Deteema Springs Wildlife Stories October 2025
Weather Report
Hwange National Park was hot in October. We experienced a peak of 40°C in the afternoons, while early mornings and evenings cooled down considerably. These cooler hours are the best times for game drives. Just like us, predators don’t want to be active in the heat. So whenever the temperatures dip, we hop into our game vehicles and head out.
Protective Buffalo
During an early morning game drive, we noticed a big cloud of dust. Suspecting the potential for a great sighting, we made our way there and found a large herd of buffalo. We stopped to see how the herd interacted with one another when they suddenly started running.
Lions were in the area stalking the herd. Their bodies hung low to the ground, trying to pounce on one of the young calfs. Luckily for the little buffalo, their herd protected them until the lions gave up.
A Meal For Later
We started this day on an amazing note. A pride of lions were lazing about in front of camp as we set out on our morning game drive. We spent some time watching these incredible cats before moving on. Later, we were lucky enough to see a leopard hanging its kill up a tree.
Just as we drove closer to get a better look, the leopard leapt out of the tree and left its reedbuck kill dangling. Still amazed, we waited for the leopard to return to get another glimpse. It briefly came back only to check on its half-eaten kill before vanishing again.
Lion Sightings Come To You
Sometimes you don’t have to go far to see an incredible wildlife sighting at Deteema. During this, admittedly short game drive, we spotted two male lions feeding on a buffalo. The previous night, loud noises and lion calls could be heard around camp. We suspected it was these two brothers and their pride’s doing, but we had not seen the rest of the lions yet.
Fortunately, we only needed to drive less than two kilometres to find the pride’s females, two more males and their cubs, all relaxing with full bellies. The females nursed some of the cubs while the more energetic youngsters played hide-and-seek behind a nearby log.
All this, less than 2km of Deteema Springs Camp!
Crocodile Kill
October brought us a lot of sightings, but before the month ended, it had to give us one final hunt. We were having a cup of morning coffee in front of our luxury tents when we noticed a crocodile in the water. It was almost totally submerged underneath the water and slowly creeping up to a sacred ibis that was hanging around near the water’s edge.
The crocodile waited in ambush, looking for the perfect moment to strike. In a flash of raw power, the crocodile lunged for the animal and caught itself some breakfast.
Hwange National Park had some of the most exciting wildlife sightings we’ve seen to date. We can’t wait to see what the last few months have in store.
Until next time,
Julius
Deteema Springs Camp
