Tongabezi | Luxury On The Zambezi River - Part II

"The only man I envy is the man who has not yet been to Africa- for he has so much to look forward to" - Richard Mullin

The second installment on my stay at Tongabezi, on the river banks of the Zambezi. A subtropical idyll with thatched roofed exclusive lodges all but one with views of the Zambezi and little cheeky monkeys cavorting the surroundings. That's in addition to the Hippos that lazily float before you. People and animals respect each other’s distance here. With a big tub run for you to take a dip under the star lit African sky and champagne waiting on the side. Please take me back to Tongabezi this instant! How about I stop drooling over the thought of going back and tell you what’s on offer when you visit. Once you settle in you also get a chance to sit down with the activities coordinator to run through activities you would like to part take in. All included in the price of the  stay. While my boyfriend opted for the guided bike ride within the national park in the hope of also spotting some animals, I visited the local school funded by Tongabezi. We also choose to do a morning game drive and the Devils pool, which sits on the edge of the Victoria Falls (not for the faint-heart and not included in the price). Also available is candlelight dinner on the Zambezi and many more but sadly we didn’t have time to do them all.

As someone who is always online and connected to this big 'ol globe, it was a good thing that the lodges don’t have Wi-Fi because it allowed me to immerse myself in the beautiful surrounding and just switch off from the world. Though, internet and Wi-Fi is available in the public areas like the dinning area, lounging deck and the lookout point. As soon as I got onto the lookout point suddenly being connected to the internet or the world wasn’t so important. The quiet and calm of the river before me, bird life gracefully perched on the trees around the river and the wild life that comes to entertain you while you lounge on the waterfront with a cold drink that arrives to cool you down like clock work in the glorious Zambian summer...Now this is the Africa that they don’t tell you about on TV. What I would give to swap my current London weather for a few moment back on...

"It is easy to romanticize poverty, to see poor people as inherently lacking agency and will. It is easy to strip them of human dignity, to reduce them to objects of pity. This has never been clearer than in the view of Africa from the American media, in which we are shown poverty and conflicts without any context." - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichieedia.

People will get so warped by what they see in the media that they fail to find out the truth for themselves and when they fail to do that, they miss out on all this beauty altogether. Ever heard of the quote by Richard Mullin? "The only man I envy is the man who has not yet been to Africa- for he has so much to look forward to". Well this guy knew what he was talking about! On one hand I don't want to tell people about a lot of places they dismiss in Africa, because they make the fatal mistake of thinking that Africa is ridden with hungry, diseased little children and full of AIDS as they like to think. Their lack of effort in seeking out knowledge for themselves about this vast and beautiful continent, is perhaps a good thing. That way we can maintain this unspoiled beauty for a lot longer. As a loyal reader of my blog I get to let you in on a little secret, that's if your little curious paws haven't already brought you to this side of the globe. If you haven't already discovered the beauty that lies on the Zambezi, then allow me to show you a glimpse in the this and the next few posts. In my effort to just switch off while lounging and watching hippos dip in and out of the water, I managed to pluck up the energy for a few clicks on the Nikon to bring you back some shots of my private luxury garden house at Tongabezi. Below are some of the details about available activities and what I am sure you too will love about this little paradise found on the Zambezi...

Activities Available

    

• Island Lunch
• Sunrise and sunset boating
• Visit to nearby museums and markets
• Game Drives
• Visiting Victoria Falls
• Canoeing on the Zambezi
• Floating candlelit dinner
• A few more that were not listed on there website.

You will love...

There are few more activities that you can take up that are not included in the price, but can be paid for in addition to your stay. Such as flying over Victoria Falls or diving into the Devils Pool with a 100 meter drop on the other side. Yep we certainly did, hastag YOLO! Look out for my post on the Devil's Pool soon. We stayed for 3 day, 2 nights but I in hindsight, I think 3-4 days is a good minimum to start with, but trust me you will want to stay for longer as you will love:

• Views of the river  stretching from your very own private lodge.
• A choice of morning and afternoon game drives to get closer to nature.
• The lookout point with views of the unspoiled stretch of the River Zambezi(bring binoculars as the hippos love to play hide and seek in the water).
• Tongabezi Lodge, boasts an extraordinary location alongside the Zambezi, which is teeming with hippos and crocodiles. The expansive deck area for dinning and lounging offer the perfect spot to spot the wildlife on the river.
• Watch the shades of grey-blue-purple skies melt into molten orange as the sunset hosts a show, while enjoying the roaring fire that gets going every evening under the African sky.
• I could go on…but you will just have to go visit out for yourself…

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