A few years ago I took up running, although I am by no stretch of the imagination a fantastic runner, I thoroughly enjoy the freedom of being outdoors. Living in Africa, we are very blessed with great weather for this sport/hobby. The two most popular marathon events held in Zimbabwe are the Kariba Half Marathon in August and even more popular is the Victoria Falls Marathon in June/July. This year I was hoping to run in the Vic Falls one, but sadly, due to a knee injury, I was unable to participate. Since we had already booked the time off and planned to visit the Falls themselves, we went along anyway, to support our friends who were running, and also to do a little work.
Our first site visit for work, was the brand-new Old Drift Lodge (no pun intended), which is located INSIDE the Victoria Falls National Park! Transfers to the lodge are actually done via boat (for the more adventurous – you can access the lodge via road through the park – but it is a little bumpy.) In my opinion this is probably the most scenically located tented lodge in Vic Falls – right on the banks of the Zambezi River. No better location to do an interview than on a deck overlooking the river!
Next up was Nguni Lodge, another newly opened accommodation option. This lodge is located in the residential area of Victoria Falls town and within walking distance of the Falls. It has gorgeous rooms looking out over either the pool area or the garden, it is the perfect place to chill and unwind. In particular we enjoyed the stunning backlit baobab feature in the lounge / bar area.
The last sight visit of this trip was to Flatdog Lodge, which is also located in the residential area, and within walking distance to the Falls. What struck me most about this lodge was the fun vibe. It has very bright and modern décor, with a pool located conveniently near the bar and dining area. A great lodge for a group of youngsters and backpackers I think.
Our trip was not all work and no play. After VERY PROUDLY cheering on my social Kariba Running Group (who ALL completed their various half or full marathons I might add!), we celebrated with a pre-booked lunch out at the Wild Horizons Lookout Café. As always, the food was very tasty and the service great. It was funny to look around at the other diners, as you could most definitely tell who had run the marathons and who had not due to the very stiff walking and not very co-ordinated movements!
On our free day before driving home, we decided to grab a couple of friends and do a bit of a Vic Falls walk-about. We started with sampling the beer and gin platters at The River Brewing Company. Jake, the brew-master himself, came to give us a brief rundown of all the drinks on the platters. They were all delicious, we each had our favourite. We followed this with lunch at Zambezi House which I had heard was the new “hot spot” and it sure was. Luckily, we had arrived for a late lunch, as otherwise we would not have found a free table. Our lovely waitress ensured our meal arrived promptly, and we had to compliment the chefs on their cooking. Not a scrap of food was left on any of the plates, which is always very telling.
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