Zimbabwe: Victoria Falls Hotel
There is no better place to experience the Victoria Falls in over-the-top safari style then the Victoria Falls Hotel (and this is not a paid advertisement). The historic hotel is located inside the national park and has its own path to the falls (similar to the exclusive Cataratas Hotel in Brazil’s Iguazu Falls). Only by staying in the hotel can you see misty sunrise/sunset spectacles of the falls. The hotel is one of the oldest in Africa, built in 1904 as accommodation for the trans-African railway construction workers building the bridge over Zambezi. With time, it became legendary on par with other famous luxury hotels (like Cairo or Luxor), showcasing one of the wonders of the world to travelers wanting to see it in ultra lux style. Rooms full of antique furniture and fixtures, hallways decked with hundreds stuffed antelope heads, exclusive dining venues and options (one requires a suit to enter which I clearly didn’t have), afternoon teas that even Queen of England would be envious of, and an awesome gin collection at the bar – it’s all here. The walls have tons of interesting historic materials, dry botanical artifacts, maps – it’s like a museum! And outside – arguably an even more impressive side of the hotel – its lawn with the falls in all their glory throughout the day – with red sky at sunrise, the height of the day with warthogs roaming around, or the soft glow of the sunset.
