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Savute Under Canvas
Savute Under Canvas
Savute Under Canvas
Savute Under Canvas

Reviews of Savute Under Canvas

Wildlife sightings and reviews

25 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Savute Under Canvas and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

Wildlife sightings by our travellers
Starting in Jul-2018, 10 of our travellers have recorded their wildlife sightings at Savute Under Canvas.
Lion

100% success

Leopard

38% success

Cheetah

38% success

Wild dog

44% success

Giraffe

100% success

Elephant

90% success

Wildebeest

89% success

Zebra

67% success

Spotted Hyena

44% success

Hippo

38% success

Buffalo

33% success

Roan antelope

33% success

Eland

25% success

Aardvark

20% success

Sitatunga

17% success

Pangolin

14% success

Sable antelope

14% success

Brown Hyena

0% success

Showing 1-10 of 25
Duration
Arrival date
Dermot & Sue
Hants

"Savute Under Canvas review"

4 nights Arrived 10 Nov 2024
"We enjoyed great safari drives here . 4 nights probably to long and would recommend 3 . Staff were great and Tony the guide was excellent .

Tents were probably a bit below expectations just a bit tired . Looking at other mobile options it lacked an area in the camp and the tent to relax during the gap from returning from the morning drive and the start of the 1630 evening drive .

Also , and this is my fault , for some reason . I thought it moved during the stay but the camp is fixed during the stay and thus I can't see the advantage of staying in a fixed base camp .

Perhaps it is cheaper but Sue happy with the option but I'd have stayed at a fixed camp !" See all these reviews: 7n in Botswana; 2n in South Africa; 2n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Excellent
Food:
Good
Rooms:
Good
Sightings Report

Elephant

4 sightings

Giraffe

2 sightings

Lion

10 sightings

Mr. & MS. B
Colorado

"Savute Under Canvas review"

3 nights Arrived 3 Jun 2024
"Savute Under Canvas was our favorite camp. They move every 6 days to a different camp site and considering the remote location the food and amenities were excellent. The staff at this camp were very friendly and very helpful. They treated us exceptionally well and the entire staff sang everyone who arrived a "welcome" song and later a "goodbye" song upon departure! It was an amazing experience!

Tony, our guide was very knowledgeable did an excellent job! We had him to ourselves for the first 2 days and he did everything he could to accommodate our requests. We saw almost every animal except the rhinos which are endangered due to poaching and have been relocated for safety reasons.

I would highly recommend Savute Under Canvas for a more primitive but very comfortable camping experience." See all these reviews: 9n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Good
Sightings Report

Aardvark

1 sighting

Buffalo

10 sightings

Eland

7 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

2 sightings

Lion

10 sightings

Pangolin

1 sighting

Roan antelope

10 sightings

Sable antelope

10 sightings

Sitatunga

10 sightings

Spotted Hyena

1 sighting

Wild dog

10 sightings

Wildebeest

10 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

B & H
Uckfield

"Authentic bush experience with a great crew"

3 nights Arrived 7 Sep 2023
"By coincidence we have been to the exact same location before but at the end of July 2018 when the experience was really just a bit too cold, especially in the morning and overnight. No need of 'Bush Babies' (hot water bottles) to keep us warm this time. We enjoyed our 3 days here and had an excellent guide to take us to the remains of the lion-kill on several occasions (a small elephant unfortunately), initially just a male Lion (North Pride) feeding but eventually the complete pride of lioness's and cubs.

Good sightings of Elephant, Giraffe, Kudu, Tsessebe, Warthog as well as glimpses of Scrub Hare, Black Backed Jackal and African Wild Cat. We also had a visit to the Bushmen paintings on a rock face and walked up fairly close to them.

The crew at the camp were very efficient and very friendly, being welcomed back after each game-drive with traditional singing, etc. As usual, the chef produced great food and fresh cake from his simple wood fire." See all these reviews: 12n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Good
Service:
Average
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Average
Sightings Report

Elephant

6 sightings

Giraffe

3 sightings

Lion

8 sightings

Wildebeest

2 sightings

Mr. M & Ms. C
Seattle

"Savute Under Canvas review"

2 nights Arrived 15 Jul 2023
"Savute Under Canvas was absolutely fantastic in every way!

We expected a fairly basic camp since it’s in the national park and has to move every 5 days, but our tent was lovely and comfortable and full of small details that elevated the whole experience. The bed was super comfortable and warm, we had robes and foot soaking tubs waiting for us after morning game drives, we were provided a pair of binoculars and flashlight to use the entire time we were there (which no other camp we went to provided), hot water bottles were placed under our covers while we ate dinner so we came back to a nice warm bed, etc. etc. Simple, but very thoughtfully set up.

Chef Simon went above and beyond and everything we ate was truly delicious. I am a vegetarian and he made amazing vegetarian dishes just for me for every meal. In addition to multiple dishes at every meal, he also baked fantastic breads and cakes multiple times a day. We were truly blown away by his food, and left camp very full and satisfied. The bar was also fully stocked and always open, and OP made us some tasty drinks.

We were the only people at camp the two nights we stayed there so we ended up with a private guide—TT— the entire time, and had a fantastic time with him. TT asked us what we were hoping to see and did a great job accommodating our priorities; was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions; communicated well about what he was looking for while tracking and what our plans were for each game drive; and helped us see a ton of amazing animals! He was also fun to hang out with and we just had a great time.

With TT’s help, we were able to see tons of lions (including adorable cubs) from both prides in the area, big herds of elephants, and even a pack of wild dogs with their pups (in addition to plenty of other general game). While we didn’t see as much diversity of game as at the other camps we went to (no cheetahs, leopards, or buffalo), the density of animals and plenty of close encounters left us very satisfied. We were also a little worried about the park being crowded, but we almost never had more than one or two other cars with us at an animal sighting, and didn’t encounter other vehicles on the road all that often. It was obviously more crowded than in a private concession, but not bad at all.

All of the camp staff were fantastic, and because we were the only guests at camp, we got to chat more with the manager, Matthews, and other staff during meals and learned a lot about Botswana and their lives. It was a really nice, personal experience." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Good
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Lion

6 sightings

Roan antelope

2 sightings

Wild dog

1 sighting

Wildebeest

7 sightings

J & J
York

"Savute Under Canvas review"

2 nights Arrived 6 Sep 2022
"Amazing facilities for a mobile camp. Even our own private flushing toilet!" See all these reviews: 16n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Service:
Good
Activities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Leopard

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

1 sighting

Mrs P
Netherlands

"A bit disappointing"

3 nights Arrived 27 May 2022
"The Savute part of Chobe was very dry. What a difference compared to 10 years ago, when water was flowing through the Savute channel. Not much wildlife around and not very interesting sightings. The stay at Under Canvas was very pleasant though. For me staying at a (simple because mobile) camp like that adds to the emotion. we had a good spot next to the (dry) Savute channel in between mopani trees. Amazing what the staff of 10 persons are able to do under difficult circumstances and amazing what food they are able to offer you ! And the hot shower after your afternoon drive is the best shower ever !

We were in a car of 5 of which one couple wanted to see a leopard. And apparently the guide really wanted to please them so he insisted a bit too much on finding that leopard. Which had us driving around and around for practically 2 whole days. Without seeing it." See all these reviews: 20n in Botswana; 1n in South Africa
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location:
Good
Service:
Good
Activities:
Average
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Sightings Report

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Lion

2 sightings

Zebra

10 sightings

Mr J.
Makati

"Savute Under Canvas review"

2 nights Arrived 28 Apr 2022
"Less animals than Chobe under Canvas." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 4n in Zimbabwe
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Good
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Good
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Good
Facilities:
Good
Sightings Report

Cheetah

1 sighting

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Lion

1 sighting

Wildebeest

1 sighting

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Mr & Mrs
Carshalton

"Savute Under Canvas review"

2 nights Arrived 14 Sep 2018
"Loved this campsite and the abundance of animals we got to see. A number of elephants passed our campsite whilst having breakfast. Staff couldn't do enough for us.
we were very lucky as we had the jeep to ourselves and I think this makes all the difference as we learned so much from our guide and had a one to one experience ,also we were able to take the time to sit and just watch the animals behaviour which we loved.
couldn't fault the food - amazing!" See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 4n in South Africa; 2n in Zambia
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Buffalo

1 sighting

Eland

Multiple sightings

Elephant

Multiple sightings

Giraffe

Multiple sightings

Hippo

Multiple sightings

Lion

Multiple sightings

Spotted Hyena

Multiple sightings

Wild dog

Multiple sightings

Wildebeest

Multiple sightings

Zebra

Multiple sightings

Miss B
Marple

"Savute Under Canvas review"

3 nights Arrived 6 Sep 2018
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Excellent
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Excellent
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Excellent
Sightings Report

Cheetah

2 sightings

Elephant

10 sightings

Giraffe

10 sightings

Hippo

2 sightings

Leopard

5 sightings

Lion

8 sightings

Spotted Hyena

2 sightings

Wild dog

1 sighting

Wildebeest

10 sightings

Zebra

4 sightings

B & H
Uckfield

"Cold nights (end July) but enjoyable safari"

2 nights Arrived 26 Jul 2018
"Very hospitable personnel and a good guide made this a perfect start to our 11-day safari Two days were enough because the nights (and 5.30am wake up time) were very cold and we didn't have quite enough layers of clothing although we had been fore-warned. Much warmer during the day of course.
Conditions were comfortable enough but we looked forward to having a proper hot shower in the next camps - since showering was very basic here (but we knew it would be). Food was very good despite the primitive cooking conditions.
We had a cloudless view of the 'Blood' moon during the eclipse.
We had good viewings of Elephants at a waterhole (2 separate family groups), Cheetah, Leopard and Lions (including a mating pair) as well as many groups of Wildebeest, plus Jackal, Tsessebe, Giraffe, Hyena and Dwarf Mongoose." See all these reviews: 11n in Botswana
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location:
Good
Service:
Excellent
Activities:
Excellent
Rooms:
Good
Food:
Excellent
Facilities:
Good
Sightings Report

Buffalo

1 sighting

Cheetah

1 sighting

Elephant

4 sightings

Giraffe

3 sightings

Leopard

1 sighting

Lion

2 sightings

Spotted Hyena

1 sighting

Wildebeest

8 sightings

Zebra

1 sighting

Showing 1-10 of 25
95%
25 reviews of Savute Under Canvas by travellers since August 2007
Overall rating by our travellers
19
6
0
0
0
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