Day 19 – Livingstone to Chobe (Botswana)

Today we travel to Botswana, just for the day. Chobe National Park is a Safari Park just across the border. We leave at 7 pm prompt and travel the 40min to the Kazungula Ferry crossing.

The crossing between Zambia and Botswana forms the world’s shortest border at 750m. The ferry crossing across the Zambezi River passes through Zimbabwe waters and close to an Island which is part of Namibia. The place called the four corners is 750m shy of a unique thing geographically, called a quadripoint, where four countries meet.

The boat trip across the river is a matter of minutes. We board a minibus with some young volunteers from Various countries (Spain, Switzerland, U.S.) and drive a few miles to Kasane where we stop for coffee and a light breakfast.

Fed and watered we board a boat for a river cruise. Here we meet a number of folk from the Maryland in the U.S. who have been working in Lusaka.

We cruise along spying a variety of birds, buffalo, hippo, crocs, elephants, warthog, and antelope of different kinds. The scenery is amazing, we circle a flat island on a double decker boat.

Returning to dry land we have an excellent lunch and then embark on a land safar. Driving close to the river we spot some amazing birds as well as more elephants, giraffe, warthogs, kudu, puku, Impala, sable, waterbuck, hippo and mongooses. There are large herds of elephants throughout the park and we spend a lot of time watching family groups. There are some amazing birds here including the lilac breasted roller, crested barbets and the  swallow tailed bee eater

Swallow- Tailed Bee Eater

Swallow- Tailed Bee Eater

Swallow- Tailed Bee Eater

Sadly we see no big cats. After a two  hour drive it’s time to return to the ferry and Zambia. We had a great day in Botswana – definitely a place to which I would like to return.

Modes of Transport

• Minibus (3)
• Motorised Launch Boat
• River Cruise Ferry
• Safari Vehicle

Distance (miles)

• 300

Accommodation 

• Camping (Jollyboys Backpackers)

Cost (not including meals)

• $9 pppn 

Location

• Livingstone (Safari – Chobe, Botswana)