The Deka Seeps hold their water through the dry season, when much of Hwange bakes. They are the headwaters of the Deka River, and the camp keeps a private concession of some 4,000 hectares on the low foothills above them, in the far northwest of the park, close to the Botswana border. Elephant and buffalo come down to drink within sight of the deck. Plains game gather with them on the floodplains below.
Elephant and buffalo come down to drink within sight of the deck.
The concession is private land inside Hwange, so the guides can drive off-road after dark and walk with guests on foot, neither of which the park itself permits. Hours pass without another vehicle in sight. Basalt hills and granite kopjes give way to open plains running towards Botswana, a transition zone where the vegetation and the light carry a distinctly Kalahari feel.
Ian Batchelor has guided in Africa for more than 35 years. He runs Daka Plains with Dr Mike Thorne, a Zimbabwean veterinarian whose other work is in wildlife logistics. The two own the camp between them and run it themselves, six tents kept deliberately personal instead of folded into a larger safari group, so the guiding stays close and unhurried.
Roan, sable, eland and gemsbok come in from the Kalahari side.
That partnership shows in the guiding, not in any gloss. Walking safaris go out with armed professional guides who read tracks, plants and the smaller life of the basalt ridges. Night drives pick out serval, honey badger and civet, and now and then a pangolin. Roan, sable, eland and gemsbok come in from the Kalahari side. They are antelope less commonly seen elsewhere in Hwange.
The main lounge stands under a high vaulted thatch roof with a stone hearth at its centre, and an elevated wooden deck runs the length of the camp above the vlei, a circular plunge pool set into it looking out on the same view. The granite in the walls was collected on site and set against timber, canvas and thatch, all of it built on light-footprint principles. A solar-hybrid system carries much of the load in place of diesel, so the camp leaves a light mark on the ground it occupies.
The tents are canvas chalets under permanent thatch, raised on solid floors and cooled by ceiling fans, with beds made up as twins or a king and generous mosquito nets draped over them. Small period touches run through the rooms, among them antique luggage racks sourced from the Victoria Falls Hotel. The en-suite bathrooms have hot and cold running water and indoor showers, and a few tents add an outdoor bath and shower facing the vlei. There are charging points for phones and cameras, though the wifi is kept to the main area, so the evenings in the tents stay quiet.
From the deck, breeding herds of elephant and buffalo move down to the seeps through the day.
Mornings begin with coffee and fresh baking carried out on the drive, and the afternoons pause at a lookout for sundowners as the light drops over the plains towards the Makgadikgadi region across the Botswana border. Drinks gather around an open fire before dinner, which is served farmhouse-style at a single long wooden table under the hand of Senior Executive Chef Nathascha Xisto Das Neves and her kitchen team. The northwest keeps dark skies, and with almost no other lights on the horizon the nights run long and clear for stargazing.
The permanent water below camp is what draws it all in. From the deck, breeding herds of elephant and buffalo move down to the seeps through the day. Lion prides, leopard, cheetah, spotted hyena and wild dog range across the concession, and brown hyena turns up on the records now and then. The birding is strong too, with more than 450 species noted across the wider Hwange region, among them Pel’s fishing owl and martial eagle. Ground hornbill and lappet-faced vulture are seen here as well. Robins Airstrip lies around 40 minutes away by road transfer.
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accommodation
The tents are canvas chalets under permanent thatch, raised on solid floors, with twin or king beds, ceiling fans and draped mosquito nets. En-suite bathrooms have hot and cold running water and indoor showers, and select tents add an outdoor bath and shower facing the vlei. One larger unit serves as a family room.
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activities
Because the concession is private land within Hwange National Park, guides run night drives and walking safaris that the main park does not allow. Walks are led by armed professional guides through tracks, plants and the basalt ridges. Morning and afternoon game drives use open 4x4 vehicles, with sundowners at dusk. Stargazing and birding round out the offering.
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conservation
The camp is built on light-footprint principles from local stone, timber, canvas and thatch, and runs on solar-hybrid power, not diesel. A conservation and community levy is charged per guest per night and funds local conservation and community development. Co-owner Dr Mike Thorne draws on his veterinary background to support wildlife and community projects across rural Zimbabwe.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
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Hwange National Park
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Hwange National Park
Most guests fly. A light aircraft from Victoria Falls reaches Robins Airstrip in about twenty minutes, and the camp's vehicle covers the last stretch as a game drive of forty minutes or so. There are no scheduled airline flights into Hwange, so the air leg is a charter we arrange as part of the trip, and we can make it private, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, if you would rather fly to your own timings.
The road is a sound alternative: around three hours from Victoria Falls to Robins, then the same game-drive transfer to finish. If you fly, the aircraft take soft bags only, around twenty kilograms per person including hand luggage, so pack a duffel rather than a hard case.
Yes, treat it as one. The park lies below the 1,200 metre line under which the UK's official travel health advice rates Zimbabwe's malaria risk as high from November to June, when antimalarial tablets are usually recommended. The risk eases through the dry months from July to October, though the CDC advises tablets for travel anywhere in Zimbabwe at any time of year, so many visitors take them whenever they come.
Guidance is reviewed regularly, so confirm the current position with a travel clinic or your doctor before you travel, and keep up the simple defences either way: repellent, and long sleeves and trousers once the light goes.
The camp is seasonal, open from May to November and closed through the rains. That window holds the best of Hwange's game viewing, because as the park dries out from about July to October the seeps below camp keep their water and the elephant, buffalo and plains game concentrate on them, so the camp only operates through the stronger months.
Within the season there are still choices to make. May and June are green and fresh with genuinely cold mornings, September and October bring the heaviest traffic to the water as the heat builds, and November is a gamble on the first storms, when the bush freshens and the newborn antelope start to arrive.
Warm layers first. From June to August an open vehicle at dawn can start near freezing, so bring a proper jacket, a hat and gloves alongside the light clothing the middle of the day asks for. From September the heat climbs steeply, with October the fiercest month, so late-season visitors want light, breathable clothing in neutral colours and strong sun protection.
Closed shoes with decent grip earn their place on the walking safaris, and binoculars repay themselves at the seeps. If you are flying in, everything needs to fit in a soft bag of around twenty kilograms including hand luggage.
Stays are fully inclusive: accommodation, all meals, house drinks, laundry, the guided activities and the road transfers between Robins Airstrip and camp are all in the rate. The conservation and community levy, charged for each guest night, sits outside it, and we build that into your quote from the start so the full cost is clear before you commit.
The charter flights are priced separately too, and we put the whole journey together as one figure so nothing arrives as a surprise.
We usually build in three. The camp sits a long way into the park's north-west, so a shorter stay spends too much of itself on the journey, and the walking, the night drives and the slow hours watching the seeps all reward a bit of room.
It pairs naturally with Victoria Falls, twenty minutes away by air, and with a second camp in another part of Hwange if you want two faces of the park in one trip. Tell us the pace you like and we will shape the split around it.
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