Hwange National Park Deteema Springs Camp Wildlife Sightings June 2024
June was a chilly month at Deteema Springs Camp, with morning and evening temperatures ranging between six and 15 degrees Celsius. The days, however, were nice and warm, staying between 24 and 27 degrees with the occasional windy day.
It is also the dry season here on the plains, meaning that the phenomenal wildlife of Hwange National Park can reliably be spotted at the longer-lasting watering holes and traversing the plains looking for food.
Close Encounter
One of the first and most thrilling sightings we saw this June was at the beginning of the month. Our guide, Ophious, was walking some of his guests back to their tent when he heard a commotion in some bushes nearby. The noise turned out to be some rock dassies making an alarm call to others in the area. Ophious and his guests then investigated further, shining a torchlight to reveal a leopard hunting the dassies only five metres away.
The leopard and our guests stood dead still, watching each other until the leopard moved on slowly into an open area. What a perfect way to start the month’s sightings!
My Mate
In the second week of June, we went on our early morning game drive. This time, we were looking for lions whose tracks we had spotted the previous night. After searching, we found two male lions and a lioness lying by the roadside. We watched them for approximately 30 minutes and saw that one of the males was 20 metres away from the female and the other male.
The female stood up and wanted to move somewhere else, but the male closest to her blocked her from moving any closer to the other male. This is mating behaviour done by stronger males to protect their mating rights with the female, isolating them from the rest of the pride. We did not see any lions mating that morning, but when we returned that afternoon, we were lucky enough to see them mate… after an initial rejection by the female.
This was truly a special sighting for our guests.
Bountiful Buffalo
On one early morning game drive, we took a different toll and went to Chingahobe Dam, where we found a staggering amount of buffalo tracks. Anticipating an incredible sighting, we followed the tracks with caution until we saw a massive cloud of dust.
Upon seeing this, our guide immediately knew that buffalos were close. Before they knew it, they were surrounded by a herd of over 500 buffalo.
Deteema’s Secret
Elephants are often seen on drives in and near Deteema Springs Camp, but on this particular day, we decided to go on an afternoon walking safari to unveil the big Deteema secret. We left camp to visit our very own Deteema Ruins, only two kilometres from the camp.
While we were walking, we came across two different herds of elephants, which was incredible to see on foot. We then came across a breeding herd that we had to watch from a distance before we could proceed to our destination.
Truce
Hyenas are frequently heard howling and calling to one another at night, but we hardly ever get to see the culprits around Deteema camp. However, one evening at the end of June, we heard a hyena call very close to camp.
We quickly turned on the spotlight and saw a hyena waking in front of camp with a troop of baboons also in sight. The baboons started barking from atop a tree when we noticed the hyena’s mortal enemy stride down some rocks.
A leopard was headed straight for Deteema Springs watering hole. The hyena and the leopard were only 50 metres away from each other, but with no action to speak of, it seemed like they had come to an agreement.
Until next time,
Ophious
Deteema Springs Camp
