African safari in Zimbabwe goes luxe at Mpala Jena, Zambezi National Park
The animals get so close at this safari camp that elephants might steal your bath water and monkeys your shampoo.
It’s the end of the dry season in northwest Zimbabwe, and the plug has been pulled from the Zambezi River. An El Nino-induced drought has drained Africa’s fourth largest river, exposing tussocky islands and basalt reefs, braiding it into churning channels. Spray smashes across the bow of our speedboat as we shoot the rapids, heading upstream from the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Victoria Falls, where the mighty river seeps across an ancient volcanic plateau before plunging 100m into Batoka Gorge, creating the largest curtain of falling water on Earth. Local tribes know it as Mosi-oa-Tunya, the smoke that thunders.
We’re on the river less than 30 minutes after getting our passports stamped at Victoria Falls Airport, the first action-packed hour of an eight-night Zimbabwean itinerary designed by the Classic Safari Company. We haven’t even had time to dig out our binoculars before our driver Wellington spots an elephant on an island, guiding the boat so close we can almost touch its tusks. The engine roars and we’re thrown back in our seats, dodging clusters of semi-submerged hippos and passing giant crocodiles lying motionless on the riverbank. Impalas stand passively alongside a herd of handsome kudu – a tawny, spiral-horned antelope with delicate white stripes that appear hand-painted. The gangly frames of Marabou storks glide overhead, their enormous wingspan threatening to eclipse the sun. A pied kingfisher goes spear fishing with its dagger-like beak, while African fish eagles survey the scene from perches on skeletal trees. After 30 thrilling minutes Wellington kills the throttle, nudges the boat into a sandbank, and we finally exhale.
We’ve washed up at Mpala Jena, a luxury riverside safari lodge in a private concession within the wildlife-rich Zambezi National Park. With its white sand floor, thatched roof pavilions, rattan screens and curvaceous stone walls, it feels more Thailand than Matabeleland. Sun lounges line a sparkling swimming pool, hammocks hang from trees and bean bags are strewn round a flickering firepit. Rope and timber swings replace bar stools at the airy bar, so you can trail your toes through the sand while sipping a sundowner.
The property has an unexpected antipodean connection. It was designed remotely from the Gold Coast during the pandemic by husband and wife architects Craig Hayman and Hannah Charlton, who due to lockdowns couldn’t visit the site until the project was completed in 2022. Hayman – originally from South Africa – was already on intimate terms with the Zambezi, however, having worked as a wildlife photography safari guide throughout Africa. Local thatchers were engaged to design the decorative scalloped motifs that adorn the roofs, while the breezy, sand-toned interiors are the work of acclaimed interior designer Tracy Kelly.
Boardwalks through the bush lead to five canvas and stone suites – three doubles and a pair of two-bedroom family suites. Two three-bedroom private villas are scheduled to open 5km upstream in August. The suites all have spacious verandas, and are dotted discretely along the river, ensuring privacy from other guests, if not from the wildlife.
A gated community Mpala Jena most certainly is not. Camp manager Savanah warns us to look out for elephants (not that you’d miss them) shaking down fruit from the ilala palm growing outside our tent, or siphoning water from the outdoor bathtub. Monkeys will nick off with shampoo bottles (don’t ask me why) and squirrels will chew through tent mesh to get to the minibar biscuits. “It’s an endless battle,” sighs Savanah. An armed chaperone is required to escort us back to our tent after dinner, which strikes me as an eminently sensible precaution given that lions were spotted near the tents the night before.
You may prefer, as we did, to enjoy your wildlife encounters from the safety of a LandCruiser. We combine our game drive with a guided 5km walk through the mopane woodlands, watched intently by the swivelling heads of giraffes camouflaged in the foliage. Our day ends with a sublime sunset cruise, watching zebras and baboons gathering at the water’s edge, the low-slung orange sun silhouetting 1000-year-old baobab trees on the bank. It feels like we’ve packed a lifetime of adventure into one day on the Zambezi.
From one of Zimbabwe’s newest safari camps we zip back downstream to check in at its oldest luxury hotel. The Victoria Falls Hotel opened in 1904 as accommodation for workers constructing the railway bridge across Batoka Gorge, part of Cecil Rhodes’s proposed (but never completed) “Cape to Cairo” line. The tourist train from Bulawayo that once dropped guests to the front door no longer runs, but the classic hotel – with its brick red roof, white brick facade and wide, colonnaded veranda – has defied the country’s economic calamities and is gleaming in full colonial glory.
Walls are lined with grand, imperial portraits, hunting trophies, photos of the 1947 royal tour, kitschy British cartoons and a poignant sketch of a near-death David Livingston (the first white man to see Victoria Falls), stricken with malaria and being carried on the shoulders of tribesmen across a rain-swollen river in Zambia. It’s a short walk to view the falls, and the hotel can book associated adventures such as white-water rafting, bungy jumping and helicopter flights. The open-air Jungle Junction restaurant serves an African fusion buffet dinner in a garden setting, accompanied by entertainment from local Makishi dancers, while the Edwardian-decorated Livingston Room is a more formal dining affair (“Strictly no safari wear”).
An extensive refurbishment is returning the hotel to its original inventory of 160 guestrooms and suites, top of the line being the 205sq m, three-bedroom Presidential Suite, which includes private butler service. Our “classic” room has been recently updated in fresh, grey tones, with an attractive botanical motif wrapping round the walls, and a view of the gardens and the gorge.
We dump our bags and head down for high tea on Stanley’s Terrace, overlooking a lush lawn shaded by the sprawling canopies of a Natal mahogany and msasa tree. The view beyond stretches along the gorge to the iconic arch bridge, lashed with spray from one of the world’s greatest natural wonders. The plug may be pulled, but our cup is full.
In the know
The Classic Safari Company specialises in bespoke travel itineraries throughout Africa.
Mpala Jena from $US940 ($1465) a person a night; Victoria Falls Hotel classic rooms from $US538.
Ricky French was a guest of the Classic Safari Company.
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