CHOBE RIVER (JACANA SEASON) | BOTSWANA
JACANA SEASON DATES 2025
Our annual Jacana Season Promotion for 2025 is open for bookings and filling fast!Â
Chobe National Park is the first and also the most biologically diverse national park in Northern Botswana. It is a fantastic wildlife destination all year round and is known as the “elephant capital” of Africa.Â
Additionally, it is one of the easiest national parks to access in Africa, with many exciting ways to explore its wonders. It is Botswana’s third-largest park and has one of the greatest concentrations of game in Africa, with its large elephant population estimated to be around 50,000.
Let CNP Safaris help you capture a wide variety of wildlife on the river and numerous bird species. Your photography is made all the better by using dedicated photographic boats with swivel chairs and gimbal heads. This unique feature helps make it light work of even the heaviest camera equipment and allows you to view all from eye level & much closer than you could on land.
Your professional CNP tour leader will be with you every step of the way, making sure you get the best possible photographic results.
Chobe Safari Lodge is a wonderful destination that has been sharing its beautiful environment with guests for over 60 years. The lodge is located on the banks of the Chobe River, and the Chobe Bush Lodge is situated next door, within walking distance. Both lodges are only a ten-minute drive from Kasane International Airport and the entrance to the famous Chobe National Park, in the town of Kasane.
Daily road transfers are available to connect guests to iconic sights in the region, such as the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
To describe the sheer magic of the Chobe National Park convincingly in Northern Botswana is an impossible task.
You can tell people that the magnificent Chobe River sustains the largest population of African Elephants in the world. You can talk about the phenomenal experience of being on a photography boat on the river and observing the frantic behavior of a herd of elephants as they cross the river fifteen meters in front of you. You can share the emotions you experience as you hold your breath while the little ones disappear sporadically under the water before their mothers and siblings lift them again and again to the surface. You can describe the adrenalin rush of capturing images of hippos at eye-level or tell of the Pied Kingfisher hovering overhead before diving with astonishing accuracy to catch tiny fish for their chicks. You can laugh aloud when describing the comical behavior of a troop of Chacma Baboons as they cross the river from an island to the mainland. Somehow your efforts to convey Chobe’s magic will always fall short of the magical experience.
Photography on Chobe is a very intimate experience. You tend to slow down and watch the dramas of nature unfold before your eyes. However, it is not only a mammalian paradise. The abundance of birdlife will provide photographers of all levels with unbelievably outstanding photographic opportunities.
- Easy logistics: Only one-hour, fifty-minute flight from Johannesburg. The Lodge is situated 10 minutes from the Kasane airport, and your room is two minutes from our CNP Photography boat. Chobe National Park entrance is minutes away.
- Stay in a luxury lodge, shoot from a unique custom photography boat with one CNP Tour leader per 7 photographers seated in 360° swivel chairs fitted with gimbals. Imagine a picture of 360° unobstructed views at all times – no one in front of you, ever! World-class photography from worm’s eye view to bird’s eye view in seconds. Very relaxed, dust-free!
4 Nights/ 5 Days Safari
Day 1
- 11:50 Flight from O.R. Tambo International Airport to Kasane International Airport | Airlink Flight 4Z306 (recommended flight to book)
- 13:35 Arrival at O.R. Tambo International AirportÂ
- Road transfer to Chobe Safari Lodge |Â Trip starts with CNP Safaris
- Check-in at Chobe Safari Lodge
- PM Photography Session
- Afternoon photography session
- Dinner
- x4 Nights at Chobe Safari Lodge
Day 2 -4
- Morning and afternoon photography sessions
- Breakfast and dinner at Chobe Safari Lodge
- Daily guidance from CNP Tour Leader
Day 5
- Morning photography session
- Breakfast
- Check-out
- Road transfer to Kasane International Airport | Trip ends with CNP Safaris
- 14:05 Flight from Kasane Airport to O.R. Tambo International Airport
- 15:55 Arrival at O.R. Tambo International Airport
Suggested travel from O.R. Tambo International Airport
1 Hour, 50 min flight to Kasane International Airport |Â Airlink Flight 4Z306 (recommended flight)
10 min road transfer to Chobe Safari LodgeÂ
Â
Includes:Â
- Return road transfers Kasane International Airport.
- Dinner, bed and breakfast accommodation (excl. drinks) @ Chobe Safari Lodge
- Park and Boat fees.
- Morning and Afternoon photography sessions on the CNP Specialist Photography Boat.
- Snacks and selected drinks during photography sessions.
- Private guide/boat operator.
- Daily guidance from CNP Safaris Tour Leader.
Excludes:Â
- All travel to Kasane.
- Expenses of a personal nature (incl. telephone calls and laundry).
- Staff gratuities.
- Drinks at the lodge.
- Visa applications and fees *if applicable.
- Medical Insurance and Travel Insurance.
VIDEO
“A picture is worth a thousand words”… over 100 pictures taken by 1 photographer in 4 days tell the story of why the Chobe River is the ultimate nature photography destination. (All photos taken during the Jacana season)