Trip Planner
Stay Here
SHOESTRING BACKPACKERS New owners are making concerted efforts to reestablish its good name; there’s colour, a vibe, and a range of rooms, campsites and dorms, especially useful if you’re up for a party or hoping to convince a stranger to undertake some or other crazy adventure with you. There’s a huge garden with lots of nooks to disappear into, plus a bar, swimming pool and a kitchen serving decent grub. Dorms from $18, rooms from $60, two-bed dome tent $50, camping $20 for four.
+263 779 073 293, shoestringsvicfalls.com
NGUNI LODGE
In the leafy suburbs, this familyrun establishment has 14 comfortable rooms under thatch, arranged around a pool and pleasant garden, with a lounge, bar and breakfast room. From $80 pps, family rooms $270 for four, breakfast included.
+263 777 468 991, ngunilodge.com
SHONGWE LOOKOUT
Its agronomist-owner Jamie Henson did all the landscaping, so guestrooms are arranged around a pretty garden with a central pool adjacent a large gazebo-sheltered restaurant and bar. The top of the eponymous lookout tower is a marvellous spot from which to drink in the sunset; at sunrise you feel like you’re on top of the world.
From $110 pps (studio rooms), breakfast included.
+263 832 844 209, shongwelookout.com
TSOWA SAFARI ISLAND
The six tents on this patch of paradise on the Zambezi River facilitate the ultimate reboot. Beguilingly simple, the tents suggest your standard safari set-up from the outside, but step inside and you want for nothing: top-notch beds, fine linens and outdoor showers. From $316 pps, all inclusive (rates may change in May). 035 474 1473, tsowasafariisland.co.za
Do This
For many, Vic Falls has the image of a one-hit wonder where, after scoping Mosi-oaTunya, that great curtain of falling water, you might as an afterthought haggle with the purveyors of wooden handicrafts before shuffling off to the hotel for high tea. That’s not true at all. And there’s loads to do apart from triggering a happy high anxiety by launching from a bridge, too.
Catch a ride in the Bamba Bus
A sweet, nostalgic novelty, the Bamba Bus is a hop-on hop-off get-around ($10 all day), and doubles up as a party bus. +263 777 027 591, bambabus.co.zw
Taste beer
The River Brewing Co isn’t the only beerhouse in town, but it offers a real glimmer of sophistication. There’s tasty food, beers ranging from The Flying Bantu Red Ale to a Siyabonga Session IP, plus night-time live music and standup comedians. If you can corner founder and head-brewer Lionel McCauley, you might want to ask how this literature teacher from Alaska landed up in Zimbabwe, by way of the Grateful Dead, Thailand and Norway.
+263 772 163 512, riverbrewco.com
Ride a horse
Zambezi Horse Safaris has been operating since 1988 – all the horses are handpicked and trained by Alison Baker, and she knows how to fit a rider to a horse. Her outrides happen in Vic Falls National Park and Zambezi National Park. +263 775 729 146, zambezihorsetrails.com
Canoe and camp on the Zambezi
The late Misheck Ngwenya, a legendary Zimbabwean river guide, founded Victoria Falls Canoeing Company, which conducts paddling expeditions complemented by riverside mobile camping within Zambezi National Park.
+263 779 940 364, facebook.com/ Vicfallscanoeingcompany Hop on a quad bike
First lunch at the House of Zulu, started by the quad biking enthusiasts Brian and Monalisa Zulu. Greens are from the hydroponic garden, and there’s a bar, and pizzas named Shaka Zulu and mvelo (vegetarian). Then hop on a quad bike for a village tour. ‘They go where the Land Cruisers can’t,’ Brian says. +263 719 338 614, houseofzulu.co.zw
Paint ellies
At The Wallow, an ellie sanctuary 8km from town, Art of Africa runs guided outdoor painting workshops with pachyderm subjects.
+263 717 100 579, artofafrica.co.zw
Lunch at the Lookout
Rebuilt in 2019 after fire destroyed the original, The Lookout Cafe affords a dizzying drop-away canyon view from its terraced wooden deck. It’s breezy, effortlessly chic, and it’s owned by adventure outfit Wild Horizons so there’s a booking office here where you can sign up for all sorts of crazy outings. And some sane ones, too. +263 832 840 318/+263 782 745 112, thelookoutcafe.com