ENCOUNTERSAFRICA
6-Day Chobe & Savuti Safari

Botswana - Fly-in safari

6-Day Chobe & Savuti Safari

Duration
6 days
Countries
Botswana
Suited to
2-8 guests
Pricing
From USD 8,880

The journey

Updated on 23 August 2026

Chobe and Savuti sit inside the same national park and could not look less alike. The riverfront is water and green floodplain, where herds of several hundred elephant come down to drink through the afternoon and buffalo, sable and puku hold the banks. Savuti, forty minutes south by air, is dry country: an old marsh, a channel that fills and empties on its own schedule, and the prides that have learned to hunt elephant there. Running the two in this order works because you arrive gently. Kasane is a 1 hour 45 minute flight from Johannesburg and Chobe Game Lodge is half an hour from the airport, inside the park, so your first afternoon is a boat cruise rather than a transfer. Two nights on the river, then a short light-aircraft sector to Savuti and three nights where the drives run longer and the predator work is harder and better. May to October is the dry season and the reliable game-viewing window. November to April brings the zebra migration onto the Savute Marsh, green grass, newborn impala and lower rates.

Your camps, day by day

Stay 1

Onto the Chobe River

You land at Kasane after a 1 hour 45 minute flight from Johannesburg and drive half an hour into the park to Chobe Game Lodge, the only lodge inside the riverfront section. There is time to settle before the afternoon boat cruise, when elephant families wade the channel to Sedudu Island and hippo surface a few metres off the bow.

Stay 2

Elephants and Floodplain

A full day on the riverfront. Your morning drive is led by one of the Chobe Angels, the lodge's all-female guiding team, along tracks where lion lie up near the water and puku graze the short grass. In the afternoon you take the electric boat, quiet enough to drift within a few metres of a drinking bull, past carmine bee-eaters nesting in the bank.

Stay 3

South to the Savute

One more cruise at first light, then the road transfer back to Kasane and a 45 minute light-aircraft flight over mopane forest to Savuti. Savute Safari Lodge looks onto its own waterhole and the dry course of the Savute Channel. Your first game drive runs out onto the marsh in the last hour of light, when the lions start moving.

Stay 4

Marsh and Rock Paintings

A full day in Savuti with breakfast packed so you can stay out. The marsh holds the prides that hunt elephant here, and the open ground makes wild dog and cheetah easier to follow than in the delta. Late in the day you walk up into the Gubatsa Hills to San rock paintings of eland and giraffe, then watch the light leave the rock.

Stay 5

A Morning of Tracking

Out early towards the rocky outcrops where leopard rest through the heat, following tracks laid down overnight. Back for lunch, then an hour in the photographic hide sunk at eye level with the waterhole in front of camp. Elephant come in through the afternoon in ones and twos, close enough that you hear the water move before you see them.

Stay 6

Savuti to Kasane

There is time for a slow breakfast on the deck above the waterhole, or a short drive if your flight allows, before the light aircraft lifts off from Savuti airstrip for the 45 minute hop to Kasane. From there you connect to Johannesburg, landing in the early evening in time for onward international flights the same night.

Safari highlights

  • Two nights on the Chobe riverfront at Chobe Game Lodge
  • Sunset cruises past elephants crossing to Sedudu Island
  • Guided by the Chobe Angels, an all-female guiding team
  • Three nights in Savuti, home of elephant-hunting lions
  • San rock paintings in the Gubatsa Hills
  • Light aircraft between the river and the Savute Channel

What is included

Included

  • 5 nights accommodation, per person sharing
  • Return regional flights Johannesburg-Kasane in economy class
  • Light-aircraft seats Kasane-Savuti and Savuti-Kasane, with airstrip taxes
  • Road transfers between Kasane Airport and Chobe Game Lodge
  • All meals, house wines, local spirits, beers and soft drinks
  • Twice-daily game drives and Chobe River boat cruises
  • Chobe National Park entry fees, government levies and VAT
  • Botswana Tourism Development Levy of USD 30 per person
  • Laundry and emergency medical evacuation cover

Not included

  • International flights to and from Africa
  • Visas and entry permits
  • Comprehensive travel and medical insurance
  • Premium spirits, champagne and imported wines
  • Gratuities for guides, boat crew and camp staff
  • Items of a personal nature, curios and telephone calls
  • Optional helicopter flights over the Chobe floodplain

Frequently asked questions

How much does a 6-day Chobe safari cost?

This programme starts at USD 8,880 per person sharing and runs to about USD 10,480 in peak season. That covers five nights at Chobe Game Lodge and Savute Safari Lodge, all meals, house drinks, twice-daily game drives and boat cruises, national park fees, the return Johannesburg-Kasane flight and both light-aircraft sectors. International flights to Africa are quoted separately.

Are international flights included in a Botswana safari?

No. International flights to and from Africa are excluded and booked separately, usually into Johannesburg. Everything inside Africa is included here: the return Johannesburg-Kasane regional flight of roughly 1 hour 45 minutes each way, the Kasane-Savuti and Savuti-Kasane light-aircraft sectors of about 45 minutes each, and road transfers between Kasane Airport and Chobe Game Lodge.

When is the best time to visit Chobe and Savuti?

May to October is the dry season. Standing water disappears away from the river, elephant concentrate on the Chobe in herds of several hundred, and Savuti's game gathers at the pumped waterholes. November to April is green: the zebra migration moves onto the Savute Marsh in November and again from February to April, birding peaks, and camp rates fall by roughly a third.

How do you get from Chobe to Savuti?

By light aircraft. The seat-in-plane sector from Kasane to Savuti airstrip takes about 45 minutes in a Cessna Caravan and costs around USD 465 per person one way, included in this price. Driving is possible but takes five to six hours through deep sand and is not worth it on a short trip. Luggage is limited to 20 kg in soft bags.

Is Chobe National Park a malaria area?

Yes. Chobe and Savuti are malaria areas, with the highest risk from November to April during and just after the rains. Prophylaxis is recommended year-round and worth discussing with a travel clinic about six weeks before you fly. Rooms are screened and repellent is provided. A yellow fever certificate is required only if you arrive from a country with risk of transmission.

How many nights do you need in Chobe and Savuti?

Five nights is the practical minimum, which is what this trip does: two on the Chobe riverfront and three in Savuti. Two nights on the river give you a full day of drives and cruises plus two boat outings. Savuti rewards the third night, because drives run longer and predator sightings often take a full morning of tracking to reach.