Five-star Chobe National Park, Chobe
Chobe Game Lodge
The only permanent building inside Chobe National Park, on the bank of the Chobe River, where Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor married for the second time in 1975.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- Rooms
- 40 rooms and 4 suites
- Setting
- Inside Chobe National Park, on the river
- Electric safaris
- Since 2014
- From the airport
- About 30 minutes from Kasane
The hotel
Fifty years on the Chobe River.
Chobe Game Lodge stands eight kilometres inside a park of 11,200 square kilometres, the one permanent structure the park allows. In 1975 Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor remarried here and stayed more than a month. Room 210, at the end of the west wing, is now the Elizabeth Taylor Suite, and a photograph of the couple hangs in the bar downstairs. Kasane airport is about thirty minutes away by road.
The building has a Moroccan look: carved wooden furniture, Persian rugs and lanterns, with mahogany trees and lawns running down to the water. Desert & Delta Safaris runs it. In 2014 the lodge put Botswana's first electric safari vehicles and silent boats into service, and its guides are an all-female team known as the Chobe Angels. Days run from game drives and river cruises to eco tours behind the scenes, where the lodge turns its old glass into paving stones.
- On the water Morning and sunset cruises on the Chobe, including trips in electric boats that run without engine noise among the elephants and hippos.
- The Chobe Angels Game drives and river trips are led by the lodge's all-female team of guides.
- Along the bank A 250-metre boardwalk follows the river, and dinner is often a barbecue at the boma on the riverbank.
Rooms & suites
Every room looks at the river.
All 40 rooms are air-conditioned, each with a terrace facing the Chobe. The four suites add a lounge and their own plunge pool.
- Rooms Standard and Triple A private terrace over the river, Moroccan furnishings, and some rooms that connect for families.
- Suites Honeymoon and Family Suites A separate lounge and a large balcony with an infinity plunge pool facing the river.
- Named suite Elizabeth Taylor Suite Room 210, at the end of the west wing, where Burton is said to have played guitar on the balcony.
Dining
Two bars and a boma by the water.
Venues as listed by the lodge and by Expert Africa. Shown for information.
- Terrace dining room Breakfast, lunch and dinner Open-sided, looking over the garden to the river
- The boma Barbecue On the riverbank, with marimba music on some evenings
- Linyanti Bar Drinks One of two bars, both included in the stay
- Tshwene Bar Drinks The second bar, open to all guests
Good to know
Before you go.
- Children All ages are welcome. Families with children aged six and under book private activities, and ground-floor rooms suit small children best.
- Inside the park The lodge lies within Chobe National Park, home to about 450 species of birds as well as elephants, lions and hippos.
- Flights Kasane airport works by day only, so arrivals are planned in daylight.
Getting there
Flying to Chobe.
Kasane airport, a customs airport with a three-kilometre runway, is about thirty minutes from the lodge by road. Airlink flies in from Johannesburg and Air Botswana from Gaborone, Maun and Cape Town, and private jets land at Kasane too, by daylight.
- Windhoek 1 h 35
- Johannesburg 1 h 35
- Cape Town 2 h 50
- Dubai 8 h 00 long-range jet
- London 11 h 00 long-range jet
Questions
What guests ask first.
- How far is Chobe Game Lodge from Kasane airport?
- About 25 to 30 minutes by road. The lodge is eight kilometres inside the national park.
- Did Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton marry at Chobe Game Lodge?
- Yes. They remarried there in 1975 and stayed for over a month. Room 210 is named the Elizabeth Taylor Suite.
- Are children welcome at Chobe Game Lodge?
- Yes, of all ages. Families with children aged six and under take private game activities, and ground-floor rooms are advised.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Chobe?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Chobe, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Staying at Chobe Game Lodge?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Chobe, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.