore the National Park and the Chobe River. This five-star Lodge has full eco-grading by the Botswana Tourism Board.
Chobe Game Lodge is designed as a haven of peace and privacy – where relaxation is effortless and you can enjoy your own space. It has six comfortably furnished viewing decks, a riverside boma, two bars, six different lounges and four dining locations. A large swimming pool provides welcome relief during hot afternoons.
All the guides in this camp are female and our guide was a lovely lady called Irene.
We started our stay here with a boat ride along the Chobe river. We encountered plenty of crocodiles that are very well camouflaged, melding in with the muddy waters and banks.
Chobe National Park is located in northern Botswana, in easy driving distance to Kasane and Victoria Falls. Chobe is Botswana’s first designated national park and, at over 11,700 km2 (4,500 mi2), is one of the largest. The greater Chobe area consists of the Chobe River, Savute, and Linyanti, which combined is home to Africa’s largest elephant population.
There is a rich variety of landscapes in addition to the famed riverfront including vast floodplains, woodlands, grasslands, and clay pans which can be enjoyed by boating safaris and game drives. Chobe’s diverse wildlife roams in abundance. During the dry season these large herds, as well as vast herds of buffalo, congregate on the fertile flood plains along the Chobe River to drink, bathe and play. There are frequent sightings of lion, African wild dog, puku, red lechwe, sable, giraffe, and roan antelope. Again we experienced elephants loping down to the water as well as elephants crossing the river in to Namibia. They didn’t need a passport or visa!!! We considered ourselves in Namibia as we came on to the banks of Namibia in our boat!!!
The calves of the elephants are swimming underwater and rest their trunks on their mothers backs as they cross the river. So lovely to see the way the mothers care for their children. On land the babies stay underneath their mothers until they are too big to do so, but even then they stick very closely to mumma.
And again the regulars!! Baboons (we saw a lioness capture a baby baboon. Its mother ran off. The lioness suffocated the baby baboon and then paraded it around in front of her cubs and the other lionesses. There was no blood or gore), then jackels, impalas and a big herd of buffalo on the Namibian side of the Chobe river.
An evening in Africa is nothing without these amazing sunsets. You can see the hippos in the picture below. They are mostly submerged. More lions below too. Such majestic creatures. Because Chobe National Park is a public park, you see a lot more vehicles than you do in a private conservancy, where you are usually the only vehicle watching the animals. Having said that we had a lioness touching the back of our jeep where I was sitting and she made eye contact with me while her cubs were passing. I decided it was best not to move! She just strolled away and I lived to see another day!!!
