Savuti Safari Lodge

Savuti Safari Lodge in a Nutshell

There are not many lodges in Botswana that provide 24 hour game viewing like this one does. This camp is well placed, on the banks of the Savuti River and, when dry, the lodge pumps water into their own private waterhole. While dining, or from the deck of your thatched chalet, there is the constant coming and goings of thirsty elephants, plains game and even the odd predator. So you see animals in between your game drives! We like this lodge for this reason and it is well priced in comparison to other similar products.

Fast Facts

11 luxury thatched chalets
1 Family chalet
24 guests Maximum
Price range from USD510 – USD920 pppn
Inside Chobe National Park
Swimming pool with a view!
Game drives in open 4×4 vehicles only
Access by road or light aircraft
Private waterhole in front of the lodge
No wifi, central guest laptop

How to Get There

You can fly into the Savuti airstrip from just about any other bush airstrip. We like this camp because it is also accessible by road on a self drive safari or as part of your itinerary on a mobile safari.

Game Viewing and Activities

This is a HIGH quality game viewing area! Savuti has been the location for several recent natural history films documenting the interactions between prides of lions, wild dogs, leopards and hyenas. (“Savage Kingdom” “Africa’s Giant Killers” “Africa’s Fishing Leopards”).

The only activity on offer here is game drives. This lodge is inside the Chobe National Park, so strict park rules prevent night drives and walks. Savuti offers something special for visitors and it is one of the most sought after destinations for dramatic predator sightings. Years of photographic tourism presence in this area means that the cats are well habituated to the presence of vehicles – so you can get close and easily take pictures. Savuti is a relatively small resource for its predators, so inter-species interactions are fairly common.

General game viewing is also excellent here with dramatic landscapes of the central rocky hills and flat expanse of the Savuti Marsh adding to the theatrics. For more about Savuti, please click here.

As mentioned before, the game viewing from the lodge is also outstanding. You may even choose to rather not go out for a drive?

Camp Environment

Desert and Delta Safaris own this lodge, and they run it exceptionally well. We do admire this company as they have a very good track record for staff welfare and citizen employment. The thatched chalets here are large and fairly unique. Do request a river facing chalet as some rooms are set back from the incredible views (we will request this for you). Each unit has large sliding doors, making the most of the view of the waterhole in front of the camp. The dining experience here is fantastic – the deck sits right on the bank of the river, with incredible sights and sounds while you eat. Don’t worry, there is a sturdy electric fence between you and the animals.

A recent “soft refurbishment” means this camp is modern and well appointed with ralaxing, earthy colour finishes.

What We Think

Having worked here for a year, we really really like this lodge! It seems to have an affinity with the animals, that often pass through or visit the waterhole. Back in the day, the resident Marsh Pride of lions used to sleep on the wet grass inside the lodge – seems odd, but we really enjoyed our time there living with these lions! Or, we would wake up in the mornings when still dark to find the wild dogs chasing impala through camp……never a dull moment!

We like the modern, big chalets with their big decks and open glass window fronts. The views are tremendous and the waterhole in front of camp makes this such an interesting place to be ALL the time – even when you just hear the animals at night in your bed. Note that Savuti is getting quite popular, so we must add that the game drives are starting to get quite busy. Nevertheless, this is a fantastic game area where amazing natural history takes place on a constant basis. Oh, we also visit this lodge on our privately guided mobile lodge-to-lodge safaris as it is in a public park!

Download Savuti Safari Lodge Factsheet