This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more

Skip to main content

Talk to an expert 1-800-242-2434 Lines open now

User menu
Chobe Game Lodge
Chobe Game Lodge
Chobe Game Lodge

Reviews of Chobe Game Lodge

Wildlife sightings and reviews

14 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Chobe Game Lodge and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

Wildlife sightings by our travellers
Starting in Jun-2018, 6 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Chobe Game Lodge.
Lion

80% success

Leopard

40% success

Cheetah

0% success

Wild dog

0% success

Buffalo

100% success

Elephant

100% success

Giraffe

100% success

Hippo

100% success

Zebra

67% success

Brown Hyena

25% success

Eland

20% success

Roan antelope

20% success

Sable antelope

20% success

Spotted Hyena

20% success

Wildebeest

20% success

Aardvark

0% success

Pangolin

0% success

Sitatunga

0% success

Showing 1-10 of 14
Duration
Arrival date
SoCalCouple
Calif.

"Chobe Game Lodge review"

3 nights Arrived 8 Oct 2023
"Our experince there was not good. The food was generally terrible, and we wound up with food poisoning. The effects of the food poisoning effected us for the entirelty of our trip.

Our server was very unaccomodating and rude at times. About 1/2 the meals were served buffet style with staff never refilling the dishes. The food quality was very poor. I skipped at least 2 meals because of the quality and offerings. It was only the last night when the chef came to speak with us and apologized for not paying attention to our dietary requests.

Other than our guide, and a couple others, the staff was not warm or inviting.

Our guide Maggie was the highlight of our experince. She tried extra hard to find a variety of animals to give us a great safari adventure. She did a great job, and we were lucky to have her as our guide." See all these reviews: 5n in Zimbabwe; 4n in South Africa; 3n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Poor

Location:
Excellent
Food:
Terrible
Facilities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Activities:
Good
Sightings Report

Buffalo

3 sightings

Eland

1 sighting

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

4 sightings

Lion

3 sightings

Roan antelope

1 sighting

Sable antelope

2 sightings

Spotted Hyena

1 sighting

Zebra

3 sightings

Party of 4
Islington

"Chobe Game Lodge review"

3 nights Arrived 6 Apr 2023
"Huge thanks to everyone at Chobe Game Lodge, especially Ana and Bonnie, for their professional guiding and attentiveness.

In addition to the sightings of mammals recorded below, we saw a Puku." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

1 sighting

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Leopard

1 sighting

Lion

1 sighting

Mr & Mrs C
Edinburgh

"Chobe Game Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 25 Oct 2022
"Chobe Game Lodge was, of course, different from anything that had gone before. It is a large hotel set by the Chobe River within the National Park. My wife and I had been there on our last visit to Botswana four years ago. We had had such a good experience then that we wanted to try another visit.

The facilities at the Lodge were much the same as before: the rooms, the food, the service were all excellent and the staff were again very friendly and helpful. Again the Lodge was relatively empty. On offer were game drives in the Park early morning and late afternoon and boat trips on the river early and mid-morning and late afternoon. At this time of year it can be a magical place to see a huge number of elephant. We had had that experience before and we hoped for it again.

We almost achieved that. In light of the fact that we had already had nine days of game drives we chose to take the boat trips only, three times. On the first occasion, there were elephants everywhere, which had migrated up there in order to take advantage of the permanent water, which towards the end of the dry season was scarce elsewhere. By my no doubt very inexact reckoning we must have seen many hundreds of them, probably in excess of a thousand. Family after family, most of them with a good number of youngsters, came to the water's edge to drink voluminously and to enjoy just being in and near the water. Some crossed the main channel, using their trunks as snorkels in order to breathe when they were out of their depth and with the younger ones sometimes holding the tail of the one in front with their trunks for reassurance. They are such wonderful animals that my wife and I could happily watch them all day.

With the approach of the rains there was thunder during the night and a little rain. And at the water's edge next morning there was hardly an elephant to be seen. It was extraordinary how so many large animals could just disappear like that into the forest away from the river. We heard from some of those who had gone on the game drive that morning that they didn't see many either so they must have retreated deep into the forest away from the tracks that vehicles were confined to.

Apart from the elephants there were plenty of other animals such as baboons, kudu and impala which came down to the river to drink. There were also a number of crocodiles in or near the water, some of them very large, and birds, most notably fish eagles with their wonderfully distinctive calls." See all these reviews: 12n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Party of 4
Islington

"Great introduction to Botswana"

3 nights Arrived 28 Oct 2019
"Luxurious, air-conditioned room near boardwalk with great views over Chobe river and floodplain.
Friendly staff at the lodge.
Enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide, one of an all-female guiding team.
Just the right length of game drive and boat safari.
Best elephant, buffalo and hippo sightings of our trip. Several sightings of lions and brown hyenas, too. And good birding in lodge grounds and throughout Chobe NP.
Full-body massage at the lodge was excellent." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Brown Hyena

Multiple sightings

Buffalo

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Mrs G.
St Albans

"Beautiful river setting"

2 nights Arrived 26 Jun 2019
"Stays here are very busy with land and river game drives.. On our first day, we were taken on an afternoon boat safari with about 30 guests and 2 guides. On the following day, we went on a much smaller boat, which left at 11am. On both these trips we saw elephants and baboons, who had come to feed at the water's edge. We also saw pods of hippos and plenty of crocodiles. The Game Lodge's boats always go in the same direction for the same distance. You pass two areas where animals access the river. Of course, you never know how much wild life will be at these points.

The early morning boat drive, at the end of June, is really a bird watching one. It's very cold in the mornings, so whether you are doing a land drive or a boat one, many of the animals are not moving to the river. On our one afternoon game drive, we saw many animals, especially elephants on their way to and from the river.

On our journeys from the River View lodge to Chobe Game Lodge and back to the airport, both about 11am, we also saw animals, especially elephants on the move. From the point of view of animal sightings, I don't think that we really gained much by actually having accommodation in the reserve. A benefit that we did gain was being able to see animals from the Lodge's viewing platform, next to the river, but animals were at a distance. On game drives ,we did see animals clearly.

Our chalet accommodation was clean and well- maintained with everything we needed for our stay. Half our meals were buffet style eaten by the river. The one evening meal we had in the restaurant was disappointing,. The Lodge management decides which meals are buffet style by the river, so there is no choice about this.

Before our stay, we read a lot about the fact that all guides are female. We think it's great that women are having this opportunity. We stayed for two nights and think that is a sufficient amount of time to experience this lodge We had two jeep game drives and three boat trips, each at a different time of day. We also has some good wild-life sights on our transfers by jeep." See all these reviews: 5n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe; 2n in Namibia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

1 sighting

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

P&A
London

"Fancy accomodation and guaranteed animals"

3 nights Arrived 22 May 2017
"Compared to Xigera this lodge was much more like hotel accomodation and the animals were much more abundant.

It was a nice change to have a bit of luxury after sleeping in the tented rooms but I wouldn't do this lodge exclusively as it does feel a little too close to civilization." See all these reviews: 6n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Good
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Average
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Good
Mrs D
Worcester Park

"MY BOTSWANA: CHOBE GAME LODGE"

2 nights Arrived 11 Jun 2016
"Although it did not feel quite right to have female guides and trackers I have no complaint about their performance. It was only at Chobe that I saw a porcupine (running as if there was no tomorrow), two honey badgers and the riverside antics of a herd of elephants. It was also at Chobe where I watched a pair of hamerkops building their nest.

The Lodge was very suitably placed for game drives and river cruises, both of which I enjoyed. The land between the Lodge and the River Chobe was imaginatively used but I think the Lodge had missed the point of being a GAME Lodge and was veering towards being a modern up-market hotel that did not quite fit the title of GAME Lodge; although I noted that Families seemed pleased with the Lodge's services. Perhaps a minor detail but I did get fed up with every member of staff I passed asking me how I was, I found it intrusive.

I did wonder also about the roll of the Lodge's lady hosts: on my second evening the gentleman who had shared our table the previous evening asked my host to have dinner with himself and two other visitors (excluding myself) which my host did with apologies to me. During their dinner there was a lot of 'selfy' photos taken with close contact between the gentleman and the host and I cannot but question why, also are these 'displays' now acceptable to Botswana culture or are they just for European and American visitors.

The other questionable was why did the waiter decide to accompany me from the dining room as if I had asked him to - I was only able to get him to leave me when I stopped walking and firmly said 'Goodnight'.

At times whilst in the Lodge I felt uncomfortable with a lack of freedom and felt that the staff were ever watchful of me.- perhaps as a single female I stood out like a sore thumb.

It is debatable whether I would choose to stay at the Lodge again, perhaps I would find the tented camps more suitable." See all these reviews: 13n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Good
Service:
Average
Activities:
Good
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Average
Facilities:
Average
Prof E
Grahamstown

"Chobe Game Lodge"

2 nights Arrived 22 Mar 2016
"We enjoyed our game drive very much (and saw lions!) and the facilities/rooms were excellent. Having adjoining rooms for our family worked out well and the pool was super.

Despite trying to accommodate our youngest child, it was clear there was little experience with this, and we felt constantly 'on guard' that we would disrupt their expectations. There was no child menu - and very few vegetarian options at meal times (we all had pasta and red sauce for our final meal). My oldest daughter fell at the pool and cut and bruised herself pretty badly but several staff just stood around until we asked for some help.

However, despite the somewhat stiff ambience, there were a few staff who stood out as excellent, including our guide." See all these reviews: 5n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Good
Service:
Good
Activities:
Good
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Ms K
California

"Chobe Game Lodge"

2 nights Arrived 28 Sep 2014
"The experience at Chobe game Lodge was a bit of a disappointment, after being at the Private Concessions. The Lodge was nice enough, the staff very accommodating, food good and the location lovely. This was the best place for viewing hippos. The guide on our drives did not seem as personal, pro-active or knowledgeable as in the Concessions." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Good
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Excellent
Mrs M
Kidderminster

"Chobe Game Lodge"

2 nights Arrived 28 Sep 2014
"I had been to Chobe Game Lodge 12 years ago and was looking forward to a return. We found, however, that our game drive guide was not very good - which we regretted as we liked the idea of a female guide group.

The food and dining staff were very helpful. We did not like driving on the road (as is necessary in a game park) as there were far too many jeeps all at the same place. After the three bush camps this was definately an anticlimax. I would not return to Chobe Game Lodge." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana; 2n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location:
Average
Service:
Good
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Showing 1-10 of 14
84%
14 reviews of Chobe Game Lodge by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
6
6
1
1
0
Filter by month

Holiday styles & special interests in Botswana

From birdwatching breaks to walking holidays, find great ideas for your trip in Botswana.


Birdwatching

Birdwatching

Diverse habitats, discreet hides and superb guiding.

Cultural experiences

Cultural experiences

Get an insight into Africa's cultures and history.

Family holidays

Family holidays

Hand-picked camps for an incredible family safari.

Honeymoons

Honeymoons

Romantic safaris and castaway island retreats.

Luxury

Luxury

First-class service, scenic vistas and unparalleled comfort await you during these carefully selected luxury holidays. 

Photography holidays

Photography holidays

Great holidays to suit the keen photographer.

Private villas & houses

Private villas & houses

Enjoy Africa with just your friends & family

Riding holidays

Riding holidays

Explore Africa's wilderness on horseback.

Solo Travel

Solo Travel

Trip ideas ideally suited for a solo traveller.

Walking

Walking

Explore Africa's most scenic trails on foot.

Walking safaris

Walking safaris

Explore Africa's untouched wildernesses on foot.

Wellbeing

Wellbeing

Wellness escapes in stunning locations

Wildlife safaris

Wildlife safaris

These trips include hard-hitting game and fascinatingly elusive species alike, as well as superb guiding and a variety of diverse ecosystems.

Other lodges in Chobe National Park

Alternative places to stay in this same area.


Muchenje Safari Lodge

Muchenje Safari Lodge

One of our favourites in the area, Muchenje is a small, welcoming lodge at the quieter, western end of the Chobe Riverfront.


96% (171 reviews)
Chobe River Lodge

Chobe River Lodge

Overlooking the Chobe River, the intimate Chobe River Lodge is a haven of tranquillity away from the bustle of Kasane.


96% (58 reviews)
Savute Safari Lodge

Savute Safari Lodge

Savute Safari Lodge sits on the banks of the Savuti Channel within Chobe National Park, and offers access to excellent game viewing, especially during the dry season.


94% (36 reviews)
Savute Under Canvas

Savute Under Canvas

A mobile camp with the comforts of a semi-permanent tented camp, Savute Under Canvas offers guided game drives within the Savuti region of Chobe National Park.


96% (23 reviews)
Chobe Under Canvas

Chobe Under Canvas

This is a typical location for Chobe under Canvas, a small, semi-permanent camp in the Chobe Riverfront area that offers good value for money and high standards of care.


100% (22 reviews)
Chobe Safari Lodge

Chobe Safari Lodge

Chobe Safari Lodge is a good value, hotel-style lodge in the heart of Kasane offering game drives, boat cruises and fishing trips.


84% (18 reviews)
Chobe Elephant Camp

Chobe Elephant Camp

Located in one of our favorite areas of Chobe National Park, Chobe Elephant Camp is a simple but well-appointed camp with a strong bush feel.


96% (18 reviews)
Ngoma Safari Lodge

Ngoma Safari Lodge

With sweeping views across the floodplains of the Chobe River, Ngoma offers superb food and flexible safari activities.


100% (12 reviews)
Chobe Chilwero

Chobe Chilwero

On the periphery of Chobe National Park, Chobe Chilwero offers luxurious surroundings and excellent food, which complement superb game viewing on game drives and boat trips.


100% (3 reviews)
Camp Kuzuma

Camp Kuzuma

Camp Kuzuma sits in the Kazuma Forest Reserve and is an excellent place to see elephant in particular. Away from the busier riverfront area of Chobe National Park this camp offers a luxurious base form which to explore this less visited region of northern Botswana.


100% (2 reviews)
Savute Elephant Lodge

Savute Elephant Lodge

Savute Elephant Lodge is a luxurious camp on the banks of the now flowing Savuti Channel. This is a classic big-game area, although its location within Chobe National Park does limit the activities which are possible here.


100% (2 reviews)
Elephant Valley Lodge

Elephant Valley Lodge

Elephant Valley Lodge is a lovely camp in a beautiful setting – sit in its hide and watch the wildlife come to drink at the waterhole. Activities focus on boating and drives in Chobe which - although very busy, and a long drive from the lodge – is very rich in wildlife.


80% (1 review)

Login to Expert Africa

Sign in with password

Sign in with email link


New to Expert Africa? Create an account

Forgotten your details?

It's free & quick to set up

  • Save your wish-list
  • Send us an enquiry
  • Pay online for your trip
  • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • Give us feedback on your trip
  • Full site benefits of the site

Need some help? Talk to our team

Africa