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| Trip planning is critical for these remote locations. |
The last time we'd camped with anyone else was 15 years ago when Cheryl's brother and his wife had joined us in Botswana. And now over a decade and a half later, someone else was joining us. And ironically, it was to the same place - Savute.
A lifelong friend of Dru's was joining us from Australia, hiring a safari car in South Africa and then getting to Gaborone the day before we left to the bush. Chobe National Park in the north of Botswana is roughly divided into 2 - the Savute region and then the other part that runs along the Chobe river which encompasses Ihaha and Sedudu.
To get to Savute, you access it from Maun and the other region you access from Kasane town. The region from Kasane is very easily accessible and most of the tourists will see this region. But you can drive from one side of the national park to the other. You enter from Maun, drive through Savute and then go through a forest reserve, a few villages and back into the park to access the campsite at Ihaha via the Ngoma gate near the Namibian border.
Regardless of the time of year, you need to either battle soft sand in winter or mud and water in the summer. There are not services or supplies, so you need to carry everything from drinking water, firewood, food and fuel.
Besides the awesome wildlife, Savuti is famous for the channel and it's elephant hunting Lion prides of the past. The prides were some of the largest in Africa and specialized in bringing down elephants but that practice has not been observed for a long time. Almost as long as the last time the Savuti channel flowed, which we believe was around 2009 when we were there and had to cross the running channel, as there was no bridge.
Our plan was to break the journey to Maun in Serowe at Khama Rhino Sanctuary. Normally we'd do the full 10 hour drive, but we couldn't be sure if Sudesh would have jet lag so we'd cut the drive in 2. And it would give us an opportunity to get rhino under the belt - hopefully the rest of our trip would give us the other members of the Big 5! Overnighting in Maun we'd head to Savute for 3 nights at the campsite and then do the drive from Savute to Ihaha for another 2 nights before spending 2 nights at Senyati outside the park.
Last time we'd been in Savute, the marsh had been flooding thanks to the movement of the tectonic plates which determine Savute's waterflow. Now we knew that the plains were dry and were keen to see the difference. And hopefully catch a few predators and other animals while we were at it. Sudesh arrived in the late afternoon and we were immediately into the packing of cars, moving things from one car to the other and making sure he had all the supplies for the time in the bush. Then it was time to have a couple of beers, catch up on life and get ready for the start of our trip in the morning!
Besides the awesome wildlife, Savuti is famous for the channel and it's elephant hunting Lion prides of the past. The prides were some of the largest in Africa and specialized in bringing down elephants but that practice has not been observed for a long time. Almost as long as the last time the Savuti channel flowed, which we believe was around 2009 when we were there and had to cross the running channel, as there was no bridge.
Our plan was to break the journey to Maun in Serowe at Khama Rhino Sanctuary. Normally we'd do the full 10 hour drive, but we couldn't be sure if Sudesh would have jet lag so we'd cut the drive in 2. And it would give us an opportunity to get rhino under the belt - hopefully the rest of our trip would give us the other members of the Big 5! Overnighting in Maun we'd head to Savute for 3 nights at the campsite and then do the drive from Savute to Ihaha for another 2 nights before spending 2 nights at Senyati outside the park.
Last time we'd been in Savute, the marsh had been flooding thanks to the movement of the tectonic plates which determine Savute's waterflow. Now we knew that the plains were dry and were keen to see the difference. And hopefully catch a few predators and other animals while we were at it. Sudesh arrived in the late afternoon and we were immediately into the packing of cars, moving things from one car to the other and making sure he had all the supplies for the time in the bush. Then it was time to have a couple of beers, catch up on life and get ready for the start of our trip in the morning!
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