Elephant Swimming Crossing — Chobe River Botswana
The Chobe River's elephant (Loxodonta africana) swimming crossings — the world's largest elephant population (130,000 in the Chobe-Linyanti-Okavango ecosystem) regularly swimming the 300-metre-wide Chobe River between Botswana and Namibia, the calves supported by adults during the crossing — are observable from the Chobe National Park's river boat safaris from Kasane year-round. The swimming elephant family group — the bulls' trunks raised above the water surface while the calves swim beside or between adult legs — creates one of Africa's most visually extraordinary elephant behaviour encounters. The Chobe's sunset boat safaris combine the swimming elephants with the river's extraordinary bird life (pel's fishing owl, African fish eagle, and carmine bee-eater colonies in the riverbank) and the hippo pods in the river's shallows in one of southern Africa's finest single boat-based wildlife experiences.
About this spectacle
Standing on the deck of a flat-bottomed river boat as it drifts along the Chobe River, you watch a herd of African elephants wade into the current and begin to swim. Bulls extend their trunks above the waterline like snorkels while calves, barely visible between the churning legs of adults, are shepherded across the 300-metre channel. The opposite bank shimmers in the heat haze of northern Botswana as the herd heaves itself ashore, dripping and steaming. The boat engine idles, keeping respectful distance. Overhead, African fish eagles cry. Carmine bee-eaters flash coral-red from riverbank colonies, and hippos surface with low rumbling exhales in the shallows nearby. At sunset the river turns copper and the silhouettes of elephants mid-crossing, trunks raised, become among the most extraordinary wildlife images on the continent. The air carries the smell of river mud and papyrus. The only sounds are water, birds, and the occasional trumpeted alarm call echoing across the channel.
When to go
Year-round
Getting there
Nearest airport: BBK. Nearest city: Kasane.
Booking options
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