Belmond Savute Elephant Lodge (Chobe National Park) Botswana
Location:
Savute Elephant Camp is dramatically different from Belmond's southern camps. It is located on the Savute Channel in Chobe National Park, which is in the rugged, semi-arid wilderness region of far northern Botswana. And it is a tent camp in true African style. The area is known for its exciting game viewing and birding. This area also presents you with the rare opportunity to view rock paintings drawn by the early Bushmen, who once inhabited the region.
As this camp is situated in the Chobe National Park, park regulations prohibit night drives and walking. These regulations, however, are to be reviewed by the Department of Wildlife. Savute personifies the eternal contrast of Africa. Where our other two camps celebrate water and lush vegetation, Savute is an objective lesson in aridity. Rain in this dry place is rare and water is precious. Situated on the mysterious Savute Channel, which is an eccentric waterway that fluctuates between being bone-dry or flooding, the whole ethos of Savute Elephant Camp is commiserate with its inhabitants and environment.
Accommodation:
This is a tented camp in the true African style. 12 x twin-bedded luxury tents en suite with individual gas geysers, "His and Hers" vanity unit, private viewing deck, electric heaters, electric overhead fan, 110 / 220 volt plugs for electric razor and facilities for charging video cameras.
Facilities:
Swimming pool - built slightly into the riverbed, Illuminated pathways, Slide projector and screen, Laundry, Curio shops with toiletries, video and 35mm film, safari wear, local art and craft objects, Reference library of books and videos, audio-visual facilities, First aid kit, VHF and HF radio communications plus 24 hour emergency facilities, Environmental flora and fauna check lists, talks and lectures, Emergency medical evacuation service.
Guests met at Maun Airport by Gametrackers' representative and escorted onto light aircraft, Transfers provided to and from hotels for guests overnighting in Maun, All Air Botswana and Air Namibia flights automatically reconfirmed for guests, Welcome packs, Viewing decks, Accessed by light aircraft to the camp's own airstrip
Wildlife:
The opportunities to view game and the astonishing birdlife are unsurpassed. Our Rangers are almost telepathic in their ability to find game. They will point to what appears to be an empty horizon. From the emptiness, magnificent creatures will appear, as if conjured by some unearthly magic.
And every day, in the early morning and evening, your professional Ranger will guide your four-wheel drive safari vehicle to within close viewing range of impassively grazing herds of impala, tsessebe, giraffe and zebra as well as within close focus range of the powerful predators: lion, leopard and cheetah. You are also likely to see plenty of wildebeest, warthog, kudu, black-backed jackals, steenbok, bat-eared foxes, vultures, hornbills and eagles. In Savute, one animal reigns supreme. Savute is the place to see the earth's largest land creatures in their full glory. Elephants are numerous and very big in Savute.
When the rain comes in December, this arid region changes completely and the once dry plains sustain, for a short period, herds of migrating zebra in their thousands. In their trail are the opportunist predators such as lions and hyenas. It is truly a spectacle to behold. More than anywhere else, here at Savute you sense the essence of Africa.