Savuti


Savuti region is situated in the southern stretch of Botswana`s Chobe national park. . Recognised as a prime game viewing area, the Savuti (also spelt Savute), covers almost 1,930 sq. miles (5,000 square km) in the south west of Chobe National Park.
The western edge of Savuti is encircled by the Magwikhwe sand ridge, 156 miles (100km) long and 65 feet (20 metres) high, which is the ancient shoreline of a super-lake that covered much of northern Botswana. It is difficult to imagine that this harsh dry landscape was once submerged beneath an enormous inland sea. The Savuti marshlands offer year-round game viewing with incredible concentrations of wildlife; the famously feuding predators; and the infamous gangs of elephant-hunting lion. If you want to experience the marrow-curdling roar of a lion – Savuti’s your place.
A channel from the Linyanti River feds the Savuti Marsh, which is the deepest part of the Mababe Depression and is the only part to have filled with water in recent history.
This marsh has something of a mystical renown as it can dry up or flood regardless of local rains. David Livingstone, on his way to ‘discover’ the Victoria Falls in 1851, commented, that it was a “dismal swamp,” but sometime around 1888 it started to dry up and remained completely parched until 1957. Camel thorn acacia trees established themselves in the channel and along the banks and grew to full size. During unexpected floods these trees were drowned but as the channel and marsh dried out again, the dead trees became one of the most prominent features of the landscape. In 2008, the waters returned, and Savuti has the abundant game that has congregated and adapted in its wake. Savuti is famous for its predators particularly the lion and the spotted hyena populations whose nightly struggles for supremacy were captured on film in the in the excellent documentary Eternal Enemies.