Chobe National Park (May 26-28) by Lucas
After Etosha, we thought we knew what to expect of a game park. Chobe blew us away. The 4 Main differences were.....
1. The Forest.
In Etosha you could never drive through forest or even get within 5 meters of a tree. This was bad because all the big game (and small game) like to rest in the branches and shade of the trees. In Chobe, you were constantly getting whacked in the face by the trees. You could get within negative .5 of a meter of them. In other words, the branches were inside our truck as we drove with open windows on the roads. This also meant that the animals were close to the road so we got really good views when we stopped to look at them. Sometimes while we were stopped they would walk even closer to our truck which was thrilling and kind of scary because elephants have been known to flip vehicles over!
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| A lilac breasted roller - one of the coolest birds |
2. The River
In Etosha, the strategy to see game was to go from water hole to water hole hoping to see somthing. In Chobe, the river was the only source of water. This made the vegetation much, much more green, thick and lush and the animals could be found in the river or in the vegetation around it.
In Etosha, the strategy to see game was to go from water hole to water hole hoping to see somthing. In Chobe, the river was the only source of water. This made the vegetation much, much more green, thick and lush and the animals could be found in the river or in the vegetation around it.
3. The animals.
In Etosha. We saw at least 1000 zebras, 300 wildebeests, and 300 springbok. The animals like impala, giraffes, and elephants were rarely seen. In Chobe, we saw about 310 elephants, 180 giraffes, more than 200 impalas, and here's the interesting part.... ONLY 14 zebras, no springbok, and no wildebeests!!!! Wow!
4. The Accommodationss
In Chobe, you don't get as much bang for your buck. We stayed in the park for two nights. It was supposed to be awesome because it was right by the river, and animals roam freely through the campsite. What the reality was, was that there was no water, no electricity, we saw no animals during the day (in the campsite) except baboons who steal your food, and its too dangerous to go out of your tent at night so you can't go to the bathroom. Fun times. There was also some good in the campsite though, we could start exploring the park first thing in the morning, and the incredible sunsets that we could watch over the calm Chobe river.
At Etosha, all the campsites were equipped with restaurants, pools, fires to keep the animals out and waterholes with lights that if you want to, you can watch all night. To top it all of, wifi is available. Yep, Namibia had a bit more money I guess.
I liked both the Parks in their own way, but the main highlight in Chobe for me was the hippos, Crocs and elephants in the river. It was so unique to see the elephants playing in the river,
and going all the way under with just their trunks sticking up, and the hippos were everything I hoped and more. We saw them walking on land, yawning and showing their deadly huge jaws that could easily swallow me whole, and we saw them floating up and down in the water with only their eyes and nose showing. I was amazed we saw as many as 60! The Crocs were just plain cool to see we saw 25 of all sizes from 30 centimetres to 2 meters.
At Etosha, we spent hours waiting at a bush that had four lions in it and only caught glimpses of them stirring now and then. In Chobe, we saw 2 males with no vegetation in front of us lying down with their heads up only 3 meters away! Eventually they grew bored of us and put their heads down, but we were very exited to see such a rare sight.
The sheer number of elephants, giraffes, and hippos we saw in Chobe made Chobe much more interesting, but Etosha had the accommodation figured out and I appreciated that.
Overall Chobe was an amazing experience full of good memories and incredible sights.
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