The Wallow Lodge

Rafting came first. In the early 1980s a group of Zimbabwean guides built a business running the Zambezi rapids below the falls, in the churn beneath Batoka Gorge. Ground handling followed, and then the lodges came. That adventure tradition still shows in what the sanctuary can offer a guest with the appetite for it. Gorge swings drop into Batoka, helicopters lift over the falls, and rafts still run the white water below. The lodge is the quiet end of that story, canvas and timber set beneath old riverine trees.

Inside, the suites lean contemporary and not colonial. Canvas walls, wooden furniture, cushions in bright chitenge cloth and pots of greenery give each one the feel of a room rather than a bed under sheeting. There is a bedroom and an indoor lounge, a writing desk and a tea and coffee station, and a balcony facing the water. They are tents in the proper sense, framed canvas on raised decks. Meals move between the open-plan dining room and the deck above the riverbank, international cooking built on Zimbabwean produce and South African wine.

The lodge is the quiet end of that story, canvas and timber set beneath old riverine trees

Kudu and baboons work the riverbank through the morning, and warthogs graze the lawns with the indifference of residents. In the canopy above them are Schalow’s turaco, giant kingfishers and raptors for anyone with binoculars. Game drives run at dawn and late afternoon, and walking is possible on the private sanctuary, as it is not inside the national parks. The rest of the day can be given to cocktails and canapés on the gorge rim. There is a guided walk through the rainforest on the Zimbabwean side of the falls, and an evening cruise on the Zambezi. Children from seven years old are welcome.

The main area opens under canvas and timber, a bar and a lounge running out to a sunken firepit and a pool set above the riverbank. Late afternoon is the hour, when the low light turns the Masuwe copper. The vehicles come in, the fire is lit, and the sound that carries up from below is the river and not the town. Victoria Falls is close by and entirely out of earshot, so the days keep the pace of a bush camp, with the falls, the gorge and the Zambezi all within easy reach.