CHOBE A BRIEF HISTORY

The  Chobe National park which spans in excess of 10 000 square kilometers was originally the home of the famous hunter gatherer people known as the San.  In later years these San people were joined by the Basubya and later by Batawana’s.

In later years after colonialisation, the land was divided into various land tenure systems and a large area of the park was classified as crown land.  In 1931 the concept of gazetting a national park in order to protect this awesome area was first tabled.

Twenty four thousand square kilometers in the area known as the Chobe district was declared a non hunting area in 1931. In 1933 this area was increased to 31 600 kilometers. Tragically due to a large belt of tsetse fly in the area the whole idea collapsed in 1943.

In 1957 the concept of the national park was raised again and some 21 000 square kilometers was proposed as a reserve.  It took from 1957-1960 to finally have the Chobe Game Reserve gazetted and in 1967 the reserve was finally declared the first ever national park in Botswana.

The Chobe National Park though,  would still end up hosting quite a large settlement in the Serondela area where a saw mill had been established and only was finally clear in 1975.  The present size of 10000 kilometers was gazetted in 1987.

ATTRACTION WITHIN THE PARK

The park has four distinct echo systems.  We have the Linyanti swamps in the north west, the Savuti marsh in the west, dense forest and lush plains of Serondela in the north and the hot dry Hinterland in between.

The Savuti area boasts one of the highest concentrations of wildlife on the African continent.

The Linyanti swamps hidden away from the crowds is very similar in flora and fauna as the great Okavango’s permanent waterways with its reed beds and papyrus lagoons.  These swamps cover almost 900 square kilometers and during the winter months this strip of wetland provides an irresistable magnet for all the plains game as well as incredible bird life including pelicans.

One of the most impressive features of the Chobe National Park is its incredible population of elephants.  This is the largest surviving continuous elephant population in the world. These incredible beasts make a 200 kilometer migration every year between the Chobe and Linyanti rivers where they congregate in groups of thousands.

THE RIVER

The Chobe comes to life in the northern Angolan highlands where it travels under a different name, the Kwando river.  It meander s through Kalahari sands before reaching Botswana where it has a name change to the Linyanti.  It then continues its eastward journey until it reaches Ngoma where the name changes once again to the Chobe.  The name Chobe apparently was coined after the old timber merchant at Serondela who used to encourage his workers who were hauling timber to “chobe chobe” which meant to push push.  The name stuck.

KASANE TOWN

Not too long ago,  the town of Kasane was a sleepy little village but with its strategic location where four countries meet, namely Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and Botswana, this town has started to grow.  One of the most amazing things about this little town is that elephant, hippo and buffalo can often be seen wondering through the town.  The local warthogs have got it into their heads where they make a concerted effort to cross only at the pedestrian crossings!!!  Still to be seen outside the modern police station is the hollowed out Baobab tree which served as the local prison until the new brick built unit was constructed