Ferry to cross the Chobe River. From Victoria Falls is possible to visit the nearby Botswana. Specifically Chobe National Park. Chobe, which is the second largest national park in Botswana, covers 10 566 square kilometres. The park is divided into four main focal points comprising the Chobe River front with floodplain and teak forest, the Savute Marsh in the west about fifty kilometres north of Mababe gate, the Linyanti Swamps in the northwest and the hot dry hinterland in between. The original inhabitants of what is now the park were the San people, otherwise known in Botswana as the Basarwa. They were hunter-gatherers who lived by moving from one area to another in search of water, wild fruits and wild animals. The San were later joined by groups of the Basubiya people and later still, around 1911, by a group of Batawana led by Sekgoma. When the country was divided into various land tenure systems, late last century and early this century, the larger part of the area that is now the national park, was classified as crown land. In 1931 the idea of creating a national park in the area was first mooted, in order to protect the wildlife from extinction and to attract visitors. In 1932, an area of some 24 000 square kilometres in the Chobe district was declared a non-hunting area and the following year, the protected area was increased to 31 600 square kilometres. However, heavy tsetse fly infestations resulted in the whole idea lapsing in 1943. In 1957, the idea of a national park was raised again when an area of about 21 000 square kilometres was proposed as a game reserve and eventually a reduced area was gazetted in 1960 as Chobe Game Reserve. Later, in 1967, the reserve was declared a national park - the first national park in Botswana. There was a large settlement, based on the timber industry, at Serondela, some remains of which can still be seen today. This settlement was gradually moved out and the Chobe National Park was finally empty of human occupation in 1975. In 1980 and again in 1987, the boundaries were altered, increasing the park to the present size.