By Cindy-Lou Dale
Senior Writer

When in Africa, you’ll often hear passing reference to Zimbabwe’s famed hospitality, and there’s nowhere that you’d appreciate it more than at the iconic World Heritage Site of Victoria Falls. Everyone smiles warmly and greets you like an old friend, they’re all genuinely delightful. How could they not be, living in such magnificence?

A 15-minute drive in an air-conditioned minibus transported me from Victoria Falls Airport to The Elephant Camp, Zimbabwe’s ultimate luxury canvas lodge. It’s exclusive, peaceful, and very high-end, and located in a private wilderness concession within the Victoria Falls National Park.

Next to Botswana, Zimbabwe has the second-largest population of elephants in the world.

The camp itself is exquisite. There are 16 canvas suites – each suite looks onto the cliffs that plummet to the boiling Zambezi River below. In the distance, the silver-grey spray of Victoria Falls presents an impossibly majestic backdrop to the definitive African adventure.

On arrival I gratefully accepted a refreshing eucalyptus-doused towel and cold welcome drink, then let my eyes take it all in.

The main communal tent holds The Elephant Camp’s sumptuous lounge and dining area. Modern luxury in no way detracts from the true safari experience. The white tented roof, wooden decks and African artifacts mirror that of nature’s paprika-coloured soil, the dark chocolate hues of tree trunks, and crisp white clouds.

Think crystal glasses, leather luggage, wooden trunks, a white canvas ceiling, shining brass chandeliers strung from the cathedral ceiling, casting a soft gold light over the Victorian sofas, chairs, and detailed finishes, with a lofted deck which is where you can take in the grandeur of Africa and the waterhole. They’ve surpassed all levels of modern luxury and conjured up an era of Victorian frontier camping.

The Elephant Camp, was nominated as Zimbabwe’s Leading Tented Safari Camp.

Walking into my accommodations (Room 12, the ‘Star Suite’) I feel the presence of a genuine bygone colonial Africa. A giant four-poster bed with cascades of mosquito netting, a footed and deep-set luxury Victoria & Albert bathtub, a private viewing deck, a stone-floored outdoor shower, a plunge pool and a bed under the stars on a raised platform!

All this with panoramic views of the cliffs of the Zambezi Batoka Gorge, and of the Milky Way. Modern technology is carefully hidden with USB charging ports on either side of the bed, and fiber optic Wi-Fi which runs throughout the camp.

Within easy reach of Victoria Falls, yet secluded on its own game reserve, The Elephant Camp does community and conservation-focused activities including an elephant experience and a visit to the Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust.

There are boundless photographic opportunities, plus game drives, at dusk and dawn. But if you really must, adrenaline-fueled adventures are available. They have several add-on activities at no extra cost (check out their website), one of the top ones being a visit to their Elephant sanctuary and orphanage. They’ve been a safe haven to orphaned and injured elephants for +25 years and rescue, rehabilitate and release all the elephants in their care. 

Before sunrise I’m driven to a lookout point where I stood at the edge of a precipice, an enormous, deeply carved crevice torn into the earth’s crust, exposing the raging Zambezi River 120 meters below. I’m mesmerized, witnessing the incredible power of nature so blatantly displayed.

On the way back my guide brings the vehicle to an abrupt halt. He’s seen something in the sand – a large lion footprint. He’s an expert tracker that could spot a fly at a thousand yards. He can look at the ground and see, written in the sand, the history of all the animals that had passed that way, and from the shift in the landscape where they were heading.

Baobab trees like fat red ballet dancers, bigger than buses, and older than Christ, clung onto the edge of the ravine.

Following a late afternoon waterhole visit, when the edge of Africa’s heat dissipates and the shadows of the mopane trees lengthen, my guide found a picturesque sundowner spot. I settled into a camping chair and watched the sun slowly sink below the horizon, stars creeping into the crimson and tangerine sky long before it had completed its descent.

This was the perfect location for contemplating the majesty of the intuitive and magnificent giants I’d been watching and who’d touched my soul.

Once darkness set in, we returned to camp for a fine-dining Afrocentric taste journey that was both wild and exciting. After dessert, diners gravitated to the sunken firepit and swapped captivating safari stories around a blazing fire.

It’s more than opulence or the linen’s thread count. Here it’s about Zimbabwean hospitality, about seclusion, and exclusivity, all of which have no measure. When you leave The Elephant Camp, a big piece of your soul will stay behind.

www.theelephantcamp.com