OUR TAILOR MADE SAFARI ITINERARIES

Home to the largest concentration of African elephants in Southern Africa, this renowned safari destination is a wildlife paradise and a “must see” destination when visiting Botswana. Chobe offers a contrast of rivers, forest areas and marshlands, with an abundance of wildlife and prime game viewing opportunities.

Chobe National Park indepth

The original inhabitants of what is now the park were the San People, otherwise known in Botswana as the Basarwa. They were hunter-gatherers who lived by moving from one area to another in search of water, wild fruits and wild animals. The San were later joined by groups of the Basubiya people and later still, around 1911, by a group of Batawana led by Sekgoma.

When the country was divided into various land tenure systems, late last century and early this century, the larger part of the area that is now the national park was classified as crown land. In 1931 the idea of creating a national park in the area was first mooted, However, heavy tsetse fly infestations resulted in the whole idea lapsing. In 1957, the idea of a national park was raised again when an area of about 21,000 square kilometres was proposed as a game reserve, eventually however, a reduced area was finally gazetted in 1960 as The Chobe Game Reserve.

Later, in 1967, the reserve was declared a national park – the first national park in Botswana. There was a large settlement, based on the timber industry, at Serondela, some remains of which can still be seen today. This settlement was gradually moved out and the Chobe National Park was finally empty of human occupation in 1975. In 1980 and again in 1987, the boundaries were altered, increasing the park to its present size.

The park is broken into 4 main areas:

• The Chobe River Front, near to the town of Kasane. This area borders on to the Caprivi Strip of Namibia and has very high concentrations of game – especially in the dry season when it teams with animals dependent on the water. The area is made up of seasonal flood plains and relics of large riverine forests. A boat cruise on the Chobe River with many hundreds of elephants feeding on the floodplains and huge buffalo herds will be etched in one’s mind forever.
• The Linyanti Swamps which form the extreme north west of the park, although most of the area does not lie in the park itself, it is of vital importance as it provides an additional source of water during the dry season. The area is characterized my mopane forests and thornveld which supports large numbers of elephant in the dry season.
• The Savute Area makes up the central and southern region of the park, the relic marsh is guarded over by seven low lying hills. Savute is famous for the ancient channel that flows in periods of extreme rainfall and dries for many decades in-between. The Jouberts did most of their early work here and the area is famous for its large lion prides, hyena and elephant bulls. At the moment the Savute Channel is flowing, making this one of the premier wildlife destinations in the world.
• The Nogatsaa Area lies approximately 50kms due south of the Chobe River and Kasane. The area is very remote and has no permanent accommodation. There are pumped waterholes which provide excellent game viewing in the winter months – in summer the “cotton soil” roads become impassable but the area teams with elephant during the wet season as it is an important part of their summer range.

Moremi Game Reserve indepth

Perhaps better suited to the true explorer or second time visitor to Botswana, this 52,000km2 reserve with its wide open skies and some unique wildlife, is situated in the centre of the country. It is characterised by large plains and grass covered dunes and relics of ancient river beds. It is the second largest game reserve in the world – larger then Switzerland or Denmark!

It is not a true desert in that the rainfall fluctuates tremendously – anywhere from 100 to 700mm annually. The reserve was originally set aside as a place where the Bushmen or San people could still carry out their hunter/gather type existence. However in recent times they have largely stayed in semi permanent settlements in the southern part of the reserve.

In the late nineties and early 2000, the government tried to get the Bushmen relocate to proper settlements outside of the reserve but this was ruled as unconstitutional and they were allowed back in late 2006.

The northern part of the reserve was made famous by Mark and Delia Owens who spent many years researching brown hyena, their book “The Cry of the Kalahari” focused on the impact of various veterinary fences but also made the name Deception Valley one of those places that the true explorer dreamed of.

Game viewing in the reserve can be stunning depending on time of year and when the last rains fall. Huge herds of springbok, oryx and wildebeest are reasonably common as well as most of the big cats and even wild dog. However it is the smaller mammals that make the central Kalahari unique, cape fox, brown hyena, meerkats and bat eared fox to name a few.

Temperatures are probably more extreme here then any other part of the country ranging from minus 10C in early winter mornings and going up to well in to the late 40’s at midday in summer. 

One of the lesser known destinations within Botswana, both the Makgadikgadi Game Reserve and the salt pans offers a complete contrasting destination to any other within Botswana. The now flowing Boteti River, combined with scrubland surrounding it, and the starkness of the vast salt pans – at times lined with the zebra and wildebeest migrations, should certainly be considered when putting a safari together for those looking for something “off the beaten track.”

The Makgadikgadi salt pans and game reserve indepth

An area of approximately 12,000km including both the salt pans and the game reserve, The Makgadikgadi is a destination often referred to as the forgotten area – steeped in history of past explorers such as Dr David Livingstone and Thomas Baines, plus the abundance of ancient baobab trees.

The Makgadikgadi Game Reserve lies to the west of the salt pans, incorporating the very edge of Ntwetwe salt pan before encompassing scrublands, palm fringed tree lines and the now flowing Boteti River. A Seasonal destination in terms of the Zebra and Wildebeest migration, but with the Boteti River now flowing, the reserve is fast becoming haven for permanent wildlife population, including elephant, rhino, predators, plains game and remaining herds of Zebra.

In contrast to the game reserve, is the dry lake bed called the Makgadikgadi salt pans which are the largest in the world. Encompassing a series of pans, the largest of which are Sowa and Ntwetwe pan, and surrounded by a myriad of smaller pans, including Nxai Pan and Baines Baobabs.

The area is renowned for its most impressive and ancient baobab trees – Baines Baobabs, Greens Baobabs, Chapman’s Baobabs and Kubu Island. Some of which are believed to be over 3000 years old.

The salt pans are steeped in history – an archaeologists dream, archaeological sites on the pans are rich with early mans tools, bones of fish and ancient mammals.

In the wet season and dependant on good rainfall, the dry salt pans transform into powder blue lakes stretching as far as the eye can see. With the rains follows Southern Africa’s largest zebra and wildebeest migration, making the salt pans a year round contrasting destination.

Traditionally, the migration moved from the northern Okavango and Linyanti area down to the Pans when the rains arrived (Generally November/December ) and then as the pans dried up by mid March, the animals moved back to the now flooding Okavango and Linyanti area. Now, with the Boteti River flowing, some of the migration herds tend to move from east to west, with Zebra and Wildebeest moving away from the Boteti and into the eastern Pans during the rainy season (Nov-March) and then back to the Boteti River as the Pans dry up. Whilst some herds navigate the game fences and settlements in their effort travel back North towards the Savute and Linyanti areas.

Nxai Pan National Park indepth

Nxai Pan National Park Which borders and is the sister park to the Makgadikgadi Pans was also established in 1970. Originally only 1,700km2 this was extended to 2,570km2 in 1992.

This extension included the famed Baines Baobabs and took the boundary adjacent to the Makgadikgadi ensuring a safe/protected route for the zebra and wildebeest migrations.

It is one of the very few places where impala and springbok ranges overlap and the focal point of the park – a pumped water hole – is incredibly rewarding for those visitors who park nearby and watch the goings on. In the winter months this waterhole is literally the only water for hundreds of kilometres and it teems with animals.

Like the Central Kalahari, Nxai pan becomes a Garden of Eden in the summer rains with thousands of young animals and inspired scenery .

Nxai Pan, the name of which is claimed by some to be that of a hooked metal rod used to remove springhares from their holes, and by others to simply mean a pan, is open to visitors throughout the year, although road conditions can become difficult during times of heavy rain.

Within the park there are points of interest worthy of mention. One is the “old trek route”, a trail pioneered in the 1950s and used until 1963, as a short cut through Ngamiland to Kazungula via Pandamatenga, along which cattle were driven before the advent of the modern veterinary control fences.

A number of boreholes, used to provide water for the cattle and men on their long trek, were capped when this trail had to be abandoned, but are said to be still capable of supplying copious water supplies if re-equipped. Another point of interest, which pre-dates that of the trek route, is known as “bushman pits”.

Here, near the edge of a small pan area, small pits were dug by the Bushmen in which they could hide whilst hunting wild animals that came to drink, giving closer range for the use of their bows and arrows. Today there are the remains in the area of an old cattle post, connected with the trek route, but the bushman pits can still be seen.