VICTORIA FALLS, ZIMBABWE
Where Time + Tide feels a lot more authentic to the local African culture, Matetsi is a little more westernised, with three choices of restaurant, a spa, gift shop and wine cellar.
Matetsi also offered several more activities included in your stay; game drives (a given), fishing on the Zambezi, sunset boat cruises and so on. Not to mention the surprise supper organised in the middle of the bush, beautifully lit with a huge bonfire and local singer.
NO. 3
CAMP MATETSI
NO.4
STANLEY & LIVINGSTONE
For our final stay, we were at Stanley & Livingstone. This was a very different experience to the previous camps, as it is more of a hotel than a safari lodge.
The activities are outsourced, so lot’s more options of things to do; which was nice given how many game drives we’d been on at this point. You can still opt to go on a game drive, but you’re also able to organise bungee jumps off the bridge connecting Zambia and Zimbabwe or a helicopter ride over Victoria Falls, or a river boat cruise and so on. Due to these being outsourced it does mean that the experiences are not always private, unlike Time + Tide and Matetsi.
Stanley & Livingstone have an anti-poaching unit which means they are able to offer a very unique black rhino experience, which consists of a high-tea with a specialist guide. Black rhinos are highly endangered so it was special to be able to see these.
The hotel is only a 10 minute drive from Victoria Falls, one of the seven great wonders of the world, and very worth a visit so it was a great option.
The Packing list
The key is light, buildable layers. the days are warm but the evenings are cold. You wake up for game drives before sunrise so you want to wrap up warm but by midday you will only need a light shirt. And no open toe shoes!
