Reviews of safaris to Chobe National Park
353 holiday reviews from our travellers of holidays which include Chobe.
Alex
Seattle
"My Jul 2022 trip"
I visited Namibia and 1 other country between 30 Jul 2022 and 17 Aug 2022
"Good trip overall, a lot of variety and different environments/wildlife to see.
Flying made it a lot faster to get around, which made it easier to see more things (worth the cost)." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip
Flying made it a lot faster to get around, which made it easier to see more things (worth the cost)." Read full review: 18 nights in Africa; 15 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Mike&Helen
Scotland
"My Jul 2022 trip"
I visited Botswana and 2 other countries between 14 Jul 2022 and 31 Jul 2022
"We were very happy with our trip as a whole. All activities were happened as planned.
Expert Africa listened to what we wanted, but provided appropriate advice to ensure that we achieved a balanced holiday" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari
Expert Africa listened to what we wanted, but provided appropriate advice to ensure that we achieved a balanced holiday" Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Stevens
Utah
"My Jun 2022 trip"
I visited Botswana and 1 other country between 18 Jun 2022 and 4 Jul 2022
"Maruska worked with us on this trip and really tailored it to our interests. We got to see more animals than we ever expected and up very close. The level of service from staff and the quality of lodging and dining were as she described.
In addition, due to her vigilance, we were able to rescue the trip from disaster when British Airways suddenly cancelled our flight to Zimbabwe with a 2 week notice. She had prepared us for this so we had a back up plan. Also, she gave us very good COVID traveling advice which we followed to the letter and things went very smoothly with all border transitions.
Overall, the trip was a much needed break from the stress of the last 2 years. Out in the safari car with the wind in our faces, looking for animals was mentally, spiritually and physically rejuvenating. This was truly the trip of a lifetime.
Thanks to everyone at Expert Africa!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service: The trip was excellent. It would be nice to be able to log into my trip and see all the documents and advice I need with one click. The value was fabulous and Maruska is the best!
We kept joking, "Just do what Maruska says and you will be happy!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari
In addition, due to her vigilance, we were able to rescue the trip from disaster when British Airways suddenly cancelled our flight to Zimbabwe with a 2 week notice. She had prepared us for this so we had a back up plan. Also, she gave us very good COVID traveling advice which we followed to the letter and things went very smoothly with all border transitions.
Overall, the trip was a much needed break from the stress of the last 2 years. Out in the safari car with the wind in our faces, looking for animals was mentally, spiritually and physically rejuvenating. This was truly the trip of a lifetime.
Thanks to everyone at Expert Africa!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service: The trip was excellent. It would be nice to be able to log into my trip and see all the documents and advice I need with one click. The value was fabulous and Maruska is the best!
We kept joking, "Just do what Maruska says and you will be happy!" Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 8 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs R
Lincs
"My Jun 2022 trip"
I visited Botswana and 1 other country between 10 Jun 2022 and 25 Jun 2022
"We cannot thank Expert Africa enough! This has been the trip of a lifetime, largely to do with the time spent on the organisation and the attention to detail by Tracy Lederer.
The trip was initially put together by Richard Ball, who has since left the Company and then taken over by Tracy, who gave us great confidence. Covid then hit and we had to postpone our trip twice, but at no point did we feel any concern that it was not going to go ahead or that it would not be what we had hoped for.
At the last moment one airline went bust, a few days before our departure but Tracy had got seats held on another airline before we even got in touch with her. The trip itself went really well, without a hitch. At every step we were met and guided across borders, through airports and onto transfers. The lodges that had been recommended were ideal and as we had hoped, the mobile safari was a real highlight.
Thank you to everyone at Expert Africa who worked so hard to make this a truly memorable and extremely enjoyable holiday.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
We would not have changed a thing. Thank you for all that you did." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari
The trip was initially put together by Richard Ball, who has since left the Company and then taken over by Tracy, who gave us great confidence. Covid then hit and we had to postpone our trip twice, but at no point did we feel any concern that it was not going to go ahead or that it would not be what we had hoped for.
At the last moment one airline went bust, a few days before our departure but Tracy had got seats held on another airline before we even got in touch with her. The trip itself went really well, without a hitch. At every step we were met and guided across borders, through airports and onto transfers. The lodges that had been recommended were ideal and as we had hoped, the mobile safari was a real highlight.
Thank you to everyone at Expert Africa who worked so hard to make this a truly memorable and extremely enjoyable holiday.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
We would not have changed a thing. Thank you for all that you did." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mr & Mrs S
Kure Beach
"Our June 2022 trip"
I visited Botswana and 1 other country between 29 May 2022 and 15 Jun 2022
"We could not have been happier with the overall experience from booking through execution of our trip. Tracy Lederer was responsive and knowledgeable every step of the way. And thanks to COVID, she had three years to work with us on making the experience happen.
We stayed in Victoria Falls 3 nights to recover from the long journey and enjoy the Falls and Zambezi River experience. We had a 9-night mobile safari with 1-night stays in lodges before and after. Before to "transition" from Vic Falls area and at end to "transition" from mobile safari to the long journey home. All bookings, transfers, meals, etc were executed as expected with high quality service.
We found Tracy to be very helpful and honest in her guidance with us. The changing requirements due to COVID added more considerations for her and us to balance....and that all went smoothly with her help.
If we book more travel to Africa, we will definitely request to work with Tracy." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari
We stayed in Victoria Falls 3 nights to recover from the long journey and enjoy the Falls and Zambezi River experience. We had a 9-night mobile safari with 1-night stays in lodges before and after. Before to "transition" from Vic Falls area and at end to "transition" from mobile safari to the long journey home. All bookings, transfers, meals, etc were executed as expected with high quality service.
We found Tracy to be very helpful and honest in her guidance with us. The changing requirements due to COVID added more considerations for her and us to balance....and that all went smoothly with her help.
If we book more travel to Africa, we will definitely request to work with Tracy." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 11 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mrs & Mr K
Florida
"My May 2022 trip"
I visited Botswana and 2 other countries between 26 May 2022 and 16 Jun 2022
"This started out as a once in a lifetime trip but as we travelled further in to Africa we decided we will definitely go back!!!!
I would have packed a little differently than I did. Taking 2 pair of thermal underwear would have been useful, as our nights and morning game drives were quite cold. We also had banking issues along the way. Even though we had given our bank all of our travel information we still had issues at ATMs. We should have brought far more cash with us than we did.
The people, the environment, and the animals were incredible!! Africa is something everyone should experience if they can.
We will go back!!!!!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
None that I can think of." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari
I would have packed a little differently than I did. Taking 2 pair of thermal underwear would have been useful, as our nights and morning game drives were quite cold. We also had banking issues along the way. Even though we had given our bank all of our travel information we still had issues at ATMs. We should have brought far more cash with us than we did.
The people, the environment, and the animals were incredible!! Africa is something everyone should experience if they can.
We will go back!!!!!
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
None that I can think of." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 9 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
LDB
Vancouver
"My May - June 2022 trip"
I visited Botswana and 1 other country between 24 May 2022 and 13 Jun 2022
"This was my fourth trip to Africa, but my first to Botswana, and it was the most rewarding. Sightings in three of the five camps visited were incredible - cheetahs, leopards, pairs of mating lions, mating hippos, and fighting giraffes and impalas. As a solo and older traveler, I really appreciated the friendliness, hospitality and inclusiveness shown by the Botswana people.
Overall the accommodation was excellent, as was the food and service, and the guiding generally exceptional. Having had multiple hip surgeries, I was so grateful my agent Maruska Adye-Rowe had done an excellent job in securing accommodation close to the main lodges, and preferential seating on the game drives. Maruska not only rearranged my whole schedule due to the pandemic, but also remained on top of my itinerary noting the cancellation my British Airways homeward flight from Victoria Falls, and arranging and paying for a new flight from Livingstone. The flight arrangements from camp to camp, and the transfers by Wild Horizons between Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia were absolutely seamless.
Sadly I did not see any wild dogs on this trip, and elephant sightings were few, even at Chobe Elephant Camp. However, I was compensated by many "up close and personal" encounters with other animals, and thrilled at the huge variety of birds.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Both Maruska and Chris McIntyre were always available to answer any questions or concerns I had about this trip, and could not have been more helpful.
In hindsight, I wish I had probed for more information in terms of the manner in which the various camps operated, and also about the weather conditions. Being overly concerned about my luggage weight, I did not pack adequately for the very cold morning drives and huge swings in temperature. The camp schedules were also quite grueling for me - starting at 5:00 a.m. and going until after supper with very minimal "siesta breaks" in the hottest part of the day. However, I took some downtime at Okuti, where I also found a heavy fleecy jacket, and got my second wind!
Many thanks to you both for making this trip so memorable!" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari
Overall the accommodation was excellent, as was the food and service, and the guiding generally exceptional. Having had multiple hip surgeries, I was so grateful my agent Maruska Adye-Rowe had done an excellent job in securing accommodation close to the main lodges, and preferential seating on the game drives. Maruska not only rearranged my whole schedule due to the pandemic, but also remained on top of my itinerary noting the cancellation my British Airways homeward flight from Victoria Falls, and arranging and paying for a new flight from Livingstone. The flight arrangements from camp to camp, and the transfers by Wild Horizons between Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia were absolutely seamless.
Sadly I did not see any wild dogs on this trip, and elephant sightings were few, even at Chobe Elephant Camp. However, I was compensated by many "up close and personal" encounters with other animals, and thrilled at the huge variety of birds.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
Both Maruska and Chris McIntyre were always available to answer any questions or concerns I had about this trip, and could not have been more helpful.
In hindsight, I wish I had probed for more information in terms of the manner in which the various camps operated, and also about the weather conditions. Being overly concerned about my luggage weight, I did not pack adequately for the very cold morning drives and huge swings in temperature. The camp schedules were also quite grueling for me - starting at 5:00 a.m. and going until after supper with very minimal "siesta breaks" in the hottest part of the day. However, I took some downtime at Okuti, where I also found a heavy fleecy jacket, and got my second wind!
Many thanks to you both for making this trip so memorable!" Read full review: 20 nights in Africa; 14 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
Mrs P
Netherlands
"My - great - 60th birthday trip to Botswana "
I visited Botswana and 1 other country between 23 May 2022 and 13 Jun 2022
"My trip was really great. I saw may beautiful things in the almost pristine Botswana. I had a perfect mix of different habitats and plenty of wildlife. Wild dogs were one of the main drivers for this trip and I was able to see them in 3 out of the 6 camps.
So glad I included Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in my itinerary . What a great surprise. And what a nice camp, Camp Kalahari. And a meerkat experience which made me literally cry. Savute under Canvas was a bit of a disappointment. Due to the fact that this time the Savute channel was dry (no water - no life) and not the best guiding experience. Lebala I could have skipped without missing anything.
Great Plains offers superb wildlife experience. In very many ways. I have been very spoiled and lucky to have a car all to myself in both Duba plains and Selinda. Both are very pretty areas, and Duba plains even has a touch of magic.
I travelled alone and Botswana is a perfect and very safe destination. You travel alone, but are never alone. In the "posh" camps , people tempt to be a little bit more on their own, in the camps just below that level, all people join for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Logistics were arranged perfectly. Everybody knew when I was coming or going. It has been a wise - and very good - decision to book privates in several camps. Unique wildlife experience in your own pace. The " privates" in both Duba and Selinda were an extraordinary and great bonus." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 20 on a Botswana safari
So glad I included Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in my itinerary . What a great surprise. And what a nice camp, Camp Kalahari. And a meerkat experience which made me literally cry. Savute under Canvas was a bit of a disappointment. Due to the fact that this time the Savute channel was dry (no water - no life) and not the best guiding experience. Lebala I could have skipped without missing anything.
Great Plains offers superb wildlife experience. In very many ways. I have been very spoiled and lucky to have a car all to myself in both Duba plains and Selinda. Both are very pretty areas, and Duba plains even has a touch of magic.
I travelled alone and Botswana is a perfect and very safe destination. You travel alone, but are never alone. In the "posh" camps , people tempt to be a little bit more on their own, in the camps just below that level, all people join for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Logistics were arranged perfectly. Everybody knew when I was coming or going. It has been a wise - and very good - decision to book privates in several camps. Unique wildlife experience in your own pace. The " privates" in both Duba and Selinda were an extraordinary and great bonus." Read full review: 21 nights in Africa; 20 on a Botswana safari
Overall trip
Excellent
John
Braintree
"My May 2022 trip"
I visited Namibia and 2 other countries between 18 May 2022 and 9 Jun 2022
"Excellent: it lived up to expectations, after the two year wait caused by Covid, we thoroughly enjoyed the holiday. Everything ran very smoothly, all of the lodges were good and we saw nearly all of what we hoped to see!
The food was generally very good but we did notice that when we went from one Wilderness Safaris Lodge to another the food options were rather similar because they seemed to work off the same menus!
In retrospect, we would have liked three nights somewhere. Perhaps at Ongava? If we were to have cut a destination it would probably have been one of Nxamaseri or Kazile Island Lodge where you are in both cases on the river, although we liked them both in their different ways.
The driving was generally OK but we did have three long days of driving early on almost wholly on untarred roads. Later on in Caprivi the roads were excellent. We got one puncture - caused by a screw and not the roads!
Whilst we were warned it would be cold at night it was more than that. In a lot of places it did not warm up until the afternoon, when it did become hot. We happened to encounter a lot of windy days which made it worse. On game drives you are perched up in an open sided vehicle and so the airspeed makes the cold seem much worse than the temperature would suggest. We took fleeces and gilets but a wind proof coat would have been better than a fleece. That said May still seemed a good time to go, however, because it was before the coldest time, and after the rainy season, and the lodges were not very busy and so there were no big crowds on the game drives.
Star attractions:
- Sesriem and the dunes
- Damaraland and the Daro Nawas lodge
- Ongava
- Muchenje" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip
The food was generally very good but we did notice that when we went from one Wilderness Safaris Lodge to another the food options were rather similar because they seemed to work off the same menus!
In retrospect, we would have liked three nights somewhere. Perhaps at Ongava? If we were to have cut a destination it would probably have been one of Nxamaseri or Kazile Island Lodge where you are in both cases on the river, although we liked them both in their different ways.
The driving was generally OK but we did have three long days of driving early on almost wholly on untarred roads. Later on in Caprivi the roads were excellent. We got one puncture - caused by a screw and not the roads!
Whilst we were warned it would be cold at night it was more than that. In a lot of places it did not warm up until the afternoon, when it did become hot. We happened to encounter a lot of windy days which made it worse. On game drives you are perched up in an open sided vehicle and so the airspeed makes the cold seem much worse than the temperature would suggest. We took fleeces and gilets but a wind proof coat would have been better than a fleece. That said May still seemed a good time to go, however, because it was before the coldest time, and after the rainy season, and the lodges were not very busy and so there were no big crowds on the game drives.
Star attractions:
- Sesriem and the dunes
- Damaraland and the Daro Nawas lodge
- Ongava
- Muchenje" Read full review: 22 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
Dr D & Dr U
UK
"My May 2022 trip"
I visited Namibia and 1 other country between 6 May 2022 and 21 May 2022
"Absolutely fantastic holiday.
Twice postponed due to covid it did not disappoint when we finally got there.
Everything went extremely smoothly, it was both exciting and relaxing at the same time and we cannot wait to go back.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
No, I think the service is well above and beyond what can be expected and so was our trip" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip
Twice postponed due to covid it did not disappoint when we finally got there.
Everything went extremely smoothly, it was both exciting and relaxing at the same time and we cannot wait to go back.
Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:
No, I think the service is well above and beyond what can be expected and so was our trip" Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 14 on a Namibia trip
Overall trip
Excellent
353
reviews of Chobe by travellers since August 2007
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Where to stay in Chobe
Our suggestions for safari camps in Chobe National Park
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.
Chobe River Lodge
Overlooking the Chobe River, the intimate Chobe River Lodge is a haven of tranquillity away from the bustle of Kasane.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Chobe Game Lodge
Chobe Game Lodge occupies an enviable riverfront location within Chobe National Park and boasts well-earned 'eco' credentials, as well as an excellent all-female guiding team.
Ngoma Safari Lodge
With sweeping views across the floodplains of the Chobe River, Ngoma offers superb food and flexible safari activities.
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.
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.
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.
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.
