To mark World Rhino Day, Anantara Stanley & Livingstone Hotel welcomed its first white rhinos to the Victoria Falls Private Game Reserve in Zimbabwe, meaning the property now hosts both white and black rhinos — a combination the reserve says is unmatched anywhere else around Victoria Falls.
The translocation was carried out with the Zimbabwe Parks & Wildlife Management Authority and Lake Kyle Recreational Park, in line with the country's National Rhino Strategy. Reserve manager Picket Chabwedzeka called the arrival a milestone for Zimbabwean conservation, crediting the reserve's Intensive Protection Zone, in place since 2006, for creating conditions where rhinos can genuinely recover. It's a rare conservation win you can visit: an endangered-species population growing rather than shrinking.
For travellers, the news comes with a hands-on way to get involved. The hotel has launched a Rhino Guardian Game Drive, a three-to-four-hour private experience hosted by the reserve manager. You track rhinos inside the protection zone, then get a private briefing from the reserve's Anti-Poaching Unit — the rangers who guard the animals around the clock. The drive ends with a sundowner in the bush and a souvenir gift.
It costs US$600 per person for groups of two to six, including guide and private vehicle, and must be pre-booked. Notably, US$340 of each ticket goes straight back into the reserve: fence maintenance, snare removal, clearing of vleis (seasonal wetlands that serve as wildlife breeding grounds), plus scout operations, training and uniforms. So the experience funds the very work you're witnessing.
The setting makes it an easy add-on to a Zimbabwe trip. The reserve covers 4,500 hectares just minutes from Victoria Falls itself, and the Anantara — a 16-suite boutique property — pairs safari outings with a quieter, more intimate base than the big-lodge safari circuit. Expect to share the bush with giraffe and other game alongside the rhinos.
Who is this for? Travellers who want their safari dollars to do something measurable, and anyone combining the Falls with a low-effort wildlife experience — no long transfers into Hwange or beyond required. If you've always wanted to see both rhino species in one reserve, this is now one of the few places on earth where that's possible.
Booking enquiries go through the hotel directly, and availability is limited given the small group size.
Story via Breaking Travel News.
