--- type: "Article" title: "The swimming elephants of Botswana’s Chobe River" description: "Botswana's Chobe National Park shelters one of the highest concentrations of wildlife in Africa. Reason enough to mount our telephoto lens and start stalking!" resource: "https://travelmemo.com/botswana/chobe-national-park-elephants" author: "Katja Birrer" publisher: "Travelmemo" photo_count: 21 tags: ["Animals", "Experience", "Landscape", "Nature", "Safari", "Botswana"] entities: - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/places/botswana" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/places/africa" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/wildlife-tourism" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/experience-travel" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/landscape" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/nature-tourism" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/safari" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/lodge" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/excursion-tips" - "https://travelmemo.com/ontology/topics/review" - "https://travelmemo.com/author/katja-birrer" generated: { by: "human:https://travelmemo.com/author/katja-birrer", at: 2026-07-04T14:30:48+00:00 } verified: - { by: "human:https://travelmemo.com/author/walter-schaerer", at: 2016-06-30T19:54:46+00:00 } sources: - id: photos resource: chobe-national-park-elephants.md#photos title: "Original photography by Katja Birrer" author: "human:https://travelmemo.com/author/katja-birrer" last_modified: 2016-06-01 timestamp: 2026-07-04T14:30:48+00:00 --- # The swimming elephants of Botswana’s Chobe River > Chobe National Park in Botswana, named after the river flowing through it, harbours one of Africa's highest concentrations of wildlife, including the largest remaining elephant population on earth. Visitors come for close encounters with elephants, hippos, lions, giraffes and more on game drives and river cruises along the Chobe River. ## Destination Chobe National Park, Botswana, centred on the Chobe River near the small town of Kasane. ## When to go The article does not specify a recommended season, though the excursion described takes place during daylight hours starting early morning. ## Why visit The park shelters the largest remaining population of elephants on earth and one of the highest concentrations of wildlife in Africa, offering dramatic encounters on both land and water. ## What to see - **Swimming elephants** — Elephants bathe and swim in the Chobe River — strong swimmers that put on an entertaining spectacle. - **Hippos** — Spotted within minutes of setting out on the river cruise, often in pairs. - **Crocodiles** — Seen lurking in and along the Chobe River during the cruise. - **Giraffes drinking** — Observed doing the splits to reach the water along the sand spits; vulnerable to lion attack while drinking. - **Lion pride** — A pride seen at siesta after a large meal, muzzles still bloodied. - **Baobab trees of Kasane** — Hollow trunks large enough to stand inside; reportedly used as jails in colonial times. - **African darter birds** — Seen drying their wings in the sun along the river. - **Monitor lizard** — Spotted sunning itself along the riverbank. - **Impalas and buffalos** — Encountered in numbers during the drive along the river. ## What to do - **All-day guided game drive** — Full-day excursion through the park on both tarred roads and sand spits along the Chobe River with a specialist guide. - **Chobe River cruise** — Boat cruise on the river offering close-up wildlife sightings including hippos, crocodiles, elephants and birds. - **Sundowner on the river** — Traditional end-of-day drink taken while watching the red African sunset from the water. ## Good to know The authors stayed at Ngoma Safari Lodge and were guided by Mukamba (MK) on land and Bevan on the river. Kasane, the gateway town, is noted for its famous baobab trees. ## Photos ```yaml photos: - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Baobab-Ngoma-Safari-Lodge-Botswana.jpg" caption: "Baobab near Ngoma Safari Lodge" keywords: ["Africa Albida Tourism", "Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Ngoma Safari Lodge", "Safari", "baobab", "luxury travel", "one-of-a-kind travel experience", "sunset", "tree"] captured: 2016-05-31 credit: "Walter Schaerer" - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Katja-Chobe-National-Park-Botswana.jpg" caption: "Katja ready for the cruise" keywords: ["Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Safari"] captured: 2016-06-01 credit: "Walter Schaerer" - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/snakebird-Chobe-National-Park-Botswana.jpg" caption: "Snakebirds drying their feathers" keywords: ["Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Chobe river", "Safari", "snakebird"] captured: 2016-06-01 credit: "Walter Schaerer" - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Chobe-National-Park-hippos-Botswana.jpg" caption: "Doppelhippos" keywords: ["Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Safari", "hippos"] captured: 2016-06-01 credit: "Walter Schaerer" - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/crocodile-Chobe-National-Park-Botswana.jpg" caption: "Lauerndes Krokodil" keywords: ["Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Safari", "crocodile"] captured: 2016-06-01 credit: "Walter Schaerer" - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/monitor-lizard-Chobe-National-Park-Botswana.jpg" caption: "Waran beim sonnenbaden" keywords: ["Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Safari", "monitor lizard"] captured: 2016-06-01 credit: "Walter Schaerer" - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/water-lilies-Chobe-National-Park-Botswana.jpg" caption: "Water lilies in the Chobe river" keywords: ["Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Chobe river", "Safari", "water lilies"] captured: 2016-06-01 credit: "Walter Schaerer" - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/baobab-trees-Chobe-National-Park-Botswana.jpg" caption: "Baobab trees" keywords: ["Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Safari", "baobab", "tree"] captured: 2016-06-01 credit: "Walter Schaerer" - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/elephant-Chobe-National-Park-Botswana-2.jpg" caption: "Elephants in the Chobe National Park" keywords: ["Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Chobe river", "Safari", "elephant"] captured: 2016-06-01 credit: "Walter Schaerer" - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/elephant-Chobe-National-Park-Botswana-5.jpg" caption: "Elephants in the Chobe National Park" keywords: ["Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Chobe river", "Safari", "elephant"] captured: 2016-06-01 credit: "Walter Schaerer" - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/elephant-Chobe-National-Park-Botswana-6.jpg" caption: "Elephants in the Chobe National Park" keywords: ["Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Safari", "elephant"] captured: 2016-06-01 credit: "Walter Schaerer" - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/elephant-Chobe-National-Park-Botswana-3.jpg" caption: "Elephants in the Chobe National Park" keywords: ["Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Safari", "elephant"] captured: 2016-06-01 credit: "Walter Schaerer" - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/giraffe-Chobe-National-Park-Botswana.jpg" caption: "Giraffe" keywords: ["Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Safari", "giraffe"] captured: 2016-06-01 credit: "Walter Schaerer" - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/giraffes-Chobe-National-Park-Botswana.jpg" caption: "Giraffes drinking by the Chobe river" keywords: ["Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Chobe river", "Safari", "drinking giraffes"] captured: 2016-06-01 credit: "Walter Schaerer" - url: "https://travelmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/lions-Chobe-National-Park-Botswana.jpg" caption: "Pride digesting in the shadow" keywords: ["Botswana", "Chobe", "Chobe National Park", "Safari", "lions", "pride"] captured: 2016-06-01 credit: "Walter Schaerer" ```