Dete

Dete is a railway village on the Bulawayo to Victoria Falls line and the nearest town to Hwange National Park. About 3,000 people live here, civil servants mostly, and elephants still wander into the suburbs. For a visitor it is the budget end of Hwange: lodges along the Main Camp tar road and the Dete Vlei, outside the park boundary, with Main Camp half an hour away and the Painted Dog Conservation centre on the way.

Getting there

Leave the A8 at Cross Mabale, 283 km from Bulawayo and 172 km from Victoria Falls, and follow the 23 km of tar towards Main Camp. Dete, the park airport and the lodges sit on or just off that stretch, two hours from Victoria Falls.

The weekly overnight train stops at about 04:00 on Saturday towards Victoria Falls and 02:00 on Monday towards Bulawayo and runs one to four hours late by most accounts. NRZ’s website still says passenger trains are suspended, so ring +263 29 2363522 first.

When to go

Dete sits at 1,091 m, just under the 1,200 m line below which malaria risk is high from November to June and low from July to October. Take the tablets if you come between November and June.

August to October is the time for game: by September it is five months since the last rain and the animals crowd the pumped waterholes, around 60 across the park. October is the price, over 40°C by day. June to August nights drop to frost. January is the wettest month and the rains run to March or April.

What to do

Painted Dog Conservation is the reason to stop rather than drive straight to the gate. The centre is opposite the park airport on the Main Camp road, open daily except the last weekend of the month, and runs on donations. It employs more than 60 people from the surrounding villages and runs a rehabilitation facility for injured dogs, an anti-poaching unit and a children’s bush camp. Zimbabwe has roughly 700 painted dogs left; the project follows more than six packs in Hwange. Allow two hours and give notice before you arrive.

The Dete Vlei is a 12 km dry riverbed running through teak forest and open savannah outside the park boundary. Sable Valley Lodge sits on it, looking over its own waterhole.

The Main Camp loops are the day out; our Hwange gate times guide has the gate hours and the afternoon cut-offs between camps.

Good to know

• Main Camp has a pump but supply is unreliable. Fill up in Victoria Falls or Bulawayo and carry US dollar cash in small notes. Our travel essentials cover roadblocks, tolls and power cuts.
• Elephants still come into the suburbs, Mtuya and Soweto included. Do not drive the A8 at night (see the self-drive guide).
• Dete is in Matabeleland North, 67 km south-east of Hwange town.

Last updated 19 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, Dete (railway re-crewing depot formerly called Dett, about 300 km north-west of Bulawayo and 67 km south-east of Hwange, 1,091 m, population 2,993, hot semi-arid, Mtuya, Soweto and Railways suburbs, civil servants and small shops, elephants in the suburbs, Detema Safari Lodge burnt down in 2011, Miombo Lodge about 3 km east of the shopping centre), Wikipedia, Hwange National Park (founded 1928 as Wankie Game Reserve, national park 1961, nearest town Dete, pans pumped from underground, Kalahari sands, Painted Dog Conservation operates from Dete), ZimParks, Hwange National Park (283 km from Bulawayo and 172 km from Victoria Falls to Cross Mabale then 23 km of tar to Main Camp, 14,650 km2, 100 mammal and nearly 400 bird species, Africa's largest wild dog population, Main Camp airstrip for charters, malaria precautions), Wikivoyage, Hwange National Park (Pathfinder buses stop at the park, trains arrive around midnight or 4AM, Elephant Express 70 km from Impofu Siding 8 km from Main Camp to Ngamo, 22 seats, June to August warm days and extremely cold nights with frost, August to October at the pumped waterholes, fuel at the camps unreliable), Seat 61, train travel in Zimbabwe (weekly Bulawayo to Victoria Falls sleeper resumed 17 October 2025, Dete 04:00 Saturday northbound and 02:00 Monday southbound, expect 1 to 4 hours late, tickets sold at the Bulawayo and Victoria Falls offices on the day, no catering, NRZ website www.nrz.co.zw), National Railways of Zimbabwe (home page still says all passenger trains are suspended, +263-029-2363522, 08:00 to 16:00), Great Zimbabwe Guide, Hwange National Park travel guide 2026 (283 km from Bulawayo, 172 km from Victoria Falls, 23 km of tar from Cross Mabale to Main Camp, Main Camp takes about 80% of visitors, Elephant Express 70 km Dete to Ngamo in 2 hours in high season only, Painted Dog centre open daily near Main Camp, August to November best, October over 40°C, 4x4 December to March, stock up on fuel in Victoria Falls or Bulawayo, underground water pumped into 60 water holes with solar pumps, prophylaxis September to May), Great Zimbabwe Guide, Painted Dog Conservation centre (opposite Hwange National Park Airport in Dete, off the A8 at Cross Mabale, open Monday to Sunday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm except the last weekend of every month, free with donations, about 2 hours, display area and rehabilitation enclosures down a sandy path, roughly 700 painted dogs in Zimbabwe, fewer than 7,000 in Africa), Painted Dog Conservation, who we are (grew out of research in Hwange in the mid 1990s, registered PVO 13/2005, more than 60 staff from local villages, rehabilitation facility, visitors centre, Wilton Nsimango Children's Bush Camp, Anti-Poaching Unit, more than 6 packs monitored in Hwange), Painted Dog Conservation, home (postal address Dete, roughly 700 painted dogs in Zimbabwe, detection dogs, Hwange buffer zone team), Expert Africa, Hwange National Park (Sable Valley on the 12 km Dete Vlei, Painted Dog centre near the main entrance and visits need advance notice, August to October driest with most game, January wettest, Victoria Falls three to six hours by road, pans topped up by pumps), Expert Africa, Sable Valley Lodge (12 km Dete Vlei is a dried-up riverbed, private reserve of teak forest and savannah of 63 km2 shared with Khulu and Ivory Lodge, about 30 minutes to Main Camp, 10 minutes to Hwange airport, over 400 bird species), Hwange Safari Lodge (100 rooms just outside the park boundary, two hours from Victoria Falls, waterhole viewing deck, day and night drives, village tour and Inganyana Crafts Center, Painted Dog centre visit, Binga about 3 hours), Gwango, directions (turn off the Bulawayo to Victoria Falls road at the 264,5 km peg, tar to the park, just before the Main Camp entrance, just over two hours from Victoria Falls airport, no 4x4 needed), Wild Zambezi, Hwange National Park (rains November to March, dry May to October, elephants around 40,000 shared with Chobe, pumped borehole water, 14,650 km2), UK NaTHNaC TravelHealthPro, Zimbabwe (malaria high below 1,200 m November to June, low July to October, all year in the Zambezi valley), UK FCDO, Zimbabwe safety and security (stop at roadblocks and toll gates, avoid driving outside towns at night, fuel sometimes unavailable, US dollars for most transactions, cards often refused, small notes, frequent long power cuts, rainy season November to April).