Yet by 1879 the channel had stopped and the Savuti Marsh started to dry out. It began again in the late 1950s continuing until 1981 when it again dried up. Since then the marsh has remained dry, forming a vast open grassland dotted with the skeletons of trees drowned long ago. Much game passes through Savuti on annual migrations between Botswana s dry interior and the rivers of the north and west encouraged by the area s particularly nutritious grasses. Zebra and wildebeest visit in large herds, accompanied by impala, giraffe, tsessebe, buffalo and elephant.
Some animals maintain permanent territories here.
Leopard are always plentiful around the granite kopjies, the packs of spotted hyena and prides of lion are notoriously large, and a cohort of old bull elephants always seem to be around. Much activity concentrates on Savuti s three waterholes, and in the last few years the lion here have made a speciality of killing sub-adult elephants. Both overlook waterholes in the Savuti Channel, and both are luxurious. They offer 4WD game drives, but not walks or night drives. Savute Elephant Camp has 12 palatial tents spread along the channel, all partially screened off from the bush by wooden stockades.