The Victoria Falls offers thundering falls, dramatic beauty of the Zambezi River and a bevy of adventurous river & land activities .
The Victoria Falls is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World and definitely a sight not to be missed if you have the time. You can stay on either the Zimbawean or Zambian side of the Falls, but some of the most spectacular views of the Victoria Falls are on the Zambian side of the gorge, plus you have the added attraction of Livingstone Island and Devil’s pool.
To gain an overall impression of the Victoria Falls, the helicopter ‘Flight of Angels’ is considered essential by some. For the truly daring, microlight flights or bungee jumping are also available. One of our favourite excursions is to enjoy a champagne breakfast or lunch on the private Livingstone Island. This lies literally at the top edge of the Victoria Falls. If you are visiting during the low water months of September to December, you can even swim to Devil’s Pool, a rockpool at the waterfall’s edge.
Above the Falls, the Zambezi river is wide and gentle – the perfect place for languorous sunset boat cruises or gentle canoeing trips. However below the Victoria Falls, the Zambezi river’s character changes with several magnificent roaring rapids through a 7 km gorge. Here the adventurous can enjoy serious white-water rafting.
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Wow! Thorntree River Lodge is impressive. I can’t fault it. The setting in the Mosi Ai Tanya reserve is spectacular, about 20 minutes drive upstream from the Falls. The staff are well-trained led by Dumi, their well-travelled and hands on General Manager.
This is definitely for those people who enjoy the finest in life. The lodge is modern, contemporary with great use of glass. All activities, meals and drinks are included as well as transfers. There is wifi but deliberately ONLY in the library (so that guests can enjoy the stunning setting and lodge.) There's a large wine cellar, swimming pool and spa.
And the rooms are so so lovely! There's a butler's area with tea/coffee making facilities and minibar, air-conditioning and fan. A beautiful sliding glass door leads out to the deck and private plunge pool. These have a mesh door option so that you can leave open at night if you wish. It is superbly decorated with a definite WOW factor!
It is not as hotel-like as Royal Livingstone. And it is not as lodge-like as Tongabezi. However it is on par with Tongabezi in terms of $$$s spent, but it's more refined. But it is expensive!
But at the moment, they seem to struggle here with the power supply once you leave the confines of Livingstone. I think this was because of the severe drought at the time which was affecting the hydro-electric power plant and thus the power supply. So you may have some power outages for some hours at a time. I suspect this affects all of the lodges in the reserve.
Victoria Falls is currently affected by the drought which is also affecting Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Zambian side of the Falls is completely dry. So guests staying here are visiting the Zimbabwean side of the Falls at the moment (December 2019). However we were still able to do a beautiful sundowner cruise on the Zambezi River.
Africa Travel Specialist
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