Victoria Falls roars long before you see it. Locals call it Mosi-ao-Tunya — the smoke that thunders — and the spray from the 1,700-metre-wide cascades drenches visitors on the walkways half a mile out. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the seven natural wonders of the world, yet a recent visit suggests the best reason to come may lie just beyond the mist.
The town of Victoria Falls has grown up fast. Camp manager Savanah Du Preez, who grew up spotting buffalo on her walk to school, remembers it as a village; it's now a city with craft beer pubs, wood-fired pizza and chicken masala pies alongside the tour shops and souvenir stalls. Tourism has boomed — but the wildlife hasn't gone anywhere.
The town is ringed by Zambezi National Park, 56,000 hectares where elephants, leopards and antelope roam freely. Near the 1,200-year-old giant baobab known as the Big Tree, elephants with tusks like spears emerge from the bush, and leopards still cross the roads at night. Getting there can be half the spectacle: a boat transfer from Kalambezi jetty turned into an impromptu safari, with elephants swimming the Zambezi between Zambia and Zimbabwe — no passports required.
The newest reason to stay inside the park is Mpala Jena Private Villas, two three-bedroom villas opening in late 2025 on a private island a few minutes upstream from the Mpala Jena safari camp. The design borrows from Puglia — drystone walls, conical roofs, thatching — mixed with rattan and terracotta. Each suite has an outdoor bathing area and a verandah for wildlife-watching, and the villa comes with its own butler, bartender, chef and guide. Schedules are flexible to the point of nonexistent. Warthogs graze the lawn, vervet monkeys swing overhead and hippos grunt through the night. All-inclusive rates start at $6,370 for the villa.
From there, the falls are a 30-minute boat ride or a 90-minute game drive through the park. A sunset cruise brings hippos and white-fronted bee-eaters; trails can be muddy after the monsoon, but even the main road delivers elephant sightings.
Victoria Falls town also earns its reputation as southern Africa's adventure capital. From the gorge-edge Lookout Café you can watch zipliners on the canopy tour and daredevils on the gorge swing. Quieter options include a gin distillery tour, the Simunye Cultural Show, and browsing beads and block-printed textiles at Elephant's Walk artists' village. Serious safari-goers can add day trips to Hwange National Park for endangered wild dogs, or cross into Botswana for Chobe's enormous elephant herds.
Prefer a bed in town? The historic Victoria Falls Hotel has 149 rooms looking over the rocky gorge, with doubles from $760. But for the full experience — pool, river, hippos and all — the villa route is hard to beat.
With thanks to Condé Nast Traveler.
