Savuti

Savuti is a very wild and sandy area of Chobe National Park. It’s far from anywhere, the stars are amazing and the landscape is extremely diverse. You can read more about our time in this park in the travel adventure book I wrote, No Footprints in the Night: On Safari in Botswana*.

We saw a pride of lions, herds of elephants, many antelope, a huge concentration of zebras, plenty of giraffes, buffaloes and many birds. We also had a puff adder slither into our campsite one evening while we were eating dinner.

There is no fuel or facilities in Savuti. Stock up everything you need beforehand, either in Maun to the south (200 km on the most direct route), or Kasane to the northeast (170 kilometres). If you haven’t paid for your camping or park fees already, make sure to bring cash.

Gate Opening Hours

Gate opening hours in Savuti are from 6 am to 6:30 pm Apr-Sep (winter) and 5:30 am to 7 pm Oct-Mar (summer). You should be back in your campsite outside of these hours. Occasionally, staff don’t arrive at the gates on time.

Itinerary

We camped for two nights at Savuti Campsite. On the first day, we spent the early morning in Khwai, before setting off on the 5-hour drive to the campsite. We had a rest in camp before a late-afternoon safari.

The second day, we went on game drives in the morning and afternoon. On our third and final day, we went on an early morning game drive, had breakfast back at camp, and then set off on the drive north to Mwandi View, a lodge and campsite near Chobe Riverfront.

There are not that many tracks in Savuti, so not lots of options for different game drives. I think two nights in the park was a good amount, though of course we could have spent another night or two. I would have liked to visit nearby Linyanti Marshes for two nights, but the campsite there was not available when we visited.

Best time of year to visit Savuti

There’s good game viewing all year round, but it can be very hot and very wet in some seasons. The best time to visit Savuti is probably the dry season, May-August. The tracks are dry and animals concentrate at the waterholes in the park. It is not that warm during the days but can be very cold at night.

In September and October, it’s still dry but becomes very hot and dusty in the area. However, the dryness does concentrate the animals even further towards the waterholes. In November and December the rains start to fall, the grass becomes green and more birds start to visit the park. The tracks normally remain good.

Later in the rainy season, in January and February, the rain can be very heavy and the animals have dispersed from the waterholes. March and April can be good times, seeing fewer tourists and still plenty of wildlife but not much rain.

From Savuti Campsite there are basically two options for self-drives – head north or south. To the south is Savuti Marsh, while to the north is a grassy plains area with waterholes. In between, there are some notable rocky hills – a favourite haunt of leopards, and you can drive along the banks or within the channel of the Savuti River.

Savuti Marsh can be wet or dry depending on the year and the seasons. The routes near the marsh can be slightly overgrown with long grass, and we almost ran over a pride of lions sleeping on the track because they were so disguised. The routes here are also quite confusing – there are many tracks which change with the years, becoming overgrown or disused as time goes on.

To the south before the marsh and near the river channel are some Bushman Paintings. You can visit these but you must walk about 100 metres from the safety of your car up some rocks. I was terrified and found a handy stick by the signpost (I assume left by a previous visitor after use for the same purpose). For some reason I felt way more confident with this flimsy, skinny metre-long bit of wood. The paintings were nice – of an eland and an elephant – and there were good views from the rocks.

There are many waterholes in Savuti. Those to the north are greener and wetter. In this area we saw herds of elephants, zebras, giraffes and many birds. To the south, the waterholes are surrounded by drier scrubland. We saw a huge concentration of zebras at one of the waterholes, more antelope, and a couple of grumpy buffaloes.

Viewpoints

To the northeast of the campsite is a viewpoint at the top of Quarry Hill. We drove to the base of the hill, but reached a bit where the road gets suddenly steep. And I mean, REALLY steep. I couldn’t possibly imagine driving up that almost vertical cliff face, so we didn’t make it to the top. On Tracks4Africa* this is just marked as ‘steep stony climbing’, but you have to be brave to attempt it.

Not far north of Quarry Hill is the Baobab Gallery. This is a collection of scenic baobabs clustered together on a small rocky outcrop.