Balade sur la riviere Chobe /
Chobe river cruise / Chobe
Flusskreuzfahrt / Travesia del
rio del chobe (Bostwana)
Chobe National Park, situated
at the Northwest of Botswana,
is one of the largest games
concentration in all the
Africa continent and one of
the world's last remaining
sizeable wilderness area. By
size, this is t
more

Balade sur la riviere Chobe /
Chobe river cruise / Chobe
Flusskreuzfahrt / Travesia del
rio del chobe (Bostwana)
Chobe National Park, situated
at the Northwest of Botswana,
is one of the largest games
concentration in all the
Africa continent and one of
the world's last remaining
sizeable wilderness area. By
size, this is the third
largest park of the country,
after the Central Kalahari
Game Reserve and the Gemsbok
National Park, but
definitively the most diverse
and spectacular. This is also
the country's first national
park.

The park can be divided up to
4 areas, corresponding each to
one distinct ecosystems:
�?� The Serondela area (or
Chobe riverfront), situated in
the extreme Northeast of the
park, has as main geographical
features lush plains and dense
teak forests. The Chobe River,
which flows along the
Northeastern border of the
park, is a drinking spot for
elephants and buffaloes at dry
season. The famous bee-eater
is also spotted here, along
the river. This is probably
the most visited park section,
partly because of its
proximity to the Victoria
Falls. The town of Kasane,
situated at the river, is the
most important town of the
region and serves as northern
entrance to the park.
�?� The Savuti Marsh area, 10
878 km² large, constitutes
the western stretch of the
park (50 km north of Mababe
Gate). The Savuti Marsh is the
relic of a large inland lake
whose water supply was cut a
long time ago by tectonic
movements. Nowadays the marsh
is fed by the erratic Savuti
Channel, which dries up when
rainfall is abundant and
floods up at other times. The
channel can also stop flowing
during long periods then
curiously flows again, a
consequence of tectonic
activity in the area. As a
result of this variable flow,
there are hundred of dead
trees along the channel's
bank. The region is also
covered with extensive
savannahs and rolling
grasslands, which makes
wildlife particularly dynamic
in this section of the park.
At dry seasons, tourists going
on safari often view warthogs,
kudus, impalas, zebras,
wildebeests and above all
elephants bullying each other.
At rain seasons, the rich
birdlife of the park (450
species in the whole park) is
well represented. Packs of
lions, hyenas, zebras or more
rarely cheetahs are visible as
well. This region is indeed
reputed for its annual
migration of zebras and
predators.
�?� The Linyanti Marsh,
located at the Northwest
corner of the park and to the
North of Savuti, is adjacent
to Linyanti River. To the west
of this area lies Selinda
Reserve and on the Northern
bank of Kwando River is
Namibia's Mamili National
Park. Around these 2 rivers
are riverine woodlands, open
woodlands as well as lagoons,
and the rest of the region
mainly consists of flood
plains. There are here large
concentrations of lions,
leopards, wild dogs, Roan
antelopes, Sable antelopes,
hippopotamuses and above all
enormous herds of elephants.
The rarer red lechwe,
sitatunga or crocodile also
occur in the area. Birdlife is
very rich here.
�?� Finally, between Linyanti
and Savuti Marshes lies a hot
and dry hinterland, mainly
occupied by the Nogatsaa grass
woodland. This section is
little known and is a great
place for spotting elands.

The park is probably best
known for its spectacular
elephant population: 120'000
elephants today, it is
actually the highest elephant
concentration of Africa.
Moreover, most of them are
probably part of the largest
continuous surviving elephant
population on Earth. The
elephant population seems to
have solidly built up since
1990, from the few initial
thousands. By chance, they
have not been affected by the
massive illicit exploitation
of the 1970's and 1980's.
Elephants living here are
Kalahari elephants, the
largest in size of all known
elephant species. Yet they are
characterized by rather
brittle ivory and short
tusks.
Damage caused by the high
numbers of elephants is rife
in some areas. In fact[1],
concentration is so high
throughout Chobe that culls
have been considered, but are
too controversial and have
thus far been rejected.
At dry season, these elephants
sojourn in Chobe River and the
Linyanti River areas. At rain
season, they make a 200-km
migration to the Southeast
stretch of the park. Their
distribution zone however
outreaches the park and
spreads to northwestern
Zimbabwe. (wikipedia)

Category Travel & Places

Tags Safari, Chobe, Okavango, Botswana, wild, life, Africa, Buffalo, hippopotamus, Elephant, elefante, Elefant, Buffalos, ???, ??, ??