Victoria Falls River Lodge
- Mana Pools, ZimbabweVictoria Falls River Lodge lies on the banks of the Zambezi river, close to the magnificent Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
touch the soul of africa
Mpala Jena is a boutique safari camp positioned along the beautiful tree-laden banks of the Zambezi River. The camp epitomizes ‘barefoot luxury’ with playfully scalloped thatched roofs, soft sand floors and a beach bar overlooking the pool and river. A cool, calming colour palette compliments light natural textures and sets the scene for slow, in-the-moment living. Our tented guest suites, nestled in the shade of large Sausage and Jackalberry trees are generously appointed with a private deck and outdoor bath and shower.
The camp is located within the 56,000-hectare Zambezi National Park, home to an ever-increasing number of wildlife species that can be enjoyed on game drives, boat cruises, walking trails or even while sipping cocktails from the swing chairs in camp. Higher concentrations of buffalo and elephant are typical from June to October and the park is known for having more lions per km² than any other park in Zimbabwe. Birding is spectacular all year round with the highest diversity of species seen from November through to October. Catch and release fishing is a popular activity and peaks during Tiger fishing season between June and December.
Mpala Jena was created with a strong sustainability ethos and runs entirely off our solar plant and battery. Building materials and design elements were specified and sourced with a clear vision of minimizing embodied energy and transportation miles.
The camp is conveniently located 16 kilometres inside the Zambezi National Park, allowing easy access to Victoria Falls town by a 40-minute boat or road transfer. Mpala Jena also run guided tours of the Victoria Falls.
Open vehicle game-drives in Zambezi National Park. The camp has custom built Land cruisers specially designed for photography. With just four to six guests each, the vehicles are fully stocked with reference books, drinks and snacks.
Mpala Jena Camp has it's own 8-seater aluminum hulled motor boat perfect for sun-downer cruises.
During a two night stay, guests have the opportunity to enjoy a half-day guided excursion to the thunderous and impressive mass of falling water of the Victoria Falls.
Great Plains is first and foremost a conservation organization that uses eco tourism as a tool to sustain conservation programs. We even coined a new name for what we do – “Conservation Tourism”. We define it as the use of quality led tourism experiences that are environmentally sound, with the benefits going specifically into making the conservation of an area viable and sustainable.
It is important to us that this is done without any negative influence on the land, on any species that uses that land, or, indeed, on any individual animal. We do not do conservation by triage, killing some to save the rest, because this is a defeatist and disrespectful way of interacting with nature.
Our model takes stressed and threatened environments, surrounds them with compassionate protection and intelligent, sustainable management, and funds them with sensitive, low-volume, low-impact, tourism. Communities are an intrinsic part of this model and benefit directly from it. The final piece of the puzzle is you – our clients and guests – who pay to visit the camps we create, and through doing so, become our valued partners and agents of positive change.
Our philosophy is grounded in the fundamental appreciation of the good in life… Good people, good staff, good decisions, good things we share and enjoy, but most of all we try to extend that “goodness” to our interactions with you, with wildlife, with nature and with the local communities which so depend on them
