Sussi & Chuma Lodge, an A&K Sanctuary

Sussi & Chuma Lodge stands on a bend of the Zambezi River inside Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, twelve kilometres upstream from Victoria Falls. Twelve suites are built into the canopy of ebony trees along the bank, connected to each other and to the main lodge by wooden walkways. Each suite has a private viewing deck over the river, air conditioning, a bathtub, a mini-bar, a ceiling fan, and mosquito nets. The lodge also has a pool, a spa, a bar, and a restaurant.

The national park holds elephant, giraffe, buffalo, and impala, reached on game drives in four-wheel-drive vehicles or on foot with two resident professional walking guides. The Mosi-oa-Tunya park is also one of the few places in Zambia where you can track white rhino on foot.

On the river, the lodge runs sundowner cruises that pass through a series of grade-two rapids before beaching for sunset cocktails. Catch-and-release fishing on the Zambezi is available during the open season, which runs from March through November under Zambian Wildlife Authority rules. Helicopter flights over the Falls run for fifteen or thirty minutes and can spot elephant, hippo, crocodile, and giraffe from the air.

A walking tour of Victoria Falls — known locally as Mosi-oa-Tunya, the smoke that thunders — is a short drive from the lodge, with the Zimbabwean side of the Falls accessible in roughly thirty minutes depending on border crossing times. The lodge provides complimentary airport transfers and a complimentary laundry service.