Linyanti Concession

Linyanti

Overview

Wildlife

Birds

Best Time To Visit

Weather & Climate

Getting There

Malaria & Safety

By Anthony Ham

Anthony is a renowned Africa expert and author of many Lonely Planet guidebooks, including the Botswana & Namibia guide.

The four lodges in Linyanti Concession (also Linyanti Game Reserve) are run by the well-established Wilderness Safaris, which means exclusivity, impeccable service and superb guiding. There are no borders between the reserve and neighboring Chobe National Park, and animals migrate freely across. The Linyanti Swamp system, created by a big bend in the Linyanti River, attracts large herds of animals, especially elephant.

Best Time To Go

August to October (Best at the riverfront area)

High Season

July to October (The park gets crowded)

Size

11,700km² / 4,517mi²

Altitude

919-1,061m / 3,015-3,481ft

Excellent wildlife viewing

Ideal birding destination, especially for waterbirds

Game drives and boat safaris available

Excellent self-drive destination

Most accommodation is outside the park

The waterfront area near Kasane can get crowded

Very hot in summer

Limited safari circuits inside the park

Aside from elephants and buffalo, common waterbuck, plains zebras, impalas and puku are abundant on the floodplains and easily seen on boat safaris in the Dry season. Early morning game drives are most productive for finding predators such as lions and spotted hyenas. Although they are more secretive, you might be lucky to spot a leopard too.

Chobe’s lifeline is the Chobe River, which lazily meanders through savannah and woodland, and the floodplains are usually dotted with animals. The interior is a patchwork of mopane woodland and flat Kalahari sandveld (dry, sandy soil). The Savuti Marsh is another landmark in the park. It is mostly dry, and it is often compared to the Serengeti Plains.

Average daytime temperatures in the Dry season (April to October) start at 30°C/86°F in April, and by October they’ve climbed to a very hot 35°C/95°F. Conditions stay fairly hot in the first two months of the Wet season (November to March), before the heavy storms of January and February sweep away the worst of the heat.

You can see animals year-round at Chobe, but the Dry season (April to October) is when wildlife viewing is at its best here, particularly along the southern bank of the park’s broad, namesake river. It gets better as the season progresses, but be warned that it gets hotter too.

Chobe Safaris & Tours

Chobe Camping Safaris

Chobe Budget Safaris

Chobe Luxury Safaris

Tour Operators for Chobe

By Anthony Ham

Anthony is a renowned Africa expert and author of many Lonely Planet guidebooks, including the Botswana & Namibia guide.

Chobe National Park has an impressive wealth of animal life. Elephants and buffalo are a permanent presence on the riverbanks in the dry months. Plains zebra, puku and impala are very common as well, while smaller numbers of greater kudu and sable antelope can be found in the park interior. Lions are easily spotted and you might be lucky to see wild dogs too.

Elephant

Giraffe

Hippo

Buffalo

Zebra

Wildebeest

White Rhino

Black Rhino

Lion

Leopard

Cheetah

Hyena

Wild Dog

Thousands of animals on the floodplains kick up a lot of dust, which creates amazing photo opportunities at sunset. Less obvious are some of the smaller mammals such as the Chobe subspecies of bushbuck. Red lechwes are common in marshy areas. Some of the small predators include Selous’ mongoose, serval and wild cat.

Chobe has very seasonal wildlife viewing. The dry months, from May to October, are a good time to visit the Chobe River area in the north. During the Wet season, from December to April, animals tend to gather around the pans in the interior.

Chobe Safaris & Tours

Chobe Camping Safaris

Chobe Budget Safaris

Chobe Luxury Safaris

Tour Operators for Chobe

By Anthony Ham

Anthony is a renowned Africa expert and author of many Lonely Planet guidebooks, including the Botswana & Namibia guide.

Chobe National Park is a great birding destination – more than 450 species have been recorded. Boat trips on the river are excellent for checking off many waders and other water-associated birds. As they have become very habituated to boats, bird photography is very rewarding here. A highlight on the river trips is the African fish eagle whose iconic call will stay with you forever. African skimmers gather on the sandbanks and flocks fly over the river, occasionally dipping in the water to feed.

Notable Birds in Linyanti

African fish eagle

African skimmer

Long-toed lapwing

African spoonbill

Squacco heron

African hobby

African marsh harrier

African skimmer

Black-winged pratincole

Broad-billed roller

Brown firefinch

Collared pratincole

Crimson-breasted shrike

Greater painted-snipe

Green-capped eremomela

Half-collared kingfisher

Rosy-throated longclaw

White-backed night heron

Yellow-bellied greenbul

Chobe is a great park for bird watching throughout the year, but the best months are from November to April. This is when migrants swoop into the park. Also, during these months a lot of birds are breeding, and large colonies of waterbirds can be found nesting on the sandbanks in the river. The best time for mammals, however, is in the dry months from May to October.

Chobe Safaris & Tours

Chobe Camping Safaris

Chobe Budget Safaris

Chobe Luxury Safaris

Tour Operators for Chobe

Bird Species

450+

Migratory Birds

Nov to Apr

By Anthony Ham

Anthony is a renowned Africa expert and author of many Lonely Planet guidebooks, including the Botswana & Namibia guide.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Chobe National Park can be visited throughout the year. Wildlife migrates through the park with the seasons. The riverfront area is best visited in the dry months, from May to October. August to October are the optimum months for wildlife viewing here, but it gets extremely hot at that time. During the wet months, many animals, plains zebras specifically, migrate to the Savuti Marsh. Linyanti is best visited from April onward.

Best Time

August to October (Best wildlife viewing at the riverfront area)

High Season

July to October (The park gets crowded)

Low Season

November to June (Low-season rates may apply)

Best Weather

May to August (Less hot during the day)

Worst Weather

October (It gets extremely hot)

Wildlife viewing along the riverfront gets better as the Dry season progresses

Lots of sunny days and it rarely rains

Sunsets on the river are phenomenal

July to October are high-season months, and the riverfront area gets very busy

It is very dry and dusty

September and October are very hot

There are huge concentrations of zebra and other wildlife at the Savuti Marsh

Prolific numbers of baby animals attract predators

The best time for birders as migrants are present

There is less wildlife at the riverfront, as animals disperse

It is very hot

Afternoon showers can interfere with activities

Chobe Safaris & Tours

Chobe Camping Safaris

Chobe Budget Safaris

Chobe Luxury Safaris

Tour Operators for Chobe

By Anthony Ham

Anthony is a renowned Africa expert and author of many Lonely Planet guidebooks, including the Botswana & Namibia guide.

Chobe National Park has a warm to hot climate, and there is a Dry and Wet season. The Dry season months May to August are the coolest and most rain falls between December and March. It is advisable to bring warm clothing for boat trips and morning drives.

The last showers marking the end of the Wet season normally fall in April. From May, the park becomes drier and drier. June and July are the coolest months; however, temperatures begin increasing in August and peak in October.

- April & May – These months mark the beginning of the Dry season. The vegetation is still green, and it is mostly dry and sunny. It is hot in the middle of the day, with temperatures climbing up to 30°C/86°F.
- June, July & August – There is very little rain during these months. It is a bit cooler now with afternoon temperatures climbing up to about 27°C/81°F. Early mornings are cold at around 8°C/46°F.
- September & October – As the Dry season draws to a close, it continues to get hotter before the rains break. October is very hot with average afternoon temperatures of 34°C/93°F. However, conditions at night and in the mornings are agreeable.

The first rains bring relief. It doesn’t usually rain all day, but thunderstorms in the afternoon are common. It’s hot throughout the season with afternoon temperatures of around 32°C/90°F. Mornings are pleasant.

November & December – Conditions are hot and sunny. Temperatures tend to build before it rains, and then drop afterward. Early mornings are pleasant – temperatures average about 18°C/64°F.
January & February – The first two months of the year are the wettest. There is usually rain in the afternoon, but only for a few hours. Heavy storms are a regular occurrence.
March – The rains are lessening. There is still rainfall every couple of days though, and it mostly comes as a thunderstorm. Mornings are cooler at 17°C/63°F.

Chobe Safaris & Tours

Chobe Camping Safaris

Chobe Budget Safaris

Chobe Luxury Safaris

Tour Operators for Chobe

By Anthony Ham

Anthony is a renowned Africa expert and author of many Lonely Planet guidebooks, including the Botswana & Namibia guide.

Chobe National Park has several areas that can be visited. The most popular and accessible area is the riverfront, which is just outside Kasane. Chobe Gate is located 6km/3mi west of Kasane and 80km/49mi west of Victoria Falls. The drive from Kasane takes 10 minutes and from Victoria Falls it’s just over an hour*.

Visitors to this area usually fly into Kasane Airport (BBK), and self-drive visitors can pick up their 4×4 there.

The Savuti and Linyanti areas can be reached by 4×4 in the Dry season, but most people fly in by chartered plane to their lodge.

Another popular point of entry to the country is Maun Airport (MUB). From here you can fly on to Kasane. Driving is also possible – it’s about 600km/370mi and it takes about 7 hours*.

*Driving times are only a rough indication. You should always consider the possibility of significant delays.

Please check Skyscanner to see which airlines can take you to Botswana, and what tickets would cost.

Charter flights between parks will usually be booked by the tour operator as part of your tour package.

Domestic flights to Kasane can be booked through Air Botswana.

Please check our Getting There – Botswana page to learn more about passport, visa, COVID-19 and other entry requirements.

Chobe Safaris & Tours

Chobe Camping Safaris

Chobe Budget Safaris

Chobe Luxury Safaris

Tour Operators for Chobe

By Anthony Ham

Anthony is a renowned Africa expert and author of many Lonely Planet guidebooks, including the Botswana & Namibia guide.

Botswana, and Chobe National Park in particular, is safe to visit in our opinion.

Flying from lodge to lodge is a very safe way to travel, but Botswana is a popular and safe self-drive destination as well. Most self-drive visitors stay in Kasane, which is easy to reach. Visitors driving to Savuti, or especially Linyanti, should check the road conditions before heading off.

It is always worth checking the current travel advisories (see the ‘Safety & Security – Botswana’ link below).

Your travel clinic or local doctor will give you advice on appropriate vaccinations for visiting Botswana. Chobe lies in a high-risk malaria zone, so it is advisable to take antimalarial medication. Extra safety measures that should be adhered to are using insect repellent (containing at least 30% DEET) and covering up in the evening. The malaria risk is highest in the rainy season.

Incidents with animals are extremely rare. There is nothing to worry about as long as you listen to the safety briefing at your lodge check-ins.

When on an organized safari, listen carefully to the instructions given by your guide, and when on a self-drive safari, familiarize yourself with the park rules.

For more information, please read the ‘Wildlife Viewing Safety Precautions’ below.