It then turns south, drops over the Chivirira ("Place of Boiling") Falls, and flows down the western side of Zimbabwe's Eastern Highlands, forming a dry river valley in the rain shadow of these mountains.

It is joined by the Runde River or Lundi at the Mozambique border, forming a dramatic confluence at Mahenya.

The Save River provided irrigation for sugar plantation, but now supports the cultivation of citrus, cotton, rice, and wheat.

[5][6] It divides Mozambique administratively, politically, ethnically and ecologically: The delta of the Save River includes mangrove forests which span approximately 100 km (62 mi) on the Indian Ocean coast.

[6] Historically it was a transport route for gold and trade goods between the coast and the hinterland occupied by the civilisation of Great Zimbabwe in the 13th and 14th centuries AD.