The great elephant gathering in the Chobe River system is the big draw card for this area.While it is not  a major wilderness area, it has a real magic about it. You wildlife game view by game drives and by sunset river cruises.

The Chobe National Park,
              which is the second largest national park in Botswana and covers
              10,566 square kilometres, has one of the greatest concentrations
              of game found on the African continent. Its uniqueness in the abundance
              of wildlife and the true African nature of the region, offers a
              safari experience of a lifetime.

            The park is divided
              into four distinctly different eco systems: Serondela with its lush
              plains and dense forests in the Chobe River
              area in the extreme north-east; the Savuti Marsh in the west about
              fifty kilometres north of Mababe gate; the Linyanti Swamps in the
              north-west and the hot dry hinterland in between.

                                 A major feature of Chobe  National Park is itselephant population.

                 First of all, the Chobe elephant comprise part of
              what is probably the largest surviving continuous elephant population.
              This population covers most of northern Botswana plus northwestern
              Zimbabwe. The Botswana's elephant population is currently estimated
              at around 120,000. This elephant population has built up steadily
              from a few thousand since the early 1900s and has escaped the massive
              illegal offtake that has decimated other populations in the 1970s
              and 1980s. The Chobe  elephant are migratory, making seasonal movements of up to 200
              kilometres from the Chobe and Linyanti
              rivers, where they concentrate in the dry season, to the pans in
              the southeast of the park, to which they disperse in the rains.
              The elephants, in this area have the distinction of being the largest
              in body size of all living elephants though the ivory is brittle
              and you will not see many huge tuskers among these rangy monsters.

            
             The original inhabitants
              of what is now the park were the San people, otherwise known in
              Botswana as the Basarwa. They were hunter-gatherers who lived by moving from one area to
              another in search of water, wild fruits and wild animals. The San
              were later joined by groups of the Basubiya people and later still,
              around 1911, by a group of Batawana led by Sekgoma. When the country
              was divided into various land tenure systems, late last century
              and early this century, the larger part of the area that is now
              the national park was classified as crown land. In 1931 the idea
              of creating a national park in the area was first mooted, in order
              to protect the wildlife from extinction and to attract visitors.
              In 1932, an area of some 24,000 square kilometres in the Chobe district
              was declared a non-hunting area and the following year, the protected
              area was increased to 31,600 square kilometres. However, heavy tsetse
              fly infestations resulted in the whole idea lapsing in 1943. In
              1957, the idea of a national park was raised again when an area
              of about 21,000 square kilometres was proposed as a game reserve
              and eventually a reduced area was gazetted in 1960 as Chobe Game
              Reserve. Later, in 1967, the reserve was declared a national park
              - the first national park in Botswana. There was a large settlement,
              based on the timber industry, at Serondela, some remains of which
              can still be seen today. This settlement was gradually moved out
              and the Chobe National Park was finally empty of human occupation
              in 1975. In 1980 and again in 1987, the boundaries were altered,
              increasing the park to its present size

The Chobe and Linyanti: two important river systems on Botswana's northern border with Namibia.  Excluding geographical boundaries, this area includes several natural reserves including Chobe National Park, the Savuti, the Selinda Reserve, Mahango Game Reserve, West Caprivi Game Park, Mudumu National Park and Mamili National Park

The riverfront at Kasane and Linyanti is good all year - best from May to October. The Savuti area is best from November to May - if the Savuti channel floods or water remains in the Mababe Depression then May to October is excellent. Mid-winter can be very cold and the worst heat is encountered from September until the rains start.