Hilux 4x4 Forum

We are in the initial phase of planning a trip to Hwange in Dec. Emailed Zimparks and they suggested we avoid Robin's camp in the wet season due to excessively muddy roads. Read an article about a couple that got stuck and spent the night in the vehicle before being recovered by staff the next morning. Can't remember where it was. Any thoughts???

We did Hwange in April 2014, we did not experiece much mud/water, but that can differ from week to week. We came in from pandamatenga borderpost in botswana, making our first stop Robins camp (speaking under correction here, it was one of the most Northern camps). The roads were in a good condition when we were there, sometimes a bit overgrown. The mainroads are/or was once regularly scraped so no 2 spoor tracks or stuff, the smaller game viewing roads may be 2spoor.

The game in the park is scarce, and with the wet season, we did not see alot of game when we were there.

Thanks Vian, We visited there a few years back, also in the dry season. Yes, game is sparse but so are tourists. Not like in its heyday in the early 70s.

Ja, there is still signs of its heyday glory, especially at camps like simanatella and robins. When we where there they were doing "renovations" but no idea how long that lasted.

We camped at the waterholes (bit more expensive but worth while) and avoided the main camps, its very secluded but an amazing experience.

Which waterholes did you camp at? Mandavu dam was quite nice when we there.

We just had difficulty with maps, just try to find the most detailed map on google or something, the only map of the park we had was a printout i made from google images, there is none at the various receptions or campsites and the gps software did not have everything.

We stayed at Deteema dam, a lovely small campsite with no one close to you. It seemed like one of the less visited sites, but was one of my favorites. And also Masuma dam, masuma was a bit larger with a big game viewing lapa looking out over a small dam and group of hippos with frequent visits from elephants. We were lucky to have both sites only to our group when we were there as we were 3 vehicles.

We visited mandavu dam for a brunch, its probably the largest dam in the park and there is a fair amount of animal life on the banks, but because it was so large you do not necessarily see whats on the other side. The campsite on the banks did seem very nice though.

Thanks Vian, I will look at those sites. They sound like just what I'm looking for.

Hi Vian,

Can you remember where Deteema dam is located? I've got a really dodgey map from them and it's not shown.

its up north near Robinson camp, was our first nights stay when entering from pandamatenga, so it couldnt be to far.

Brilliant, thanks.