A Great Safari Lodge Stay In Zambia

The Thorntree River Lodge Was Perfect For Our Safari Lodge Stay In Zambia

We sure enjoyed our safari lodge stay in Zambia on our great African adventure.  The Thorntree River Lodge was located in the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park on the banks of the Zambezi River.  With only 12 rooms, we had a quiet and extremely relaxing stay with lovely views all day and night.  

It would have been great to just enjoy the resort.  But we sure did not want to miss the chance for more wildlife adventures in Zambia.  We had fascinating close encounters with wildlife on the resort.  Our daily game drives added many more exciting experiences.  And cruises on the Zambezi River always brought animal sightings.

One day we chose to explore Victoria Falls from the land and by air.  Victoria Falls was one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site too.

Every part of our stay at the Thorntree River Lodge was a treat.

A Relaxing Safari Lodge On The Water

We crossed the border from Zimbabwe to Zambia after our Rovos Rail train trip from Pretoria to Victoria Falls.  At the border crossing, we met the private dedicated guide for our stay.  Nevi picked us up and we drove for about 45 minutes to reach the Thorntree River Lodge.  Along the way Nevi pointed out sights and began our education.  And made sure we did not miss the giraffe that he spied on the long driveway into the resort.  What a greeting!

When we arrived at the resort, singing staff and cool towels with a drink greeted us.  Standing beside the murmuring waters cascading down the wall brought us instant peace.  And this feeling stayed throughout our stay.

We moved into the lobby area and looked around the public spaces.  The lobby area provided lots of places to sit.  Outside the tables were all placed with a view of the Zambezi River.  We saw a pool with loungers.  And a large fire pit for evening gatherings.  At night this scene became quite magical.

We had wonderful weather during our stay and we got amazing views over the river.  On our early mornings, the sunrise views were outstanding.  And with no light pollution, we had crystal clear night skies.

Our stunning home for 3 days at Thorntree River Lodge provided a perfect safari lodge stay in Zambia.

A Luxurious Suite On Our Safari Lodge Stay In Zambia

The resort had 12 individual buildings for guests.  When we arrived at our suite, we marvelled at the big open space we got.  The large King bed even had a mosquito net.  Although we had no issues with bugs on our visit.  A large sitting area provided a spot for relaxing indoors.  

In the bathroom we found a huge soaking bathtub.  This was a welcoming spot after hours spent bouncing on a safari jeep.  We found both an indoor and outdoor shower too.

The outdoor patio for our suite was massive with lots of areas to relax.  We looked out on the Zambezi River.  And we learned that the path along the river often brought us wandering animals.  Our first warning about wildlife on-site.  We were quite sure that some animal would visit our small personal pool on our stay.  But we did not see that.

Each room had a fully equipped bar that was filled to your request and re-stocked when needed.  With wine, beer and alcohol available on our package throughout the resort, we never even opened the mini-fridge for anything but cold water!

Our suite at the Thorntree River Lodge offered a luxurious retreat on our safari lodge stay in Zambia.

Cruise On The Zambezi River

On the day we arrived at the Thorntree River Lodge we booked a sunset cruise.  Nevi picked us up on the dock with the pontoon boat and we headed off along the Zambezi River.  The moon was full on our stay and it was great to see it rise over the water.

From the shore we heard hippos calling so we knew they were close by.  When Nevi pointed at what looked like rocks, we were dubious.  But as we got closer we finally saw the hippo heads at the water level.  When we returned at sunset, we caught the hippo yawning off in the distance

When we saw what looked like a tree branch in the water, Nevi was again right when it turned out to be a large crocodile.  As we cruised along shore we then saw what looked like a baby crocodile.  Only to learn it was in fact probably 5 years old and still not close to its final size.  We were happy we had no plans to swim in the crocodile-infested waters after we saw the sharp teeth.

Travelling downstream on the river, we rocked our way through different sets of rapids.  We considered kayaking as an excursion on this stay, but the fast moving waters caused us to change our minds.

Our First Sunset View In Zambia

As we cruised, we saw elephants moving on the far shore.  When we got close, we found the elephants bathed in a golden glow as the sun sunk in the sky.

Nevi found a quiet spot and we settled in to watch the sun set.  We enjoyed the great African tradition we first experienced on our Rovos Rail train trip from Pretoria to Victoria Falls. Nevi set out drinks and snacks while we enjoyed the orange glow in the sky.

Our sunset river cruise was the perfect way to start a safari lodge stay in Zambia.

Warnings About Wildlife On Our Safari Resort

When we got our initial briefing, we were cautioned about the animals on-site.  Signs warned about hippos and crocodiles.  We could not wander outside our room at night.  When we were ready for dinner, we used the flashlight at our front door to signal to security.  They checked the paths for any wildlife and escorted us from our suite and then back.  

We heard hippos out in the Zambezi River at all times of day.  While we saw both hippos and crocodiles on our wildlife adventures in Zambia, we never found them on the resort.  But we did find other wildlife very close by.

We were not really surprised when we saw baboons all around the resort.  They often wandered along the path by the river and climbed in the trees.  

One day a large group of smaller monkeys swarmed the trees by our front door.  They did not seem ready to give way at all.  Our room came equipped with a radio, flashlight and an air horn.  We knew what to do with the radio and flashlight but were given no direction for the air horn.  So we figured it might be loud enough to move the group of monkeys.

The air horn definitely moved the monkeys.  But it also drew staff to our suite from all over the resort.  We learned that the air horn was only to be used in the case of a major emergency.  Just one of the things we learned on our safari lodge stay in Zambia.

A Great Wildlife Surprise On The Resort

When we arrived at the resort, we were delighted when we saw a giraffe from the driveway.  It was the first sign that this truly would be a different kind of stay.  And then we got our first view of elephants real close-up right on the resort.

David was exploring the resort on the first day and stopped in the library.  This was a quiet spot to relax.  But when he saw an elephant right at the window glass it was a bit more exciting.  The elephant appeared frustrated that he could not smell David and assess the risk.  Eventually the elephant group moved on and wandered around the resort.

At that point I was alerted and headed towards the library.  Staff kept the guests back from the road.  But from the resort entrance I was intrigued when I saw the elephants walk right across the driveway.  They munched on the tree leaves and were in no hurry to leave.

Seeing elephants right on our resort was such an amazing way to start our safari lodge stay in Zambia.

Great Animal Sightings On Our Game Drives

Our great African adventure was planned to maximize our wild animal encounters.  We got some initial wildlife sighting on our Rovos Rail train trip from Pretoria to Victoria Falls.  But we looked forward to early morning and late day game drives on our stay in Zambia.

The African Big Five were top of our list for animal sightings – elephants, rhinos, buffalo, lions and leopards.  On this safari stay, we got close encounters with both elephants and rhinos.  On our next game drives at the Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge we saw all five in South Africa.

As we drove through the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park finding giraffes and zebra always delighted us.  They strolled across the road and stood close while they ate.  Different antelope species raced away when we approached.  While baboons hid and watched us pass.  

We had such great animal sightings on game drives on our safari lodge stay in Zambia. 

We Finished Our Stay On The Zambezi River For Sunrise

With a 6am start, our first cruise at sunrise on the Zambezi River was an amazing experience.  We were so happy when we headed back out on the water on our last morning.  The sunrise view we got as the boat pulled up captivated us. Off in the distance we just made out the hippo heads. 

Nevi settled us into a quiet part of the river and we watched the sun come up over the trees.  We had a morning snack with well-needed coffee with our view. And when we looked in the other direction, we caught the setting of the full moon.  We enjoyed the perfect spot very early in the day.

Once the sun was up, we headed out and explored how different the morning views were.  We saw lots of different kinds of birds as we cruised close to shore.  Many were out hunting the early day insects.  We found a different group of hippos downstream.  They just floated along as we slowly went past.

Early in the day the Zambezi River was calm and crystal clear.  We got such beautiful reflections in the water.  It was magical to feel a bit suspended in time.

Too soon, we headed back.  As we approached, we got our last view of the resort from the water.  Such a perfect way to finish our safari lodge stay in Zambia. 

Taking A Day To Explore Victoria Falls

When we arrived by train in Victoria Falls, we saw the waterfall mist off on the horizon.  As we crossed over the Victoria Falls Bridge from Zimbabwe to Zambia, we caught a much closer view.  We were certainly glad we planned some time to explore Victoria Falls from different perspectives.

We started our visit to Victoria Falls on the Zambia side.  A rainbow greeted us when we arrived.  When we wandered upstream we saw the rushing waters before they dropped off the cliffs.

We wandered along the path with a great view of Victoria Falls.  After we crossed the Knife Edge Bridge our, we got our final views from this side along the path to Danger Point.

But our great views of Victoria Falls were not over.  We then took an amazing helicopter tour over the falls.  From that vantage point we got stunning vistas from both the Zimbabwe and Zambia sides.

We got one final view of Victoria Falls when we left Zambia and flew to our stay at the Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge.  It was so great to see Victoria Falls from so many different perspectives on our safari lodge stay in Zambia. 

Great Food And Drink

No great luxury stay was complete without great food and drink.  On our stay at Thorntree River Lodge, the culinary team excelled at making sure we left every meal happy.  

When we headed out early for adventures, we left before breakfast was served.  But Nevi always made sure we had a small snack and coffee at sunrise. After our early morning activity, a huge breakfast was served.  When we saw the massive continental starter plate, we thought we would not make it through the selection.  But then we had a good choice of hot dishes with a special item every day.  Some days we made more healthy choices than others.

We had our lunch on the patio with a view.  Every day there was a different menu with vegetarian options.  We often had no trouble finding desserts to finish our lunch.

Afternoon Tea was also on the patio every day.  We checked out the sweet and savoury selections.  But we were generally still full from lunch and only once snacked on some fresh fruit.

When we returned from our afternoon game drives, dinner was served.  We saw the dinner menus early in the day and provided our selections so the chef was prepared at dinner time.  It was great to have the menus printed on our daily activity guides delivered to our room so we could think about dinner in advance.  Lunch and dinners included wine or cocktails of your choice.

Sunset was early so every night we ate under the stars.  The well-spaced tables set with candles were set around the patio.  And one night we got a special treat and ate on the lower floating dock.  The dinners were always romantic and quiet.

Every day we ate and drank well.  The lovely setting was a perfect way to enjoy the meals on our safari lodge stay in Zambia. 

A Relaxing And Exciting Safari Lodge Stay In Zambia

Our safari lodge stay in Zambia was both relaxing and exciting.  The Thorntree River Lodge and our lovely suite were luxurious and we got views that could not be beat.  The customer service was excellent from the moment we arrived.  And continued until our personal guide Nevi dropped us at the airport for the next stay on our great African adventure. 

We filled our days with amazing animal adventures in Zambia.  And one day we even explored Victoria Falls.  We only had two full days so it was hard to pick our day excursions.  The resort offered many other activities but we just ran out of time to try them all.  And we even took some time off to just enjoy our pampering surroundings. 

We were certainly spoiled on our stay at Thorntree River Lodge.  It sure set a high bar before we flew to our next stay at the Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge.

Have you done a safari lodge stay in Zambia?  Did enjoy a great stay at the Thorntree River Lodge?

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