Botswana Chobe National Park

2024, Nov 30    

Botswana | Country 30 | 1 day |

While staying in Victoria Falls, I embarked on an unforgettable day trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana. Though brief, this adventure left me eager to return and explore more of this remarkable country.

Before diving into the journey, here’s what makes Botswana truly special:

• It stands as one of Africa’s most developed and least corrupt nations, achieving remarkable progress despite its colonial past
• The country is dominated by the Kalahari desert (70% coverage), making traditional farming challenging
• With only ~3M inhabitants, Botswana is sparsely populated but boasts the world’s highest density of elephants
• Thanks to clever leadership, its chiefs secured British protection early on, and the late discovery of diamonds (post-independence) helped avoid colonial resource exploitation
• Chobe National Park showcases incredible biodiversity, offering intimate encounters with nature that I’ll never forget

Crossing from Zambia to Botswana

Our adventure started at the fascinating Kazungula border crossing - a unique point where four countries meet: Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Before the immigration checkpoint, we first had to disinfect our car’s tires, as well as our shoes. One by one we stepped out and had to dip our shoes in this liquid. We further had to have luggage inspected to make sure that we do not have any additional footware.

Our guide later explained that this is because Botswana folks cannot rely on farming, thus all of their sustainance and produce depends on cows. There is a virus that is carried from humans to buffalos, then from buffalos to cows (since they belong in the same family of species), and finally humans can get sick be eating the infected beef.

The actual immigration process was very smooth. Our guide helped us get stamped out of Zambia, and stamped into Botswana in no time.

(right) There were some wild warthogs right outside of the immigration office haha!

Making new friends

We joined several other tour groups at Kalahari Tours. It is a small and cozy tourism operator in Kasane, just outside of Chobe.

I met this wonderful group of Peace Corp volunteers whom we spent the rest of the day with. I was instantly impressed by Caitlyn, who has been in Namibia for the past 9 months. She was an amazing adventurer with great knowledge of the local customes and nature.

Thanks again Caitlyn for the binoculars. I hope our paths cross again.

River Cruise

We spent the morning along the watershed taking in the breath of animal and biodiversity Chobe had to offer.

Our guide half-seriously said that when he was a child, he has drank the water from the reservoir for 15 years of his childhood. He has developed natural immunity to the pathogens.

The animals were breathtaking from afar - and even more vivid with binoculars.

Hippos were a staple of this region. I learned that hippos can run up to 40 km / hr on land, and has killed many locals.

My personal favorite was just chilling with the hippos about 2 meters from the boat.

The Cape buffalos were equally mesmerizing - forming this deep symbiotic relationship with the birds that help it with lice. The herd of wild beast stood and happily grazed the grass.

We also saw quite a few crocodiles. An even more lucky sighting was recently hatched Crocodile eggs, which tends to happened around early December after 90 days of incubation. The baby crocs are nurtured by their parents and hopefully at least half can make it from the predators in the area.

We saw a big herd of elephants drinking from the bank, happily leaving behind large bags of poop.

We saw the full circle of life. From grass to cows, and from cows to vultures, and lastly from the unforgiving nature to the skeletal remains.

Game Drive

After about an hour of lunch at the tours HQ, we arrived at the land entrance to Chobe.

The environment is so lush and full of life, with numerous micro environments that support so many different life forms.

Caitlyn somehow spotted the giraffes from a mile away. They stood like their nickname, “Tower”. The giraffes happily grazed on the tall and tender branches from the trees.

The game drive continued all within a circle of less than 30 minutes. However, we soon saw the carnivores and their impact on the ecosystem.

We saw this herd of 4 lions carefully ambushing a herd of impalas from a few hundred meters away. The lions were so patient - the only movement being to swat away flies with their tails.

Despite our many pleas, we did not get to see the female lions hunt their prey. Only remains that gave clue to dinner perhaps from a week ago.

We ended the game drive with a close up of elephants. Using their nose, they skillfully picked up snacks to munch on.

Farewell to Botswana

Though just a day trip, Botswana left an indelible impression. Witnessing the raw beauty of nature’s cycle - from peaceful grazers to patient predators, from vibrant life to solemn remains - gave me a deeper appreciation for our natural world and my place within it.