JULY 31 Saturday ~ AUGUST 3
Tuesday
SAVUTI CAMP, NORTHERN BOTSWANA
This morning you will be transferred by The Elephant Camp to Victoria Falls Airport for the departure of your private charter flight with Sefofane (Wilderness Safaris' air charter company) to Kasane (northern Botswana) where you will clear Customs and Immigration into Botswana. You will then continue on the same aircraft to the Linyanti Reserve and the Savuti Channel, a legendary wildlife area, where you land on a private strip. A vehicle will be waiting to bring you back to Savuti Camp where you will spend the next three nights.
Savuti is a marvelous luxury tented camp accommodating a maximum of only 8 guests in spacious, comfortable tents with private ensuite facilities. It is located within a private concession so is able to offer walks with an armed guide and night drives, in addition to the normal open vehicle game drives. The wildlife in this region is remarkable: in addition to common plains game the area also has roan, sable and giraffe and all the predators - cheetah, leopard, hyena and wild dog which are frequently seen. The area is famous for its prides of lion, which have been the subject of several wildlife documentaries, and is also renowned for its dense elephant population. One of the main waterholes in the area is situated in front of camp, which regularly offers fantastic wildlife viewing. You will be here on a fully inclusive basis.
The Lilac-breasted Roller; the national bird of Botswana.
The tents of Savuti Camp. When told to avoid tents #6 and #7 because of the baboons that had moved in the trees above, Nancy was the first to move into tent #6. And she learned that it wasn't rain and the pine cones that were falling on the tent at night.
The elephants of Savuti. From the watering hole directly in front of the camp. This elephant action was constant throughout the day and night.
Many travelers regard the Moremi Wildlife Reserve as the most spectacular and beautiful game park in Southern Africa. It covers more than 1000 square
kilometers of grassy flood plains. Apart from savannah, the terrain includes winding waterways with banks of reeds, palm-covered islands, thick forest and lush, lily-covered lagoons where hippos bathe and sport.
With such a wide variety of vegetation comes an incredibly wide spectrum of wild life. Huge herds of
impala and tsessebe are always in the area, while in the dry season large herds of buffalo, wildebeest and zebra flock into the park from the Kalahari in search of food and water. The rare sitatunga and
lechwe antelope live in the papyrus banks of the waterways. Lions, cheetahs and packs of wild dogs hunt in the open grassland. The reserve is home to an immense number of birds.
Unlike most other game parks, Moremi allows visitors to approach game on foot. The park has been kept as natural as possible by the people who created it, the Tawana tribe. In 1961, worried about the increase in game hunting, the tribe, under the regent, Mrs. Pulane Moremi, widow of Chief Moremi III, established the reserve on their own land. It was the first time an African tribe had founded and administered a game park.
Savuti has a camping ground that has been severely damaged by elephant at a time when water was not available for these unfortunate creatures. In the area, new artificial water points have been developed to cater for the needs of wildlife and in due course the facilities currently in place in the Savuti camping ground will be demolished and replaced with modern, well-protected ones. In the meantime, a temporary public camping ground has been provided. Lying 172
kilometers southwest of Kasane Gate, Savuti camping ground (and the temporary camping area) overlooks the Savuti River channel, which is currently dry. The river system is
characterized by long periods of inactivity, interspersed with occasional periods of flow. The present dry period started around 1982, after a flow period that stated in the 1950s, with dry spells between 1964 and 1967 and again in 1973. Prior to that the channel had been dry since the late 1800s.
Waiting for the my safari
family, in my best Indiana Jones pose.
Tea time at Savuti Camp. Myah & Elyse enjoy delicious food before we embark on the evening game drive.
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