Chobe Day Safari from Victoria Falls: 9 Hours & River Cruise

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/18

Duration2h–9h

GroupUp to 20

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Boat cruise and game drive in Chobe National Park, all in one day

You get picked up from your Victoria Falls hotel, cross into Botswana, spend three hours on a boat watching wildlife from the water, eat lunch, then spend another three and a half hours in an open jeep searching for elephants and buffalo on game drives. Hotel drop-off is included, and the whole day runs nine hours—long enough to see real animal behavior, short enough to be back before dark.

2h–9h

Step-by-step itinerary

Full day Chobe National Park safari

Pick up from lodge or hotel
Transfer to Botswana via Kazungula border
Meet and greet with guide
Morning boat safari cruise on Chobe River
Buffet lunch
Afternoon game drive in 4x4 open jeep

The Experience

A guide steps out of the vehicle at the riverbank, points toward the water, and you follow. That's how the morning starts—the boat safari on the Chobe river in Botswana, three hours of slow movement through the park while elephants wade into the shallows and buffalo herds drink at the edge. You're picked up from your lodge or hotel in Victoria Falls early, driven through the Kazungula border post into Botswana, and by the time you're on the water, the day has already shifted into something slower. The guide reads the animals the way someone reads a map, stopping when a giraffe moves between the trees or when lions rest in the grass near the bank. It's not rushed. You sit, you watch, the engine cuts in and out.

After three hours on the water, you head back for a buffet lunch—nothing fancy, but it breaks the heat and gives you time to sit still for a moment. Then the afternoon game drive starts, another three and a half hours in a 4x4 open jeep, moving through the park on dirt roads. This is where the pace changes. The vehicle stops and starts, the guide scans the landscape, and you're looking for movement in the grass, shapes under trees. Elephants, buffalo, lions, giraffes—they're all here, and the open jeep means you're close enough to hear the animals move, to see the dust they kick up. The whole day is nine hours from pickup to drop-off, which sounds long until you realize how much ground that covers and how much wildlife you actually see.

One thing to know: if you're traveling with children, bring birth certificates for the border crossing into Botswana. The Kazungula post requires them, and immigration doesn't move without the paperwork. A KAZA visa is ideal if you're coming from Zimbabwe, though if you're picked up from Livingstone in Zambia, you go straight into Botswana without that step. The guide handles the logistics, but the documents have to be there. Bottled water is included throughout the day, and the vehicles are wheelchair accessible if that matters for your group.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel or lodge pickup and drop-off from Victoria Falls or Livingstone, the three-hour morning boat safari on the Chobe river, a buffet lunch, the three-and-a-half-hour afternoon game drive in an open 4x4 jeep, bottled water throughout, and a guide who navigates both the water and the park. Border crossing into Botswana is handled as part of the itinerary.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyInfant seats available

Operated by Intondolo Safaris and Tours

Is this one for you?Right for travelers based in Victoria Falls or Livingstone who want to see large wildlife without arranging their own transport or park entry—the nine-hour structure fits both the boat safari and the game drive into a single day, which is what makes seeing animals from two different angles possible.