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Drive Chobe like Kingsley Holgate

4/3/2013

2 Comments

 
Entrance gate, Chobe National Park, Botswana
By Roxanne Reid
​Chobe National Park
. It’s the place to go to see really jumbo elephants and get good photo opportunities with hippo, crocs and water birds along the river. But the biggest drawback is having to drive the same road over and over in a loop; for us, national parks are as much about changing landscape as they are about animals.

On our first drive, we took the bumpy windy track along the river, finding a riot of hippo, crocs, buffalo, giraffe and water birds like yellowbilled and openbill stork, white-faced duck, jacana, even fish eagle and African skimmer. We found a buffalo carcass too, the head facing us, shining white teeth grinning in macabre fashion.
Chobe river, Chobe National Park, Botswana
Away from the river, we had a number of vulture sightings, like two white-headed vultures with their pink faces and blue-and-red bills, doggedly pecking at an apparently dried-out jawbone that they still managed to extract some pinkish tidbits from.

There was a lone sable bull too, beautifully shiny and proud but altogether too wary of us to wait around to be admired. And there were some nice breeding herds of elephant, a few tiny ones scampering to keep up with the adults on their journey across the dry veld towards the river for water.
Sable antelope, Chobe National Park, Botswana
A sub-adult elephant held us at bay for about 20 minutes, kicking at the sand in the road but never taking it in his trunk and throwing it over himself for a dust bath. Perhaps he was just in a difficult mood and wanted to show us it was his patch.
Elephant, Chobe National Park, Botswana
We were already pining for the Luangwa landscape with its pretty trees. Chobe in July was all dry bush and lots of sand. Although game viewing was good, we got the impression that the main reason people go there is so they can pretend they’re wild manne, Kingsley Holgate in their 4x4s, racing through deep sand as if they deserve a medal just for making it through. Somewhere for all those gadget men from Gauteng and Limpopo to go and play with their toys – after driving on good tar all the way to get there!
Sandy roads, Chobe National Park, Botswana
We pondered whether our experience of Chobe would have been different if we’d gone there before we went to South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. Perhaps it would. If we’d come here direct from the Kruger National Park, for instance, we’d probably have been struck by Chobe’s wildness and the loveliness of the river drive, despite the monotone dry veld.

But after the beauty and remoteness of Luangwa, which is truly timeless untamed Africa, Chobe felt just a little bland.
Baboons, Chobe National Park, Botswana
Need to know
1. Apart from Ihaha campsite inside the park, most of your camping options are outside the borders of the park. You will then enter the park on a day-entry permit, which in July 2012 cost us 120 pula (R127) per person plus 50 pula (R53) for our foreign-registered vehicle.

2. Two to three days at Chobe are probably enough, even if you’re staying at Ihaha campsite inside the park, which would extend your options for game drives a little further west.

You might also like:
How to choose a campsite at Chobe

Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
2 Comments
Lee Grogan link
11/3/2013 05:08:09 am

Hello, Roxanne,
Just wanted you to know how much I enjoy reading your blog. My husband and I have traveled to so many of the places you have been, and I am always struck by how much we seem to have in common. All the best, and keep up the good writing...
Lee

Reply
Roxanne link
11/3/2013 08:06:51 am

Thank you, Lee. That's so good to know. Maybe one day we might cross paths in some African backwater!

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    About 

    I'm an independent travel writer and book editor with a passion for Africa - anything from African travel, people, safari and wildlife to adventure, heritage, road-tripping and slow travel.
    My travel buddy and husband Keith is the primary photographer for this blog.
    We're happiest in the middle of nowhere, meeting the locals, trying something new, or simply watching the grass grow.
    Use this website to discover new places to go, revisit places you've loved, or take a virtual tour of destinations you only dream about.

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