Thursday, January 26, 2006

Chobe National park game lodge




KUBU LODGE Chobe National Park
Kubu Lodge overlooks the Chobe River in the north-eastern corner of Botswana, 2km from the historic meeting place of four countries Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, only 9km from the Chobe National Park.
On the doorstep of the world famous Chobe National Park, and only an hour away from the mighty Victoria Falls. Kubu Lodge is an ideal place from which to explore this fascinating region.

Kubu Lodge has eleven charming thatched rustic en-suite wooden chalets, a swimming pool, and restaurant, bar, curio shop and 2km long nature trail with tree house. Each thatched chalet is raised on stilts with its own private terrace affording a wonderful birds-eye view of the riverine area and spacious park like gardens, a bird lover's delight. Every effort is made to ensure constant peace and tranquillity.
The thatched restaurant with extended balcony offer panoramic views of the Chobe River. Tasty, fresh home cooking is served for all meals and a bar service is available. Activities include Chobe Boat Cruises, nature walks, fishing and 4 x 4 game drives into Chobe National Park.
We can combine this lodge with a camp or lodge in the Okavango Delta and Makgadikgadi pans.
CHOBE NATIONAL PARK.
The Chobe National Park, which is the second largest national park in Botswana and covers 10,566 square kilometers, has one of the greatest concentrations of game found on the African continent. Its uniqueness in the abundance of wildlife and the true African nature of the region, offers a safari experience of a lifetime. The park is divided into four distinctly different eco systems: Serondela with its lush plains and dense forests in the Chobe River area in the extreme north-east; the Savuti Marsh in the west about fifty kilometers north of Mababe gate; the Linyanti Swamps in the north-west and the hot dry hinterland in between.
The original inhabitants of what is now the park were the San people, otherwise known in Botswana as the Basarwa. They were hunter-gatherers who lived by moving from one area to another in search of water, wild fruits and wild animals. The San were later joined by groups of the Basubiya people and later still, around 1911, by a group of Batawana led by Sekgoma. When the country was divided into various land tenure systems, late last century and early this century, the larger part of the area that is now the national park was classified as crown land. In 1931 the idea of creating a national park in the area was first mooted, in order to protect the wildlife from extinction and to attract visitors. In 1932, an area of some 24,000 square kilometers in the Chobe district was declared a non-hunting area and the following year, the protected area was increased to 31,600 square kilometers. However, heavy tsetse fly infestations resulted in the whole idea lapsing in 1943. In 1957, the idea of a national park was raised again when an area of about 21,000 square kilometers was proposed as a game reserve and eventually a reduced area was gazetted in 1960 as Chobe Game Reserve. Later, in 1967, the reserve was declared a national park - the first national park in Botswana. There was a large settlement, based on the timber industry, at Serondela, some remains of which can still be seen today. This settlement was gradually moved out and the Chobe National Park was finally empty of human occupation in 1975. In 1980 and again in 1987, the boundaries were altered, increasing the park to its present size.
A major feature of Chobe National Park is its elephant population. First of all, the Chobe elephant comprise part of what is probably the largest surviving continuous elephant population. This population covers most of northern Botswana plus northwestern Zimbabwe. The Botswana's elephant population is currently estimated at around 120,000. This elephant population has built up steadily from a few thousand since the early 1900s and has escaped the massive illegal off take that has decimated other populations in the 1970s and 1980s. The Chobe elephant are migratory, making seasonal movements of up to 200 kilometers from the Chobe and Linyanti rivers, where they concentrate in the dry season, to the pans in the southeast of the park, to which they disperse in the rains. The elephants, in this area have the distinction of being the largest in body size of all living elephants though the ivory is brittle and you will not see many huge tuskers among these rangy monsters.