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Photo by Lois Pryce, schoolkids in Algeria

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Photo of Lois Pryce, UK
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  #1  
Old 19 Jul 2016
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Chobe Botswana
Has anyone ridden through this? The road/ track looks pretty cool to ride.
Found some pics of the signs at the gate and can't see anything saying that bikes aren't permitted like some SA parks do.

I'd be coming from the south.
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Old 20 Jul 2016
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Originally Posted by tmotten View Post
Has anyone ridden through this? The road/ track looks pretty cool to ride.
Yea we drove a truck trough Chobe during rainy season. Big river crossings and so. Nice video:



http://schoene-motorradtouren.de/?report=lkw_tour
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Old 20 Jul 2016
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Thanks. Anybody on a bike?

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Old 20 Jul 2016
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I've ridden through Chobe NP on the transit road (tarmac). Be surprised if bikes are allowed anywhere else. Saw a big herd of ellies on the way.
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Old 21 Jul 2016
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no bikes in chobe,moremi.
park in kasane and go on a game drive.
make sure to go on a chobe river sunset cruise,we liked it so much we went
twice.can be arranged at almost any lodge.

maybe camp at senyatti lodge.

4x4 community forum.za has loads of great information

have fun
kp
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Old 21 Jul 2016
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Originally Posted by kpredator View Post
no bikes in chobe,moremi.
park in kasane and go on a game drive.
make sure to go on a chobe river sunset cruise,we liked it so much we went
twice.can be arranged at almost any lodge.

maybe camp at senyatti lodge.

4x4 community forum.za has loads of great information

have fun
kp
I won't be able to get there from Maun if they won't let me through. Looks like there aren't many options to avoid pavement in Botswana it seems.
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Old 22 Jul 2016
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Not many game parks/reserves will let you in on a bike- the chewed remains of a dusty overlander next to his bike with claw marks in the seat might freak out the gentle tourists who flew in to see the big cats. It is a bit of a schlep from Maun to Kasane- worst bit is the Caprivi which is a long dull road (although plenty of ellies around- we saw a herd of three dozen) treat yourself to a night at Nunda River lodge near Divundu to make it bearable...

Plenty of off tarmac in Bots, just not in the game parks- the pans will keep you amused, plenty of tough sand too. The Chobe Transit route ain't that bad:

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Old 21 Jul 2016
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Dang. That sucks. I'm allergic to tarmac. What are my options then?

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Old 21 Jul 2016
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A couple of years ago I rode from Ngoma to Kasane, which is the transit route through the Chobe Game Reserve. Yep, was tarmac, but quite a few heaps of fresh elephant dung. Dense bush all along the road. Was sort of scary to travel on a heavily packed bike
At Kasane there's a nice lodge with a campsite.
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Old 22 Jul 2016
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I'll have a look at those places when I get to the office. Have there been attacked by cats on bikes? Haven't heard of any by bears here in NA. Had a black flee right in front of my front wheel. They've attacked mountain bikers but I'm thinking motorbikes are too fast and large.

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Old 25 Jul 2016
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I've received suggestions to ride the cut lines on the wilddog forum. I'll look into that. Looks pretty cool actually.

I used to work with a South African environmental scientist who worked in the bush. He's not too worried about wild cats but shit scared of the ones in the lion parks who are used to and without fear of humans.
Off course he has no experience on bikes.

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Old 30 Jul 2016
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Chobe Botswana
Mikumi NP is the only one you are allowed to drive through by bike



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Old 10 Sep 2016
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No bikes allowed in parks in Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya. Or for that matter almost all parks in SA. Namibia and Malawi are a little more flexible in some parks which are primarily "scenic". Thats not to say that some of the larger parks don't have major roads transecting them (including Mikumi and Chobe) which any vehicle can use.

The rules aren't because a cat would try and take down a moving bike, because it wouldn't. The risk from cats is if you get stuck/break down/come off and have no refuge. The main risk is actually from elephants. You often don't see them until you're on them, they don't like engine noise and unless you are confident you can maintain 40 mph through deep sand, will not hesitate to run you down. A car is bigger, more intimidating and can turn the engine off to diffuse the situation whilst keeping the occupants safe.

We used to live and work in an NP where a lot of the locals rode bikes. It was 60 km from the camp to the gate and when we were on a trip into town we would have locals on bikes in convoy with us so that in the event of a problem they had some protection. These are people who live in these environments from cradle to grave and understand the risks.
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Old 22 Oct 2016
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Chobe
We just came through that way a month or so back.

We went in on a bike from Zambia, crossed the river into Bots at Kazangula and rode to the park to camp. You can't go in on bikes. As someone has already said, you take a boar ride out to see lots of stuff. However, if you're going on to Vic Falls, take the boat ride there. Chobe is crowded and commercial. The boat trips from VF are much better.

The roads around there are all fine. My mate went south to Nata then west, I went west into Namibia's Caprivi Strip. Take spare water and spare fuel (coke bottles are great).

Have fun.
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Old 10 Sep 2016
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Good post above.

I asked these questions before my recent trip and had a close call with elephants in QEH (Uganda), where the answer was yes you can. The question when it comes to the parks is not just 'can I' but also 'should I'.

My view now would be 'no problem in open terrain but not a clever plan in dense bush'.
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