Victoria Falls River Lodge

waterhole hide and a riverside infinity pool

Victoria Falls River Lodge sits on the southern, Zimbabwean bank of the Zambezi River, within the riverine sector of Zambezi National Park, around 13 km upstream from Victoria Falls itself.

It opened in 2012 as the first private game lodge built within Zambezi National Park, and the Island Treehouse Suites on the nearby Kandahar Island were added in 2017.

Zambezi National Park itself covers around 56,000 hectares and around 40 km of Zambezi River frontage. Elephant, buffalo, lion and leopard are all present, along with sable antelope, greater kudu, impala, zebra and giraffe, hippo and crocodile in the river, and over 400 recorded bird species.

The main lodge is centred on an open-sided building housing several dining and bar venues, a rim-flow infinity pool and a fitness centre. Meals are served across a rotating set of areas rather than a single dining room. The riverside Toa Spa sits on its own raised deck over the water.

An elevated hide gives 360-degree views over a private waterhole, and the property is unfenced, so elephant and buffalo move through camp regularly and can be watched from your room. A separate section of the lodge sits across the water on Kandahar Island, reached by boat and connected internally by raised boardwalks, with its own open-sided dining building serving the Island Treehouse Suites.

Rooms

Guest accommodation is spread across the riverbank and two treehouse categories on Kandahar Island, plus two further exclusive-use villas. All suites and villas have a private deck and plunge pool overlooking the river. The Luxury Tented Suites and Malachite Tented Suites sit on the Zimbabwean riverbank; the Island Treehouse and Starbed Treehouse Suites are reached by boat and boardwalk on Kandahar Island and come with personal butler service.

• Luxury Tent : x8 : open-plan en-suite bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers
• Luxury Family Tent : x4 : adjoining children’s room holding a single bed and a bunk bed
• Malachite Tented Suite : x6 : open-plan bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers, minimum age 12
• Island Treehouse : x4 : on Kandahar Island, rain shower and freestanding bathtub, personal butler service, minimum age 12
• Starbed Treehouse : x2 : two-storey Island Treehouse with an additional rooftop starbed and sitting area, personal butler service, minimum age 12
• Rapids View Villa : x1 : exclusive-use villa across two family suites, sleeping up to 10 guests, private butler
• Hippo Creek Villa : x1 : exclusive-use villa across two suites and one family suite, sleeping up to 8 guests, private butler and chef with its own kitchen and communal lounge and dining areas

Activities

Victoria Falls River Lodge provides the following guided activities, with vehicle safari, river cruises and the standard in-camp programme included in the all-inclusive rate; adventure activities in the wider Victoria Falls area carry additional fees and are arranged through the lodge:

• Vehicle safari
• Walking safari, in Zambezi National Park (minimum age 12)
• Motorboat safari, on luxury river cruisers
• Guided tour of Victoria Falls
• White-water rafting (additional fee)
• Helicopter flight over the Falls and Batoka Gorge (additional fee)
• Devil’s Pool swim on Livingstone Island, seasonal (additional fee)

Victoria Falls is a very popular location and is, from a transport perspective, the central hub for safari in the southern part of the continent. The area therefore tends to feature in a lot of trips.

The usual stay duration at Victoria Falls is 2-4 nights, usually at the front end of a trip, since this is such an easy place to slide gently into Africa.

Seasonality

The best time to visit Victoria Falls is generally considered to be during the May-Oct dry season, when safari in the reserves of Zambia and Zimbabwe is strongest.

During the early part of this season, the flow rate over the falls should be high, possibly with the spray obscuring the views.

Towards the end of this season, the flow rate over the falls can reduce to not much more than a trickle, which can significantly reduce the majesty of the experiences.

Generally, we tend to recommend that you focus your trip on the best time for safari, rather than worry too much about the falls.

Getting there

Victoria Falls River Lodge is usually accessed by private vehicle transfer from Victoria Falls International Airport, a drive of around 60 minutes.

Another option is to arrive into Livingstone Airport, across the border in Zambia, in which case the journey is likely to be around 90 minutes.

It is also possible to connect by road down to Kasane, in order to continue by road into Namibia or by air into Botswana.

can be combined with a very wide range of safari areas