Botswana
Chobe National Park is one of Africa’s most famous wildlife reserves. The first game park established in Botswana, it is believed to be home to the densest concentrations of animals on the continent. Over fifty thousand elephants alone inhabit Chobe, the largest and most continuous surviving herd in Africa. Because of this Chobe is the most popular tourist destination in Botswana.
Thanks to its relatively inland location, the area around northern Botswana was one of the last places in southern Africa to be settled by westerners. Because of this, the region was not as badly devastated as other areas during the colonial period. Moreover, the area around Chobe was largely crown land which was somewhat protected. As early as the 1930s Chobe was considered as a site for conservation and tourism, but it was not until 1967 that it was named a full-fledged national park.
Chobe consists of several ecosystems supporting a wide variety of wildlife, especially herd animals and birds. All the large predator species can be found here, including lions, cheetahs and leopards. The star attraction by far is the inconceivably massive herds of elephants. Over fifty thousand of the magnificent creatures, the largest in Africa, roam the park, making it one of the best elephant spotting destinations anywhere.
Chobe National Park is close to the northernmost point in Botswana, 200 miles north of Gaborone. However, Chobe is surprisingly accessible thanks to its proximity to the city of Livingstone and Victoria Falls in nearby Zambia. At just under 12,000 square km, it is actually only the third largest game park in Botswana, but by far it is the most popular. The park is open year-round. As of this writing no visitor information was available. Web: http://chobenationalpark.co.za (official website).
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