The Savuti area is a rugged wilderness region in the south-west of Chobe National Park - famous for its excellent year-round game viewing & prides of lion.
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The Savuti Channel, (also spelt as the Savute channel by many), is a rugged semi-arid wilderness region in the south-west of Chobe National Park. It is famous for its excellent year-round game viewing. Mysterious wet and dry cycles mould this region. Back in 1982, the Savuti channel dried up and it didn’t see water again until 2009. Then, after heavy summer rains, it started flowing again and even reached the Savuti lodges. This wet cycle has continued on and off sporadically since then.
What was once a hippo-filled swamp is now open, particularly nutritious, grassland sustaining a marvellous array of animal and bird life. Plus the Savuti lodges are right in the heart of the action. Dry season game viewing (May to October) concentrates Savuti resident bull elephants, plains game and its world-famous lion prides around the permanent waterholes. These Savute lions have learnt, over many decades, the skills needed to bring down young elephants.
But the Savuti Lodges enjoy year round game-viewing. The summer rains (November to March) also bring a feast for the predators. As thousands of migrating zebra and wildebeest congregate on the Savuti marsh and southern plains, with its nutritious grasses. They are searching for life’s basic needs – water and food. The best times to view this mass movement of stripy animals is typically around November and again in March as they head north and west again. However the Savuti area maintains plenty of territorial animals year round with good concentrations of giraffe, jackal, bat-eared fox, tsessebe, kudu and impala. Also it’s not uncommon to see leopard on the granite koppies, spotted hyena, lion, cheetah and African wild dog.
The landscape around the Savuti Lodges is strikingly different from the lush Chobe river to the north. It has almost a desert feel as animals huddle in the shade of the occasional tree. But ancient Bushmen paintings are an added attraction if staying at one of the Savuti lodges.
It’s not really fair to compare Ghoha Hills with the other camps I visited in Botswana, as it was much smarter and more expensive. But nonetheless it’s still my favorite! As with all the Delta camps, the staff were very accommodating. The service was practically perfect and the management was top notch. The lodge is built … Read More
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