Matetsi Victoria Falls

Family-owned and independently run, our beautifully designed luxury safari lodge, sits on the banks of the Zambezi river, within its own 136,000-acre pristine wilderness, Matetsi Private Game Reserve.

After five years of operating, we are grateful to have had enough feet through our doors (particularly as almost two of the five have been during a pandemic) to warrant us giving our beautiful lodge some well-deserved TLC. We are committed to keeping up the excellence that we strive for in all that we do and the promise to deliver this by way of an exceptional guest experience to our valued guests.

We are delighted to share the news of the establishment of an in-house anti-poaching unit on Matetsi Private Game Reserve. The latest step in our conservation journey, which we recently documented in this short video.

Matetsi Victoria Falls introduces The Chef’s Table, an immersive, gastronomic experience specially curated by Executive Chef Shane Ellis.

At Matetsi Victoria Falls we have taken the extra time available to us over the past year to focus on the positive and continued upliftment of our brand through upgrading our digital presence.

The river and the Falls are in full flow after a very robust rainy season and the sun is shining. We have so much to be grateful for in our region with the amazing foresight of the Zimbabwean Government to roll out the vaccination program in Victoria Falls in earnest, and prepare the city for the recovery of tourism to our beautiful part of the world.

Matetsi Victoria Falls understands the value and importance of family. Being a family owned and operated lodge, we warmly welcome children of all ages. Matetsi Victoria Falls is perfectly positioned for multi-generational family travel with our amazing exclusive use private villa offering - River House as well as our Luxury two bedroomed family suites.

Matetsi Victoria Falls located on the vast 55 000 hectare wilderness that is Matetsi Private Game Reserve is the realisation of the Gardiner family’s dream to showcase everything exceptional about their beautiful home country, Zimbabwe.

We are delighted to share with you our Conservation & Community page on our website, which now features a video that we recently released, in which co-founder, Sara Gardiner, tells the story of our conservation journey here at Matetsi Private Game Reserve.

We are delighted to announce that due to high demand, the doors of our exclusive use 4-bedroom private villa – Matetsi River House – are open! And the villa is now available for this Festive Season.

Matetsi Private Game Reserve is teeming with life and we are so happy to bring you the latest in our series of Wonderful Wildlife Sightings.Starting with June where we were in the heart of the dry Winter season. This is one of the best seasons for game viewing, with crisp mornings under cloudless blue skies, when both humans and wildlife come out to warm themselves under the beautiful winter sun. Apart from wildlife, the bush really shows off at this time of year with the most remarkable colour…

With Zimbabwe’s borders now open for international flights, Matetsi Victoria Falls has unveiled its very own private airstrip, to complement its existing private heli-pad, with a new buyout concept that will allow guests to safari in their own bubbles. Matetsi Victoria Falls is the only lodge in the region with a purpose-built licenced heli-pad and a private airstrip.

Zimbabwe is open for international flights! And we welcomed our first international guests to Matetsi Victoria Falls this week – all the way from the USA. They arrived on 06 October, with Ethiopian Airlines via Addis Ababa. This was the first international flight into Victoria Falls in over six months! Several other airlines are also operating international flights into Zimbabwe once again, including Emirates, Kenyan Airways, FastJet and SA Airlink into Harare. FastJet is also operating a reliable domestic route between Harare and Victoria Falls.

Our team on the ground in Victoria Falls continue to take care of the vast 136 000 acre, Matetsi Private Game Reserve, always ensuring a positive human presence as custodians of the wildlife that roam this land. It is due to these efforts that we can continue to bring you our monthly wildlife sightings

At Matetsi Victoria Falls we are so fortunate to welcome travelers from all corners of the globe and we appreciate the support of the ATTA® community in sending us your esteemed clients for them to experience the magic of Matetsi and our special corner on the African continent.

This amazing Story of Hope beautifully written by Matetsi’s very own Sara Gardiner is a very special account of the resilience of nature. A true life Lion King story that makes a very beautiful bed time story for the little ones and a general feel good one for the rest.

On 09 May 2020, several teams will head out to traverse the vast wilderness that is Matetsi Private Game Reserve for the Global Big Day of Birding and record their bird sightings on the free eBird Mobile app.

In times of crisis, even more support is required for community and conservation work. Vulnerable individuals face greater hardship due to loss of income and less support from the wider community. Whole communities face famine and some individuals may turn to poaching as a means of survival.

We are delighted to announce that Jono Hudson has been appointed as General Manager of Matetsi Victoria Falls, effective from 1st December 2019. Jono will be taking over from Franco Rienzo, who has been General Manager for the past 2.5 years. Franco is returning to his native Italy and has been a valued member of the Matetsi Victoria Falls family. The Gardiner family and wider Matetsi team thank Franco for his dedication and valuable contributions over the past years and wish him all the best for the future.

Matetsi Private Game Reserve, a 136,000-acre pristine wilderness that consists of a variety of different ecosystems and has 9 miles of Zambezi River frontage, provides habitats for a huge variety of flora and fauna.

Matetsi Victoria Falls has been accepted into Virtuoso®’s exclusive portfolio of luxury travel partners. One of only three properties representing Zimbabwe that have been invited to join this global travel network, this is a tribute to the incredible team that make Matetsi Magic.  Located on the banks of the spectacular Zambezi River within its own 55,000-hectare private wildlife conservation area, Matetsi Victoria Falls is one of Africa’s most stylish luxury lodges.

Although Matetsi Victoria Falls is physically unaffected by the effects of Cyclone Idai, it breaks our hearts to think of the loss of life and the destruction in the eastern region of Zimbabwe, and the areas of Mozambique and Malawi that have been hit by the cyclone. Our Matetsi Victoria Falls family comes from all over Zimbabwe, and families and friends of our wonderful team have been impacted by the effects of this devastating natural disaster.

Matetsi Victoria Falls will feature in the Kamageo UK Safari Roadshow 2019 that covers Manchester (26 Feb), Cirecester (27 Feb), and London (28 Feb & 01 Mar). The property will be represented by Sammy Kelly of Perowne International, who represents Matetsi Victoria Falls in the UK. Sammy has a passion for Africa, and holds a special place in her heart for Matetsi Victoria Falls. If you’d like to meet Sammy while she’s in your area, please contact her directly: [email protected]

Matetsi Victoria Falls will feature in the Africa Showcase: Nordics 2019 that covers Stockholm (26 Feb), Oslo (27 Feb) and Copenhagen (28 Feb). Sara Gardiner, who represents the property on behalf of the family-owners, will be attending. Sara is passionate about Matetsi Victoria Falls, and is excited to share her insights into what makes Matetsi Magic. If you’d like to meet Sara while she’s in your area, please write to her directly: [email protected]