Chobe, a Safari on the Water!

The Chobe River, in Botswana, is an extraordinary playground — provided you discover it under the right conditions, avoiding the crowds of tourists that gather in a few well-known spots, mainly for practical reasons and ease of access from their accommodation.

Our favourite way to experience Chobe is aboard a houseboat, spending two nights on the river, away from Kasane, the region's main town located east of the national park.
Note that not all boats allow overnight stays on the river, including some of the most luxurious ones. In our view, however, this is an essential element for a successful Chobe safari. Waking up in the morning with, potentially, elephants right outside your cabin is simply a different experience from being docked in a town, however African it may be!
The other option is to stay at a lodge inside the national park, or further west towards Ngoma — either a good two hours on track from Kasane along the river, or one hour via the paved road connecting Kasane to Ngoma.
Being off the beaten track means encountering very few people early in the morning at the start of the safari, and in the evening at its end — the two most rewarding moments of the day.
The reason is simple: visitors are required to leave the park before closing time (roughly at sunset). While 98% of tourists head out to reach their lodge, those staying inside the park... remain in the park and quietly make their way to their lodge after sunset. The feeling of exclusivity, of benefiting from exceptional safari conditions, is real. And well deserved.

Being in the westernmost part guarantees crossing paths with very few vehicles during the day. The drive to reach this area is far too long for most tourists, who typically do safaris of around three hours in the morning and two to three hours in the late afternoon from Kasane. Almost all of them remain in the easternmost part of the park.