Africa: Boating on the Chobe River

This is the Chobe River, part of the border between Namibia and Botswana, where we cruised on a small riverboat. The Chobe is in what's known as the Caprivi Strip, a panhandle-like protrusion that reaches east for about 280 miles from the main part of Namibia. Nations that border this panhandle are Botswana on the south and Angola and Zambia on the north. Its easternmost tip touches Zimbabwe. For more about the entire African trip, including links to safari camps and lodges, keep scrolling and hitting "older posts" or simply click HERE. 

Crocodiles abound along the placid Chobe River. Most of the ones we
saw were on the Namibia side.

These men, probably Namibians, are using a dugout canoe.

Botswana's Chobe National Park takes up most of one side
of the river, and it's home to a lot of elephants and other wildlife
who seem to know that the Botswana side is protected from
poachers. The Namibia side was mostly farm fields and
grazing land for cattle.

We saw more baby elephants here than anywhere else. All of these photos were taken from our boat.

Let's play submarine!

Weather fronts move quickly through the Chobe River area,
meaning that it be clear and sunny one minute and raining
the next. 

This was one of the few crocodiles we saw in the water. Most were basking in the sun on the river bank.

It's not all elephants in Chobe National Park. Cape buffalo find refuge there as well.

These young males were sparring, practicing for when they might be in a real fight.

This was our boat, a twin-hulled riverboat called Princess 3. The cabins are on the lower deck
and the open area on the second deck is the dining room and lounge. On our first night we
shared the boat with a couple from Oregon and their two young sons. Our second night, we
were the only passengers. The little boats tied up at the stern were used for wildlife excursions
and for ferrying passengers to passport control offices. 

Elephants seem to love being in the river, but they never
stayed in more than a few minutes.

Chobe National Park impalas come to the river to drink.

Lovely teeth, no?