CHOBE ELEPHANT FESTIVAL 2026
In association with Remembering Wildlife.
Join us for the third Chobe Elephant Festival In November 2026!
Pangolin Photo Safaris and Margot Raggett from Remembering Wildlife invite you to join us In The Chobe, Botswana for a festival celebrating all things elephantine. The Chobe is home to Africa's largest elephant population and the festival will not only afford you plenty of opportunities to see and photograph these magnificent creatures but to also raise funds for Remembering Wildlife.
Festival information
Festival dates
The festival will run from the 14th to the 19th of November 2026 with options to extend your stay with visits to Victoria Falls, The Okavango Delta, The Kalahari or even Cape Town.
Accommodation details
The Festival will be based at The Pangolin Chobe Hotel perched on the plateau overlooking the Chobe River and a stone's throw away from the National Park. The Hotel has 14 rooms so the numbers are restricted to a maximum of 16 people making this a very exclusive event. We expect the rooms to fill up fast so don’t delay.
Check out the video below to have a sneak peek of the hotel.
The Photo Activities
Every day we will head into the park accompanied by the festival hosts. If you don’t have a camera and telephoto lens then don’t worry, we will give you one of our to use free of charge..and we will show you how to use it!
Most of the activities will be in the Pangolin Photo Boats on the river but we will also do a few game drives too. Every boat and vehicle will be hosted by one of our photo hosts who will be on hand to help you get all the photographs that you are craving.
Special Guest for 2026!
We are delighted that joining Margot to co-host this Elephant Festival will be photographer Federico Veronesi, whose image graces the cover of not only Remembering Elephants but also Remembering Lions too.
Federico is a wildlife photographer specialising in African wildlife. Born in Italy in 1975, he moved to Kenya in 2002 to pursue his dream of life among the wildlife of Africa that fascinated him so much since his early childhood.
He lived for extensive periods in the Maasai Mara in Kenya, and became a highly sought-after guide for photographers. He is the author of three photographic books, Light and Dust (2015), One Life (2020) and Walk the Earth (2024), the latter focusing entirely on African elephants and great tuskers in particular.
His work has been published in books and magazines worldwide and has won many awards. We are delighted to have Federico join us for this eventt.
Your questions answered!
Will non-photographers enjoy the festival?
We often have non-photographer spouses, partners and friends joining our photo safaris and they are more than happy to enjoy the activities with a pair of binos instead. If however, they would like to try their hand at photography we will happily lend them a camera (free of charge) with a fresh memory card to start their journey into the wonderful world of wildlife photography. Equally if they would like to relax at the hotel pool with a good book that’s always an option
.....this is still a holiday after all.
If you are reletively new to wildlife photography, or travelling with someone who is, you can brush up your skills/learn more by taking out free online Wildlife Photography For Beginners Course. Click here for details.
What else will we see apart from the elephants?
The Chobe Is possibly one of the best year round wildlife photography destinations In Africa. The Elephants are certainly a real highlight but there are also plenty of other photo opportunities to be had In this amazing corner of Africa.
Other large mammals that are present Include large buffalo, plenty of hippos, assorted plains game as well as several antelope species. Recently we have been having great sightings of prides of lions hunting on the flood plains as well as the occasional leopard or wild dog pack. If you are looking for more regular sightings of the big predators then we strongly recommend combining your time In the Chobe with a few nights In the Okavango Delta too.
The birdlife In the Chobe Is prolific and there Is one of the highest densities of Fish Eagles In Africa along the banks.
Margot Raggett and Remembering Wildlife
Remembering Wildlife is the collective name for the series of books created by British wildlife photographer Margot Raggett, who was prompted to take action after seeing a poached elephant in Northern Kenya in 2014. She began asking fellow wildlife photographers if they would contribute to a fundraising book that she would publish.
Their response was unanimous and Remembering Elephants, by ‘Wildlife Photographers United’ was published in September 2016 with images donated by 65 top wildlife photographers.
Can I still get a copy of Remembering Elephants?
Every room booked on the Chobe Elephant Festival will have a copy of Remembering Elephants delivered to your door before the festival begins. If you feel like having your copy signed you can bring It with you and Margot will be
more than happy to oblige.
Will there be seminars and talks about elephants?
There will certainly be elephant-related short talks before dinner on some of the evening.
Will there be image editing sessions during the Festival?
During the day and in between the activities there will be group editing and image review sessions at the hotel. Please be aware that this is not supposed to be a course in learning how to edit and you will need your own laptop and updated version of your editing programme of choice.
We do have a free online Adobe Lightroom course that we encourage you to check out before you arrive.
The Chobe Elephant Festival ticket price
The ticket price for the festival is $4,995 per person sharing. If you would like your own room, then it will be $5,995 per person. All profits from the trip will be donated directly to Remembering Wildlife.
The safari package includes:
Kasane Airport Transfers | Full board and accommodation in en-suite, air-conditioned rooms | All meals (brunch, high tea and dinner) | Selected drinks (wine, local beers, soft drinks and spirits) | Laundry | Twice daily photo safari activities (photo boat or game drive – normal ratio 3 : 1 in favour of boat activities) | Camera, lens and tuition by resident photo host and memory cards supplied | Park fees and bed levies | US$10 per bed night contribution to Pangolin.Africa.
At the hotel, we have five rooms that are configured with twin beds for friends travelling together and wanting to share a room but not a bed. The rest of the rooms are configured as doubles with one bed. We are happy to help solo travellers of the same gender pair up to share a room, subject to availability.
Getting there
Our closest airport is Kasane (BBK). The quickest way from Johannesburg is on the Airlink flight direct to Kasane. We do not recommend Air Botswana at all. Otherwise you can fly to Victoria Falls and stay for a day or two before or we will organise a transfer straight over to The Chobe by road.
What can I do before or after The Festival?
If you have not visited Victoria Falls then we can add on a night or two there. We also have several partner properties in the Okavango Delta, Kalahari, Madikwe as well as Cape Town. We will be happy to give you some options for pre and post travel destinations to maximise your time in the region.