Savuti Camp – June 2014
Climate and Landscape
Winter has kicked in and our wake-up calls are now set for 30 minutes later, plus we have started using ponchos on game drives. Beds are cosy and warm in the evenings with the addition of hot water bottles. We have also started using winter gowns, which are very warm and we provide hot water flasks at wake-up on request. We have been advising our guests to hug them as their “bush babies”!
Although some people would prefer to have their tent flaps open at night, the temperature has dropped tremendously, and we expect it to drop even lower at night for a couple of weeks to come. In general the temperature ranges between 16° and 34° Celsius. The landscape is still green and looking very lovely while our beloved frogs sing lullabies every evening as they enjoy the cool temperatures. We have however not received a lot of rain during the month of April, with just 27 mm recorded; that said we still expect winter showers to make the temperatures drop even more.
Wildlife
It is always rewarding to receive smiling guests back from a game drive because they’ve seen elephant or wild dogs. Some guest were lucky enough to watch a pack of 12 wild dogs take down an impala right before their eyes, in camp behind their tent on their way to the vehicle for their morning drive!
Birds and Birding
We spotted kingfishers at the bar, not unexpectedly, as it overlooks the water. Our neighbours, the open-billed storks, are back in the tree close to Tent 2. Southern ground-hornbills and kori bustards have also been spotted frequently on drives – very impressive! Vultures are greatly endangered and it is always exciting to see them gathered around a kill. Management were thrilled to watch a guest’s video from one keen birder who was very excited to have seen them.
The kitchen project has come along very well and everyone is very excited and looking forward to the day we move in to our spacious new kitchen. Thanks to all our staff who have been remarkable in helping with the rebuild. Having so much good feedback on our food coming from a small and temporary kitchen, we are sure that we will do wonders with our new one!
