Chobe National Park Small Group Day Safari From Victoria Falls

Thank you to Cuckoo Safaris for arranging our trip yesterday. The organisation was completely flawless and everything went completely to plan and your staff on the ground are an absolute credit to your company. I don’t think I’ve ever had a more wonderful and memorable day than that. Chobe is beautiful from both water and land. Also the lunch was really good as well.

I don't have many words to say but this Masuku adventure Safaris company it is a wonderful company it has guides which are active and friendly plus l would advise you to book a tour with them especially chobe day trip

Blessing picked us up and took good care of us on the trip to the Botswana border. Chobe day trips are clearly a common thing and you can see why! The boat trip was the best bit, with us seeing many native birds and animals. Our guide July on the boat was excellent. Highly recommend!

We saw a ton of animals on this trip, and I get the feeling that that is not unusual. We saw mainly elephants and cape buffalo, but we also saw several crocodiles, impalas, a variety of birds, hippos in the water, and one or two out of the water. On the land portion, the driver went out of his way to see a lion for one person on the safari. We ended up seeing three: two females sleeping in the bush, and one male not too far away, seemingly guarding the females. One of the most spectacular things we saw was an elephant get territorial with the lion and chase him out. Lunch was an outdoor boma with varied food and dessert. The food was covered, but any drinks you wanted to get required a purchase. You could pay with credit cards. Water was available on both the land and water portions of the trip, but not on the drive to Botswana. Also note that the boat was nothing fancy: It was a small boat with seating for maybe 16 or 20 people: I think four or five rows with four seats in each row. Our driver and our land and water guides were very helpful. Navigating through passport control, you were handed off from one guide to the other so you never got "lost" in the process. Please know that if you intend to buy your return visa for Zimbabwe when you're returning, bring cash. We were told that the credit card network wasn't working and that we had to pay in cash. (A couple traveling with us argued with them and actually got them to charge their credit card, so the border crossing essentially lied to us about the credit card machines not working. But unless you're prepared to have that argument, bring cash.) Here is my constructive feedback for Cuckoo Safaris: 1. Please make water available on the trip from Zimbabwe to Bostwana and back. It was really hot, and we didn't think to take a final water from our Botswana guide. Other travelers may find themselves in a similar situation. 2. Our land safari guide took us along the Chobe River. We saw that area in the boat. I think it would have been more helpful to explore somewhere else. 3. Researching the visas for the trip was the most stressful part of the whole transaction. We wanted to buy KAZA Univisa multi-entry visas ahead of time on the Web, but the government site requirez a border entry point and vehicle number that we didn't have. It seemed impossible to buy this visa on the Web, and we didn't know you could buy it at the checkpoint. It would have saved a lot of stress if your listing for this activity said that you can buy your single- or multi-entry visa on the spot when immigrating back to Zimbabwe.

So our guide for the river park was fabulous-July was great! We had Bryan for the land part and he was great too… our driver was another thing. He tried to scam us a bit but I didn’t fall for it. The boss came over and settled it. I hope our driver lost his job over it.

It was overall a great experience. It was a small group and in this case 4 people (2 couples). The initial pick up at our hotel in Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) was on-time, the driver got us to the Botswana border quickly and carefully. The Initial activity was the safari cruise on the Chobe river. July who was our guide provided excellent information about the river and animals. He was also a very good boat driver as he navigated around hippos and into areas to get great views of the animals. We also saw african buffalo, elephants, impalas, and crocs. He also helped another boat whose engine had stalled so we felt like we were rescuing the other tour group. Lunch was in a large boma which was fun. Then we went to the safari drive driven by Timothy. He got us quickly to the river area where we saw elephants and the into the bush where we saw lions, a leopard in a tree, and more elephants. It was fun!

This was an excellent tour from start to finish. Our transfer driver, Blessing, was friendly and answered our questions on the way. Our land safari guide, Ndana, was excellent. We got to see many animals and he was very informative. The cruise part of the tour was amazing - very good guide (didn't get his name). He got us so close to the crocs and hippos, what an experience! Would highly recommend this tour.

Amazing experience… loved every minute!

Don't be fooled by the 'small group' in the description. Everything was crowded from traveling to the border to the two safaris. The overall experience was poor. Land safari was just a waste of time. The guide did nothing to get us a better position when animals were spotted. Boat safari was nice; however the guide paid no attention to safety. He did nothing to stop a guest who was standing on the bow (it's a very small boat) most of the time instead of sitting in his seat, even with foot stepping on the edge - clearly a safety violation that put everyone in the boat in danger. Lunch was served in an open area with no air conditioning with a temp of 33°C. All in all, a pretty dodgy trip.

Very knowledgeable and friendly tour guides. Delicious buffet lunch. Close up experience and views of animals. Transport to and from Botswana by a very good and friendly driver.

This was an excellent one day safari with two fantastic guides; July, on the boat while experiencing the Chobe River, and Vusi, in the jeep as we traversed Chobe by land. They were knowledgeable, professional and full of amazing information. After having spent five fabulous days at Kruger National Park, our expectations for another safari weren't that high; however, we were delighted and surprised by the wonder and beauty of our full day safari in Chobe. We saw elephants, hippos, impalas, giraffe and crocodiles living and traveling through Chobe. We would highly recommend this reasonably priced tour! The tour company picks you up at your hotel, handles the border crossing with clear instructions, passes you over to competent guides (who provide cold soft drinks and water), includes a tasty lunch (drinks not included at restaurant), and then sees to your return home. A fabulous adventure!

We booked the Chobe National Park Small Group Day Safari from Victoria Falls with Cuckoo Safaris, and it was truly the highlight of our trip! I went with my wife and our daughter, and the team went above and beyond to make sure we were all comfortable, safe, and well looked after.A massive thank you to our incredible tour guide, Simon! He was incredibly knowledgeable, patient, and fantastic with our little girl. His ability to spot wildlife and share fascinating insights about the park made the day so special. The entire Cuckoo team in Chobe was professional, seamless, and warm from start to finish. If you are looking for a perfectly organised, family-friendly safari experience, we cannot recommend them enough!

The boat safari was outstanding saw lots of wildlife and the guide/driver took time to explain the different animals. Lunch was also very good. However, the land part of the safari was very disappointing. The guide seemed like he was in a big hurry. We saw several hippos on land grazing and he didn’t even stop so we could get some photos. We also saw a group of four or five giraffes and again he didn’t stop. We spent almost half of the time looking for a lion someone reported seeing without ever seeing one. This was after he told us at the start that we wouldn’t focus on a single animal but concentrate on what nature provided. This was our 11th safari on our trip and by far the worst one.

We had a wonderful day in Chobe National Park. Thank you for keeping the tour to a small group—it made the experience much more comfortable and enjoyable. Our guides were friendly and knowledgeable, and we saw plenty of wildlife. Highly recommended!

DO NOT USE CUCKOO SAFARIS UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR SAFARI EXPERIENCE TO BE RUINED. We booked an all day SMALL group safari with Cuckoo Safaris based on their numerous, excellent reviews & advertised photos. The reality is, Cuckoo Safaris passes you off to a local tour operator in Botswana who they have never worked with & who doesn’t follow the advertised experience. This was our very first safari, we traveled 27 hours for it and they seriously RUINED our experience. Small group: Pickup started out fine from our hotel. It was 6 people from Zimbabwe (high end) hotels and we were transferred to their tour operator at the Botswana border. It was at the border that chaos ensued. Our clueless Cuckoo driver DID NOT KNOW who the contact was on the other side. We were passed off to the WRONG DRIVER. This driver knew nothing. Immigration was chaotic, no one took care of us. Then all of a sudden after we got our passports stamped after waiting in a long line, this lady appeared out of nowhere and shuttled us off to a jeep for 12 people! Not the small group of 6. The group we rode with kept asking her, I thought we were going on a morning river safari first. She says you’re going with this guy. No calls to Cuckoo, just this is what you get. We had no choice but to go along as we watched 4 small jeeps with groups of 6 speed off with their designated small groups. Fortunately our driver Bais was a decent guide and we were able to see a number of animals especially elephants. He told us, I just got a call early this morning to take you guys. What?! We were given a morning snack after 2 hours of driving: sodas, water, bananas & muffins. Boma lunch: After the 3.5 hour morning game drive, we were then taken to a buffet Boma lunch which was really nice and organized in a cute outdoor tented setting. Lunch was buffet style, with a nice fresh spread. Venue had clean restrooms & souvenir shop. After we ate, the lady approached my husband, asked for payment, showed him the amount agreed upon in dollars $340.25 and then proceeded to tell him, I need to charge this in Botswana currency which ended up being $365. Another bait & switch. After lunch they took us back to Chobe for the river portion of our safari & our SMALL group had 60+ people. This was the most upsetting part. We watched these small groups go off on their cute boats as we were herded like cattle, sat in uncomfortable chairs in a large boat. Fortunately we had a good boat captain and guide but this experience was “budget travel”. NOT what we signed up for. After we got back to hotel, we wrote to Cuckoo. Their response: “We’re so sorry, there is was a mixup with the tour operator and they didn’t call our office. We will drop off $40USD to your hotel for the mistake & inconvenience of your FIRST TIME SAFARI that we ruined.” What?! Our hotel activities team (whose opinion we asked) said, Cuckoo clearly didn’t take accountability for delivering the wrong experience. I will never get my first safari experience back. And I may never return to Africa. Cuckoo Safaris, shame on you for not doing the right thing & offering either a replacement tour to make up for your mistake or a significant refund. Buyer BEWARE! DON’T believe their reviews. They will wash their hands and give you a lame “I’m sorry”. Would definitely not recommend. Stay away.

A great day out, saw lots of elephants, giraffe, buffalo, antelope and had really close encounter with a lioness. Hotel pickup from Vic Falls and guides were excellent.

10/10 from start to finish. Hotel pick up was on time. Both the river boat cruise and the game drive were amazing. Really appreciate the time and effort the tour guides Mr July & Mr Tim put into this trip and all the knowledge/history shared. I’ll definitely be booking with them again!

The fee included pick up and drop off - however, when the Driver dropped us at Botswana’s border, he charged each passenger cash $20USD indicating it’s a mandatory parking fee. Why are we being charged for so called parking fees if we already paid for drop off and pick up. While I don’t mind giving a tip, I shouldn’t have to be blindsided by this extra amount to be paid and the guy pocketed the money in my presence.

Amazing! Made the transfer and boarder crossings easy from Victoria Falls. The boat ride was fantastic we were close to hippos crocodiles saw elephants crossing the water, eagle and many birds. The lunch buffet was great. We then had the land tour of the park and saw many lions, elephants and giraffe. We had a lion walk right by us . Our guides were wonderful too.

During our visit to Victoria Fall in Zimbabwe in August, 2026, we did a one day prelude adventure to Chobe National Park in Botswana before our 10-day Safari trip in Kenya and Tanzania. Booked the tour on GetYourGuide online as Chobe National Park Small Group Day Safari From Vic Falls and the experience was very enjoyable and exciting. It took about one hour to drive from Vic Fall to Botswana. The land guide met us at the border and started the Jeep cruise in the park. We saw Buffalo, lions eating baby elephant, zebra, giraffe, warthog, hippo. After lunch, a different guide took us to a boat and did a cruise on the Zambezi river. We were very lucky to see a group of elephants crossing the river which is truly unbelievable. The sunset is extremely beautiful but it was the time for us to leave. Overall it is a memorable and joyful experiences.

A 11.5 hour long day trip. 3hrs river and 3 hrs land safaris were excellent. The provided lunch was very good.

A really nice experience! Especially the cruise on the boat was amazing! The guides were very motivated and could answer a lot of different questions. Thank you very much!

Excellent experience. The boat tour and safari trip were wonderful and we saw lots of different animals. The lunch was delicious and everyone was very friendly. Special shout out to our wonderful driver Blessing! Highly recommend!

My dad and I had a phenomenal experience on a day trip to Chobe National Park from Victoria Falls with Cuckoo Safaris and the Botswana-based sister company Puku Safaris. I have done a multi-day safari in Chobe on a previous trip, and I was worried that it would not be possible to experience the same magnificent wildlife, scenery, and intimacy on a day trip where time is a limiting factor. In fact, everything was just as good, and I actually think we managed to see almost as much of the park as I saw over four days before. I share this in the hopes that other travel planners who worry about having the *perfect* experience will feel encouraged to make time for the Chobe day trip if staying in Chobe is not an option - of course, I also have to recommend staying at one of the safari lodges in Chobe :) The morning began with a relaxed drive from Vic Falls to the Kazungula Border, where everything went smoothly and we met our safari guide, Vusi. We got lucky and happened to end up with a private tour for the day, but the experience would also be fine with other people! The morning boat tour was fantastic thanks to our boat guide, July. I was skeptical about doing the boat in the morning, but I am so glad we did because there were hardly any other boats out on the river. The timing was perfect so that animals were just beginning to come down to the river to escape the growing heat. Lunch at the fancy Cresta Mowana Hotel was excellent - buffet style and included in the booking price. Vusi truly made the trip with his passion and care on the afternoon game drive. We saw many of the major species within the first hour and spent the rest of the time searching for a pride of lions, which we finally found! We finished the game drive around 17:00 and were back for dinner in Vic Falls by 18:30. Thank you Vusi and July for the smooth and memorable experience! I hope to come back for one of your camping safaris to Savute and the salt pans!

All the drivers/guides were individually friendly and helpful but the trip was not well coordinated- the other family with us said that it felt like it was everyone's first day on the job! On the safari part there were no drinks for us- the driver apologised and said they forgot to give him the cooler. To his credit he did give the kids in our vehicle snacks. When we arrived for lunch, much of the food had gone and wasn't replaced. Our water safari was good, and he had been given drinks for us but no cooler, so stopped to get one- we got about 2.5hours land safari and 1.5hours river experience in the trip. When the cruise was over he wasn't sure where we should meet our guide, so he left us off at the starting point& it took maybe 15-20min for our driver to locate us. We had a good day but I'm not sure we would've done it had we known the amount of "down time"

What a great tour. We got picked up at our hotel in Zambia and drove to the border where the guide gather all people from the tour. We started by a land safari where we got to see a lot of animals in their environment. After lunch by the park we boarded a small boat to see them from and in the river. It was magical. Our guide was absolutely brilliant giving us so much information about each species and having a great sense of humour.

Everything listed In their description was 100% accurate. Pick up at hotel. Help at the boarder crossings. Amazing river cruise. Amazing buffet lunch. Amazing wildlife sightings. Very knowledgeable guides. I know you can’t predict where the animals will be, but it’s like we didn’t even have to try and we got to see baboons, elephants, warthogs, antelope, impalas, hippos, water buffalo, lions, giraffe, guinea hens, and even a python. We even witnessed 3 lions hunt and kill a water buffalo. It was incredible.

Chobe is a great day safari. We saw a lot of wildlife. Our guide was knowledgeable and fun.

What a fantastic well organised excursion. Blessing was our friendly driver to Chobe from Victoria Falls Zimbabwe. We had a very good river guide, sadly do not remember his name. Very competent and informative. Wonderful sightings of the Hippos and Crocs. Elephants and Buffalo too. Amazing birdlife on the Chobe River. Lunch was superb in a new Boma area. Great selection of mains with dessert. Our afternoon game drive with Vusi was a highlight too. To see a pride of 8 lions at close range was truly a blessing. Such majestic creatures. A great trip which we can highly recommend.

Very well organized tour, starting from the pickup, driving upto Botswana border, Immigration clearance on both sides. boat and land safari at Chobe national park and return, was very well organized. Our driver/guide at both borders were very helpful, especially getting visa for us at Botswana border. The boat safari in the morning was very enjoyable, spotted elephants, few buffaloes and hippos. The high point was an elephant swimming across the river. Lunch was fine. The afternoon safari was a bit disappointing. Half of the time was spent in driving into the Chobe national park. Our driver seemed to be in a hurry, but stopped to greet the driver of every passing vehicle. Didn't get time to click pictures properly. We spotted a lion pride, which was great I definitely recommend this tour and wish the Agency educate their Driver to focus on giving their customers a memorable visit, rather than just doing their job.

Very well organized tour, starting from the pickup, driving upto Botswana border, Immigration clearance on both sides, boat and land safari at Chobe national park and return was very well organized. Our driver/guide at both borders were very helpful, especially getting visa for us at Botswana border. The boat safari in the morning was very enjoyable, spotted elephants, few buffaloes and hippos. The high point was an elephant swimming across the river. Lunch was fine. The afternoon safari was a bit disappointing. Half of the time was spent in driving into the Chobe national park. Our driver seemed to be in a hurry, didn't get enough time to click pictures. But he stopped to greet the driver of every passing vehicle. We spotted a lion pride, which was great. I definitely recommend this tour and wish the Agency educate their Driver to focus on giving their customers a memorable visit, rather than just doing their job.

This wasn't on our original itinerary having done previous safaris. However, we ended up with a free day and our Avani driver suggested it so we decided to go. Glad we did. It turned out to be a highlight of our trip. The resident lion pride had killed a baby elephant the day before and were feeding on it. A National Geographic moment.

This was an amazing safari! It’s a cannot miss experience when visiting Victoria Falls. Our day started with the boat tour led by July. He was polite and kind-natured. He really made it a point to get as close as he could for pictures all while sharing incredible details about the animals. For the game tour, we had Vusi. Vusi was fun and adventurous. He wanted to ensure that we saw the big four on our tour and strategized to make that happen. Rhinos aren’t in Chobe so that’s the only animal that we didn’t see. I highly recommend this tour!

We had a wonderful experience on this tour and were thrilled with the park. Well worth your time to see. Everything was handled well, from the contact emails, pick up/drop off, and the lunch & client needs. Special shoutout to our national park tour guide (Figo) our driver (Blessing) and Charles, our boat captain. It was incredible to see all the animals—including a lion—while on land, and then getting to observe everything by boat afterward. Thank you so much!

I was staying in Victoria Falls and we decided to do this day trip to Chobe. They picked us up at our hotel in a comfortable vehicle and drove us about an hour to the border of Botswana. They helped us through customs and immigration and then we were off on the safari. We saw just about every animal I could have hoped for and had unforgettable encounters especially with elephant and hippopotamus on the river portion. Lunch was an incredible buffet at a resort. The game drive was also excellent although a little shorter than I would have hoped because we spent a good portion of that driving through the beginning of the park. Overall, an incredible day well worth our time and money.

We had a fantastic day in Chobe with Cuckoo Safaris! The day started early with a pickup from our hotel. We were driven to the border with Botswana by Blessing where we were met by Brian from Puku Safaris (partner organization). Brian helped us navigate immigration (you'll walk through immigration after sanitizing shoes) and then took us on a 3 hour tour of Chobe National Park. We saw a LOT of animals, including lions, elephants, hippos and giraffe. Brian did everything he could to find the animals we were interested in seeing. When the safari was over, he drove us to a local hotel for a wonderful buffet lunch. In the afternoon, July, another guide, took us on a water cruise where we saw more elephants, hippos, crocodiles, monitor lizards, kudu, and a LOT of birds. At the end of the day, Brian drove us back to the border where Blessing was waiting. Everyone that we worked with was focused on safety and customer service. Very professional. Highly recommend!

Great experience, the river cruise was amazing, very relaxing and we got to see lots of animals especially great to see the hippos in the wild. The lunch stop was great and the food was delicious. The Land Safari was rushed, we left 20 minutes late and it felt rushed from start to finish. Unfortunately left my phone charger on the bus, my mistake but very disappointed and was due to being rushed at the Zimbabwe border which took an hour to clear customs, very disorganised. Also the drive from Niagara Falls to the Botswana border is just over an hour, very long trip on a terrible road.

The overall experience was seamless, memorable, and organized. We received direct communication from the drivers and were transported across the border with ease. The day, although long, was broken-up into activities that were manageable and quite the experience. We felt our time on the trip was well worth every penny!

We were picked up at our hotel and driven to Botswana. Unfortunately, there was a long line at immigration/customs. It took us almost 1.5 hours to navigate that. After crossing the border, we were driven to the river and went on the boat safari. We saw quite a few animals. Then we were dropped at a resort for lunch, which was very good. Finally, we were picked up by our guide and driven through the park. We saw many animals including giraffe and elephants. All the drivers and guides were very friendly and knowledgeable. We were picked up at 7 am and returned by 5:30 pm. It was a little disappointing that only about 4.5 hours of that time was spent on safari. But overall, it was a good experience.

This was such an awesome final day in Africa for us with friendly and knowledgeable guides. We saw such an array of animals on land and in the Chobe river, and the included buffet lunch had varied dishes. Blessings, our driver in Zimbabwe, was so kind and took us to a place in Victoria Falls where I could purchase a Zimbabwe t-shirt and help the locals at the same time in doing so. I would highly recommend this day tour. Quite tiring for us retirees, but so rewarding.

A must do!! Very well organized, friendly knowledgeable guides, smooth border crossings. Nice tasty lunch and plenty of animal sightings. The tour exceeded our expectations.

Our driver Gift was very friendly and knowledgeable about everything we asked.

This was a fantastic day trip! They collect you from the hotel in a small vehicle (we only had one other person other than our family of 4) and transfer to another across the Botswana border (that was a larger group - we were 9 total). One of our family did not get their Botswana visa processed prior, but the company was very good about helping us apply in person at the border and we got it there. Warning - a birth certificate is a MUST for any under 18s. If one parent is not present then a NOTARISED permission doc from that parent is a MUST or they will reject you at the border. The boat safari and game drive were both exciting - we saw tons of animals and birds (Lions!!!) - guides were very informative and patient. The driver on the return trip even went out his way to take us to a supermarket for something we needed urgently. Overall highly recommend.

A lot of time wasted on the game drive and waiting for people that were late arriving. Driver spent a lot of time talking and felt like was filling time as opposed to driving to search for some animals during game drive portion. Cruise portion was good. Saw some animals but not a lot compared to other game drives we have been on. Had a bit of run around at Botswana border as well.

Great experience. Saw most of animals, lots of elephants. Guide, Fito was great.

The game cruise and drive were really good. The itinerary stated tea and coffee in the morning which was not provided. The buffet was chaotic and had subpar food.

We had a great time especially the river safari. Lunch was decent too. One thing a little bit disappointed is that because we went there during the rainy season bushes were pretty tall and we couldn’t spot as many animals as we expected. But still highly recommended!

It was better than I could have planned and imagined for 1 day, and I'm a Zimbabwean! The organisation and execution through all the transit points was spot on, the guide was knowedgable mixed with fun, and the animals in the park were exceptional.

The morning in the boat was fantastic! Our guide did a great job of knowing what we cared about and catering towards that. Afternoon, was less good. The different guide seemed to not care much and rushed through the park. This booking was through Cuckoo Safaris, but all the guides and cars had a different logo on it. It felt like we were pushed off to someone else, likely because it was Christmas day. Overall, it was a good time, but just less than I was expecting.