Chobe Game Lodge

OVERVIEW:

Perhaps best known as the venue for Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor’s second marriage in 1975, Chobe Game Lodge has an illustrious past with a thoroughly modern outlook on conservation and eco-awareness. It’s the only permanent game lodge on the banks of the Chobe river within Chobe National Park itself, and guests can expect a large, well-run property with a privileged location in one of Africa’s most iconic wild spaces. Chobe Game Lodge is part of the Desert & Delta Safaris portfolio, amongst an impressive collection of safari camps and lodges across Botswana, including the Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve, Chobe National Park, and Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. Accommodation is booked on a full-board basis, including all meals, a selection of alcoholic and soft drinks, transfers between the lodge and Kasane Airport, and a laundry service. The lodge is open all year round.

ACCESS & LOCATION:

Chobe Game Lodge is located inside Chobe National Park, on the banks of the Chobe river. From Kasane International Airport, it’s a 30-minute car ride to the lodge, and guests can also arrive by road from Victoria Falls or Livingstone (approximately 2.5 hours). 

ACCOMMODATION & FACILITIES AT CHOBE GAME LODGE:

Chobe Game Lodge is a large property with a total of 44 river-facing guest accommodations, including twelve interleading rooms, four triples, a family room, a honeymoon suite, and three family suites. Each room is air conditioned, with an overhead fan, a complimentary mini-bar, a safety deposit box, and international multi-plug adaptors. The lodge’s refreshed style is contemporary, with splashes of colour in the textiles and oversized oriental rugs. Guests can choose between a double or twin beds, and furnishings consist of bedside stands and reading lights, a writing desk, a decorative storage trunk, and large sink-in armchairs. Small river-facing terraces provide a pleasant outdoor space to sit outside on a deckchair and relax with a book after a day’s safari activities. Inside the roomy en-suite bathrooms, you’ll find a flush toilet, a walk-in shower, twin basins, and a freestanding bathtub. Interleading standard rooms are available for families on request, and two are wheelchair accessible, so please let us know your requirements in advance, and we’ll check availability. Suitable for families with children above the age of 6 years, each river-view suite has a second bedroom with twin beds (the bathroom is shared), a separate lounge area, and its own private plunge pool. The triple rooms have large terraces, two bathrooms, and a lounge area that can be converted to accommodate a single bed for a child.

With their potted palms, lanterns, and oriental fabrics, the Moorish-style communal areas at Chobe Game Lodge feel much like a traditional hotel. They include a classic reception area, a curio shop, an enormous lounge, an open-sided terrace facing the pretty gardens, and two bars – the Tshwene bar complete with billiard table and TV, and the smaller Linyanti bar. The resort-sized swimming pool features sunloungers and plenty of shade, and there’s also a small gym and a spa with several treatment rooms. The riverfront boma hosts regular evenings outside under the stars, often accompanied by live music, and the 250-metre elevated boardwalk at the front of the lodge overlooks the Chobe river and is a great spot for private dining and observing passing wildlife from one of its viewing decks. Wi-Fi connection is available throughout the lodge.

** For families with children under the age of 6, we always request a ground-floor room or a room without a balcony for safety reasons. 

ACTIVITIES AT CHOBE GAME LODGE:

Chobe Game Lodge offers an excellent range of activities, as follows:

• Game drives

  – Game drives take place within Chobe National Park during regulatory hours, with early-morning game drives setting off as soon as the park opens in the hope of glimpsing predators while they’re still active. Chobe is a magnificent terrain covering approximately 11,700 square kilometres of sprawling plains, broadleaf woodlands, riverine forests, and water sources. Particularly famous for its impressive elephant populations, the park is also home to lion, leopard, buffalo, spotted hyena, hippo, giraffe, blue wildebeest, zebra, and vervet monkey.

• Boat safaris

  – Explore the beauty of the Chobe river on one of Chobe Game Lodge’s clean and quiet solar-electric-powered boats. Watch elephants congregate to drink at the water’s edge, spot beady-eyed hippo as they heave through a lagoon, or hundreds of antelopes and giraffe. Sightings of predators along the river banks are also not uncommon. The advantage of this type of boat is its quiet motion along the river, enabling close, non-intrusive encounters with all sorts of wildlife.

• Birding

  – Bird enthusiasts take note that there are more than 450 bird species in Chobe National Park, including Schalow’s turaco, barred owlet, white-browed coucal, rosy-throated longclaw, western-banded snake-eagle, and hooded vulture. You’ll also likely encounter plenty of fish eagles, herons, and bee-eaters along the way!

• Back-of-house eco-tours

  – The Botswana Tourism Organisation recognises Chobe Game Lodge as a fully Ecotourism-certified safari property. Guests can take an eco-tour to enjoy first-hand insights into current projects, courtesy of Albert Ndereki, Ecotourism Manager and one of the lodge’s most longstanding colleagues.

• Chobe cultural exploration trips

  – Available for guests staying four nights or longer, cultural exploration trips provide opportunities to explore some of Chobe’s remotest regions and communities. For example, you can enjoy a visit to the neighbouring village, where you’ll meet local farmers and the basket-weaving community.

*This property is unfenced and located in a wildlife area, so large and potentially dangerous animals do pass through. If you opt to stay here, always be alert when walking around the camp and request for a member of staff to escort you if you have any concerns. Any guest is escorted after dark as a matter of course.