Name: Thorntree River Lodge
Address: Livingstone, Zambia, Livingstone, Livingstone, Livingstone, 20100, Zambia
Rating: 10

24-hour reception

Elevator/lift

Smoking areas

Terrace

General

Breakfast

Restaurant

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Picnic area

Sun Deck

Recreation

Free parking

Parking

Pool facilities

Pool and beach

Conference Hall

Business

Fitness facilities

Sports

Beauty and wellness

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the cottage

Livingstone Airport

Victoria Falls Airport

Thorntree River Lodge

Livingstone

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

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limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

This was truly a 5+ star bucket list experience. We were treated with the utmost respect, generosity and kindness by every staff member. We appreciated the understated luxury, attention to detail, magnificent lodge decor, the on-the-Zambezi River setting, the phenomenal food, guides, trip to the epic Vic Falls and optional activities. Hard to find any areas of improvement! We were celebrating a 50th and 60th Bday but felt like a second honeymoon!

Bucket List Item exceeds expectations

After traveling through more than 50 countries and staying in dozens of hotels, this was certainly one of the nicest and the service the best I have ever experienced. 
Our house had a great view of the Zambezi, a beautiful terrace with pool and privacy was guaranteed at all times. 
The food was excellent, the location by and on the river romantic and the staff super attentive. 
Special thanks to Bridget, who brightened up the morning sunshine with her friendliness and smile.
All in all, our stay was unforgettable and I hope to be here again

Seven stars!

Arriving on the banks of the vast Zambezi River was so relaxing as we enjoyed our glamping "tent" cabin and the main lodge.  The staff is very attentive, and the choice of food is amazing.  The Wi-fi Lounge in the Library was a quiet haven and the store provided local craft items at very reasonable prices.  Hellen was a friendly and helpful manager at Thorntree Lodge.  
Zebras and a warthog enjoyed grazing on the nearby lawns.  You are never endangered by the animals who basically ignore you.  But when it is dark, an attendant with a flashlight walks you to and from your luxurious cabin that even has your own pool, indoor/outdoor shower, and mini bar.  Of course there is the requisite mosquito netting around the bed for sleeping comfortably each night.
Taking the sunset cruise on the Zambezi in a pontoon boat was just what we needed after a long day of travel.  The surprise was to stop and disembark at a nearby island for our "Sundowner" drinks and snacks.
Quentino was our friendly and very knowledgeable professional guide around the UNESCO Heritage site of Victoria Falls and the Livingstone City area. When I realized that I had lost my sunglasses in the local craft market, he went back and found them while we were out exploring the river on a speed boat trip to Livingstone Island and a close up viewing of the incredible falls with another guide.  Do not plan to go to see the Victoria Falls in April as that is the rainy season and they are thunderously overflowing that local site where you will get drenched. 
Quentino also got us privileged access to view the endangered white rhinos which are free-roaming but guarded 24/7 by armed guards as their protectors from poachers.  Yes, I would recommend this African Bush Camp experience at Thorntree Lodge to you travelers!

Luxury on the Zambezi River

Located on the Zambezi river the lodge is just gorgeous. Spacious suites with a plunge pool and overlooking the river this is just one of a few wonderful African Bush Camps that should be on a safari tour. Wonderful friendly staff and great food is just a few reasons to stay here, but being in the midst of nature and being close with animals is the real key! Add it to your bucket list

A simply beautiful lodge

Just completed a 3 day stay at the lodge. Received a warm greetings by the staff. Shown to suite #10. We'll designed. Great views. Loved having the plunge pool but water just too cold for plunging. Loved the outdoor shower and longing area. Room cleaning was immaculate. We should have kept the mosquito netting down each night because there were mosquito. Food choices and quality was exceptional. Breakfast was very special. Staff was excellent. English spoken well. Guides were excellent with a great deal of knowledge. Junior and Zita were our primary guides and they were great. Do visit both sides of the Falls. Just a very enjoyable 3 days. I would stay here again if I were visiting Livingstone.

Great Victoria Fall Stay in Livingstone

We had the most amazing time at Thorntree River Lodge. The staff were so friendly, attentive, efficient and also gave a personal experience knowing our names and plans. 
The accomodation was outstanding with spectacular Zambezi river views and our own private pools. 
The kids were gifted Ngwana gift bags with items like binoculars, torch and compass which they carried everywhere with excitement.
The food was delicious, we enjoyed crayfish from Zambezi river, fillet beef, great breakfasts and different cocktails. 
A special thanks to our guide Philip who was very knowledgeable and friendly, he spent a lot of time with us and went above and beyond. 
We would highly recommend Thorntree River Lodge to families and also couples/singles etc

Fantastic all inclusive boutique experience, we highly recommend and cannot wait to return.

I really loved this place. We can see elephahts,zebras hypos and other animsls nearby. All the foid,drinks and activities are included! They also include tra sfer from Victoria Falls airport. We Just need to relax and enjoy! Highly recommend this lodge! 

The best place in Zambia 

We stayed here 3 nights as part of the African Bush Camp (ABC) ‘The Magic of Three Countries’ trip through Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The process of moving with an ABC van from Kasane Airport in Botswana to the modern Kazungula border was extremely smooth and the KAZA UniVisa was very quick to get on arrival at the border post. The very friendly and informative Peter drove us to Thorntree on the Zambia side.

The rooms, dining area, bar area and library are absolutely stunning in terms of design and ambiance. One of the most beautiful rooms we have ever stayed in. The three course meal every day was out of this world. The lodge and rooms area has lots of animals and you have to keep an eye out for resident hippo Socks!

Mosi-oa-Tunya next to the lodge may be a smaller park but there is a lot to see in terms of birds and non-predatory species. The highlight is obviously the rhino walking safari where immensely sized rhinos (bigger than in SA) are under constant protection.

In one of the ABC photobooks in the bar from the early 2010s are photos of the famous Cecil the lion; sad to be reminded of what happened to this iconic lion which drew tourists from afar.
Special thanks:

Guide – Brett – exceptional bird knowledge, a wealth of information about Zambia and great guide to have had in the park, Livingstone, Victoria Falls and on the Zambezi. The boat rides were an amazing experience with many hippos around. Fishing on the Zambezi river was lots of fun, although no luck with tiger fish. We appreciate it a lot that Brett took us to a market in town where you can find great souvenirs with a lot less haggle and acceptable prices.

Host – Haiggar – a very welcoming and kind-hearted host who generously made his time available. It was great to hear about Zambia

Victor and Bridget for their immaculate attendance to tables, Bernadette for managing outstanding house keeping and Sylvia for being a great camp manager.

We only scratched the surface in Zambia by visiting the Livingstone area and we will definitely come back to explore Zambia’s other national parks. We have been amazed by the friendliness of the people, ease of travel and beauty of the area!

Stunning lodge with magical atmosphere

The last three days of our nine-day safari with African Bush Camps was spent at Thorntree. And what a way to end our once-in-a-lifetime trip! Our room was so beautiful, with the most incredible view of the Zambezi River, we never wanted to leave it. Incredibly comfortable bed, hot shower and so many amenities. However, we came to Zambia to experience Mosi-oa-Tunya, so we did in fact, leave our room. Initially I was concerned that we were further away from the falls than ideal, but it turned out being a little removed from the hustle and bustle of town was much better as we were more immersed in nature. Vervet monkeys constantly kept us entertained, for example! 

Quentino was our guide, and  we were so grateful for his  extensive knowledge of the falls, the Zambezi River,  flora and fauna, and the culture and history of Zambia.  He took us on a sunset cruise on the river our first night, and we saw so many hippos and birds. Also a couple of crocodiles, from afar. The tour the next day of the falls was fantastic, and we were able to hike to the Boiling Pot, which provided yet another great perspective of the mighty Mosi-oa-Tunya.

Special thanks to our host Haggai who went above and beyond to help us organize our excursion to the Zimbabwe side (we already had the Kaza visa). We really appreciated how he and Bernadette checked in on us to make sure we were enjoying our stay.

We had stayed at two other African Bush Camps locations in Botswana prior to Thorntree, and we were very happy with how seamless the transfer from Botswana to Zambia was. We thought it might be super-time-consuming crossing the border and stressful finding our way, but African Bush Camps took care of all the logistics and it was such a smooth process.

This was our once-in-a-lifetime trip, so I did extensive research on the different accommodation options available in Zambia. We chose Thorntree River Lodge—African Bush Camps because their commitment to community, conservation and education is truly the best.  I cannot recommend African Bush Camps enough!

This is the Way to Experience the Falls and the Beauty of Zambia!

Wonderful location right off the Zambezi River.  Peaceful end to our 2 week trip.  Rooms were beautiful and the bed was very comfortable.  We loved having the plunge  pool although it was too cool in June to enjoy.  Just to be able to look out your room and see the River and an occasional hippo is the horizon was special.  Monkeys were quite loud especially in the morning as they are jumping on the rooftops. 

Phillip was our guide for both Victoria Falls and The Rhino walking tour and he has vast knowledge of the Falls, Livingstone and the wildlife we saw during our safari. The entire staff was extremely friendly and personal with standouts of Victor, Haggai, Franklin, Bernadette and Mercy.  A handful of ‘trainees’ so a sign that tourism is picking up!  

Sunset cruise could have been a bit more exciting and would have preferred to be in the pontoon boat.  We intentionally didn’t book a lot of activities but did go with Phillip and Franklins recommendation of a 20 min helicopter tour over the gorge and falls.  A highlight!! 

Food was amazing, but a lot of it with most lunches and dinners being a 3-5 course meal.

Thorntree River Lodge

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