The world is obsessed with Victoria Falls. Why aren’t we?

On the second day of our visit to the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, I strike up a chat with a South African couple filling their water bottles before heading out into the searing, heavy heat beyond the thatched reception.

She’s a lawyer, he’s a surgeon, and they’re on a romantic weekend escape from Maritzburg. Like the swarms of foreign tourists we encounter later, they’ve come to see the mighty Falls, head down the Zambezi River and, most importantly, escape their harried KZN existences.

They’re the only other South Africans we meet during our trip.

Marching along the paths at the falls, we hear enthusiastic Russian, while a strangely aggressive Swede ambushes us demanding directions down to the gorge below (spoiler: you can’t, crazy man). On our slow putter down the Zambezi, we’re flanked by the French. At the airport I sit next to a gaggle of foreigners, plastic bags overflowing with freshly acquired tourist tat. There’s no water in the roasting terminal that morning, but they look positively thrilled with life.

Closer than Cape Town, wilder than you remember

Watching them – and the hordes of other visitors queuing for international flights from Zimbabwe’s tourism capital — it strikes me that we Saffas just don’t make the most of this astounding, one-of-a-kind gem.

It’s one hour and 50 minutes from Joburg, and for roughly the same flight time as Cape Town, the madly gracious town delivers a natural wonder of the world, the best river in the business (I say this as a lifelong devotee of a Zambezi booze cruise), excellent little shops and restaurants, wildlife and nightlife.

Sure, Vic Falls is a perennial tourist favourite, but it’s undeniable that the worst years of our neighbour’s economic struggle did it no favours. Those days of fuel queues and desperation left an indelible stain on people’s memories. In the decades since, though, the Matabeleland North town has bounced back, big time. It’s not just anecdotal either: Zimbabwe has been popping up on several major international travel publications’ “Where to go next” lists for 2026, a signal that the rest of the world has noticed what’s changed.

A town that’s cooking

New developments, including the Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium (due for completion ahead of next year’s ICC World Cup, co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia) and its own stock exchange, speak to where the town is at – and where it’s headed.

Yes, this is a US-dollar joint, and that does have a bearing on South African pockets. But combined with excellent flight fares and options like fastjet, which we flew and rate highly, plus affordable SADC resident entry into the falls themselves, you’re not straying into crazy cost territory.

The safari grande dame

The same goes for the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. A quick Booking.com search shows that around R24,000 will get a couple three nights there in March, including a fantastic breakfast and a room overlooking the waterhole, complete with a daily parade of mammals and birds.

That price, decent as it seems, does the hotel itself no justice.

The OG of this kind of accommodation in the area, it is exactly the sort of safari lodge overseas guests are mesmerised by. Emerging from spectacular copses of trees (do not @ me but Zimbabwe has the most beautiful flora in the world – trees especially), this multi-volume, thatched gem is the very manifestation of African welcome.

For over 30 years, staff have rushed to greet you as you alight from your vehicle, checked in on you as you collapse into a shady corner with a rock shandy, and worried sincerely about whether you’re happy with your room.

Old-school hospitality, with purpose

It speaks volumes that members of the management team like Anald Musonza, Nommy Vuma and even young marketing coordinator Lookout Ndlovu, have long relationships with the business, returning after years elsewhere in the industry.

There’s an undeniable sense of family and community here, extending to collaborations with the town’s anti-poaching unit and the lodge’s own Vulture Culture programme. Led by the redoubtable Moses Garira, it has guests utterly enthralled by the conservation work being done to protect these important birds of prey.

That sense of purpose goes hand in hand with proper, old-school hospitality. At night, you’re serenaded by a local group of crooners who work the tables with charm; at breakfast there’s a DIY Bloody Mary station, complete with every conceivable fixing.

The mothership and the swanky sister

The main lodge – the mothership – is the flagship of the Victoria Falls Safari Collection and the hub of the operation, from which radiate blocks of rooms, a gym, conference venue, a fantastic new Africology spa, their famous boma and the undeniably glamorous Victoria Falls Safari Club.

The latter is the swanky younger sister: a small VIP club that takes the offering up a notch with butler-style concierge service, a dedicated restaurant, plush suites, a two-tier swimming pool, sun deck and bar, plus a viewing lounge and deck. It is very much my speed (not that the main lodge isn’t).

When the falls steal the show

On a trip late last year, I spent an hour on my veranda, feet up, watching a large herd of antelope amble in from stage left to inspect the waterhole below. The smugness set in. Heavy rains had fallen shortly before our arrival and the bushveld beneath us had exploded into an electric patchwork of greens.

It was a scene that would be hard to beat anywhere else, but shortly after, we slathered on sunscreen and headed to the falls themselves, and well, that’s fearsome competition.

I last visited the mighty waterfall as a sulky teenager and can report that then, as now, it is electric, compelling and spectacular. A visit is bucket-list stuff regardless of the time of year, though the drier season does offer a clearer, less spray-soaked view – my personal preference.

A softer way to meet the Zambezi

For gentler, but no less compelling Zambezi pursuits, a sunset cruise with Pure Africa did the trick. Gone are the days of tiny motorised pontoons chugging downriver. The luxury deck of the company’s shiny Zambezi Explorer has you lounging on couches, sipping fancy gin and tonics, admiring palm-lined banks and occasionally springing up as hippos surface nearby.

It is, in a word, perfection.

And perhaps that’s the mild irony of Victoria Falls: while the rest of the world makes pilgrimages to it, many South Africans still treat it as a once-off school-holiday memory, filed away under “Seen”. Which feels like a mistake. Some wonders aren’t meant to be ticked off, they’re meant to be returned to, rediscovered and appreciated with a little more time, perspective and a well-made G&T in hand. Especially when you’re practically next door.

For more African relaxation and safari magic, read our piece on the Eastern Cape’s Samara Karoo Reserve here.

Currency’s travel content is produced in collaboration with Discovery.

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