THE HOTEL

Often referred to as the elephant capital of the world, Savute’s wildlife is best described by filmmaker Brad Bestelink, whose National Geographic Wild documentary ‘Savage Kingdom’ was filmed in the Savute area. “The remote African savannah,” he said, “is home to the competing animal clans who push natural law to its limits.”

The Marsh Pride and the Northern Pride are the dominant lion prides in the area, who are extremely territorial and are known to grow as big as forty strong. In the Savute, you also stand a good chance of spotting rare animals such as honey badgers and the sable and roan antelopes. Savute has its own migration; when the rains fall in summer, the natural pans fill up with rain water and attract a great variety of storks which feast on termites. They also take advantage of the frogs that come out to eat the termites. Eagles too enjoy these delicious termite titbits.

Around December, the second biggest migration of zebra in the world occurs from the Linyanti through Savute and on to the Mababe Depression. The dazzling zebra herds remain in the Savute area for several weeks, giving birth to their young and feeding on the sweet new grasses before moving further on south to Mababe. These same zebra herds reappear in Savute again around March and April as they make their way back to their dry season range along the Chobe and Linyanti Rivers. Many predators and scavengers will follow the zebras to take advantage of the some 25,000 zebras in the area, providing a fine feast for hungry hunters.