What it is
A park of about 11,700 km2 whose northern edge runs along the Chobe River at Kasane. The riverfront strip is the part almost everyone visits. Savuti in the centre and Linyanti in the west are separate areas, much quieter and reached differently.
Why go
Elephants in hundreds, drinking, crossing and swimming, best from a boat in the late afternoon with the light behind you. Buffalo herds, hippo, crocodile and very good birding along the same few kilometres of bank. Be clear about what the riverfront is not: it is the least wild-feeling corner of Botswana, day visitors cross over from Zimbabwe, and twenty boats on one herd is normal. Come for the elephants, not for solitude.
When to go
July to October, when the inland pans have dried and the herds have to use the river. Kasane is about 80 km from Victoria Falls town, a little over an hour by road, so the two combine easily and most people do them together.
Most people stay 2-3 nights.