Mbano Manor Hotel lies in the shade of an enclosed four-acre teak forest on the western edge of Victoria Falls town, about four kilometres from the Falls. Every building was fitted around the old trees, so the canopy closes overhead on every path. The spray of the Falls gives way here to deep shade and birdsong. Guests return to it after a morning in the rainforest or an afternoon in the gorge.
The spray of the Falls gives way here to deep shade and birdsong.
Dr Mati Nyazema, a former corporate leader, first walked this patch of forest in 2016, but the Falls had been part of her life far longer. As a girl she first saw them on a school trip led by her father, a Harare headmaster. The hotel she went on to build opened in 2020 as a black, female-owned family business, and in 2025 TIME named it among the World’s Greatest Places.
Before anything was built, the hotel was designed to disturb the original teak forest as little as possible, and the plan kept to that closely. Suites, paths and the main buildings went only where the canopy allowed. The architecture is classic bungalow. Ceilings rise high under timber rafters, and teak shutters open onto wraparound verandas kept cool by the forest overhead.
Colourful woodland birds come close enough to follow from a chair.
Mornings begin with the shutters folded back and coffee carried out to the veranda. The estate doubles as a bird and tree sanctuary, its canopy alive with movement above the forest paths. Colourful woodland birds come close enough to follow from a chair. By late afternoon the same veranda is set for sundowners, and the shade of the old trees holds off the heat as the light goes.
The Falls are about four kilometres away, and a guided tour through the rainforest spray is the natural place to begin. From the air, the Flight of Angels helicopter loops over the falling water and follows the gorge downstream, and the scale of the drop becomes easy to read. Late in the day, a sunset cruise on the Zambezi passes hippos and crocodiles. White-water rafting runs through the gorge itself, and bungee jumping offers the quickest way down. Each of these can be arranged during a stay, along with cultural village visits around Victoria Falls town.
Zambezi National Park lies right alongside Victoria Falls town, a short way from the teak forest at Mbano Manor Hotel. Game drives head out in open 4×4 vehicles in the early morning, while the air is still cool, or in the mid-afternoon. Guided nature walks cover the same country on foot, at a slower pace that brings the smaller details of the bush into focus. Chobe National Park in Botswana is close enough for a day trip across the border, yet every evening still ends back beneath the old teak.
Late in the day, a sunset cruise on the Zambezi passes hippos and crocodiles.
Two clusters of four suites are joined by shared verandas. Each suite is private inside but opens to its neighbours outdoors, which suits parents with children or several generations travelling together. The layout was planned by an owner who is herself a mother and a grandmother. Larger family groups take the Mutota Forest Villa, set apart from the main suites, with two bedrooms, a garden and a plunge pool, and room for six under one roof. A butler is on hand at the villa and private meals can be arranged there, so the whole party can eat together without leaving it.
Meals follow guests around the estate, wherever the shade happens to fall. Breakfast or dinner can be laid on the dining terrace or in the bar courtyard, in the indoor lounge or at the suite itself. The cooking moves from fine dining to something simpler as the evening suggests. Through the heat of the day, snacks and cocktails come out to the swimming pool. The Bayuni Spa shares the same forest grounds, so a treatment fits easily into the gap between an early start at the Falls and dinner under the trees.
accommodation
Eighteen bungalow-style suites are set in pairs and family clusters beneath the teak. Each has teak shutters, a lounge area and a claw-foot bath, with a king-size bedroom and a wraparound veranda. The Mutota Forest Villa, set apart from the rest, adds two bedrooms, a garden and a plunge pool.
activities
On the estate, there is the Bayuni Spa, the swimming pool and walks along the forest paths. Beyond it, guided tours of the Falls, Flight of Angels helicopter flights, sunset Zambezi cruises, rafting and bungee in the gorge, game drives and guided walks in Zambezi National Park, and Chobe day trips can all be arranged.
dining
Meals centre on the dining terrace, fine or casual as you like, with the bar courtyard and indoor lounge for cooler evenings and meals in your suite on request. High tea brings savoury and sweet treats with African flavours, made from local ingredients, to forest tables overlooking the bird and tree sanctuary, with herbal teas grown in Zimbabwe, served daily through the afternoon.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
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Fly into Victoria Falls International Airport and the rest is by road. The hotel stands on the Old Kazungula Road at the western edge of Victoria Falls town, four kilometres from the entrance to the Falls, and we arrange the airport transfer in both directions so a driver is waiting when you come through arrivals.
If you are coming from Hwange or from the Chobe, a private charter on a Cessna Grand Caravan EX, with eleven seats, flies into Victoria Falls from the camps' airstrips and from Kasane, about twenty minutes in the air from Kasane. The Chobe is also an hour away by road, so the hotel works as the first or last stop of a longer trip.
Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, rates Zimbabwe below 1,200 metres, which takes in Victoria Falls, as high risk from November to June and low risk from July to October, and treats the Zambezi valley as a risk in every month. Low risk is not no risk. The American CDC recommends prescription medicine to prevent malaria for travel anywhere in Zimbabwe.
We do not make medical recommendations. We are travel planners rather than doctors, so whether to take tablets, and which suit you, is for you and your own doctor or a travel clinic to decide, a few weeks before you leave. The beds in the suites are hung with mosquito nets.
Yes, and the layout was planned with families in mind. Of the eighteen suites, two groups of four are set out so that neighbouring suites connect through their verandas, which lets a family spread across two or more suites while staying side by side. Eight of the suites can be made up with twin beds instead of a king.
For a family of up to six who want a place of their own, the Mutota Forest Villa sits in a private corner of the estate with its own garden and plunge pool, a king bedroom, a twin room with its own entrance and a sofa bed in the second lounge, plus a butler on hand around the clock. Tell us the children's ages and we will set the stay up around them.
The Falls themselves come first, on a guided tour from the Zimbabwe or the Zambian side, and then the river and the park next door. Zambezi National Park begins a short distance from the hotel gate, with game drives in open vehicles early in the morning or mid-afternoon, and the sunset cruise on the upper Zambezi is often busy with hippo, crocodile and elephant along the banks.
Beyond those, the choice runs from a helicopter flight over the Falls and white water rafting in the gorges below them to a day trip across the border to the Chobe. Tell us which of these appeal and we will build them into your days.
June to September. The spray has dropped enough to see the curtain of water clearly, the bush is thinning, and game gathers along the Zambezi in the park next to the hotel. Days are mild and the mornings cold in June and July, while September brings low water, full activity and real heat.
The other months have their own case. March to May is the Falls at full flood, thunderous and soaked in spray, best seen from a helicopter. October and November are very hot but strong for game and rafting. From December to February the rains turn everything green, the birding is at its best and there are far fewer visitors.
Yes, and kosher is unusually well provided for. The kitchen has its own kosher section with separate sinks, stove, oven and fridges, the head chef's team is trained in kosher handling and service, parev dishes are offered, and a mashgiach can be brought in on request.
For everyone else the menus are written around the guest, with regional dishes and produce from the hotel's own garden, served on the terrace, in the bar courtyard or on your own veranda. Tell us any dietary needs when you book and we will make sure the kitchen is ready for you.
rated five stars by our clients
our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
