Sarah Kingdom unwinds at the Royal Zambezi Lodge just outside of the Lower Zambezi National Park
There are those places that dazzle with opulence; infinity pools, bold architecture and flashy design, and there are those that reach you on a deeper level, with style and soul, rather than sparkle. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Zambia’s Zambezi Valley Escarpment and just outside of the Lower Zambezi National Park, Royal Zambezi Lodge, on three and a half kilometres of unspoiled river frontage, belongs firmly in the latter camp.
This year, Royal Zambezi Lodge celebrates 20 years, a milestone not marked by fanfare or fireworks, but by reflection. Two decades of guiding guests through one of Africa’s most extraordinary wilderness areas has brought the team to the conclusion that sometimes, less really is more. In an era when safaris can feel like a race, especially in East Africa, with vehicles constantly in radio contact looking for the next big sighting. Royal Zambezi has chosen a different rhythm.
“We’ve slowed down,” our guide tells me as we sip our morning coffee overlooking the river. “It’s about reconnecting with the bush.” And that’s exactly what Royal Zambezi is known for: old-school guiding. The kind where the stories are as interesting as the sightings, and where the bush is not something to conquer, but rather to immerse yourself in and listen to.
Where Time Moves a Little Differently
At Royal, as the lodge is affectionately known, the Zambezi River slides past in a shimmer of silver and blue. Elephants cross in single file, their reflections rippling, their trunks held high like snorkels.
The main lodge; timber, thatch, and open to the breeze, is instantly welcoming. It isn’t trendy or overdesigned. There’s no marble or gilt, no attempt to dazzle you with gadgets or grandeur. Instead, there’s warmth. Comfortable armchairs, dining tables with sensational views, the scent of wood smoke and mopane, unhurried conversations by the fire as hippos mutter in the darkness beyond.
The Art of Slowing Down
“Doing nothing,” we were told on arrival, “is one of our official activities.” They even have a name for it: DNA—Do Nothing at all. And, at Royal, they mean it. Sitting with a book in the shade. Watching the elephants wander past your suite. Having a massage at the spa. Soaking in our outdoor bathtub and watching the river flowing past. The bush has its own rhythm, and Royal Zambezi encourages you to fall in step with it.
That’s not to say there’s nothing to do. Far from it. Morning and afternoon drives reveal a wilderness that’s full of life. A leopard lazing, high up in the branches of a sausage tree, buffalos wallowing in a waterhole, a herd of impala wandering in the dappled, dusty afternoon light. You can canoe along the river, fish for tigerfish, or take a boat trip at sunset, as the sky turns to molten gold.
But it’s the space between the activities, the pauses, the quiet moments, that will linger the longest. From our deck one afternoon, I watch as an elephant and her small baby emerged almost silently from the trees. They were so close I could hear the swish of their trunks in the grass. I didn’t grab my camera, I just sat and watched. And for more than half an hour they wandered in front of my room, nibbling at the grass, pulling branches down from the trees to eat, and even drinking from the swimming pool. It was in that moment, that quiet observation, that I understand what Royal Zambezi really means by “reconnecting.”
Guides with Stories to Tell
Guiding in the African bush is storytelling in motion. The guides who take you into the bush are not just trackers or drivers, they are interpreters of a vast, living world.
At Royal Zambezi Lodge there are no frantic radio calls, no race to the next sighting. Instead, the focus is on context and connection, on learning how to read the tracks of a lion, or how the call of a francolin or the shout of a baboon might reveal what’s happening around the bend.
One morning, our guide stopped the vehicle, not for an animal, but for a tree. A giant winterthorn, its reddish-yellow pods clattering softly in the breeze. He told us how elephants spread the winterthorns’ seeds, and how generations of them have shaped this forest. This is the old-school art of guiding, where experience and respect matter more than spectacle. And it’s a refreshing reminder that a safari, at its heart, is not just about what you see, but about how deeply you see it.
A Lodge with Soul
Over the years, Royal Zambezi Lodge has resisted the urge to modernise just for the sake of it. The owners have chosen instead to keep the lodge grounded, both physically and philosophically. There are only 15 thatched, tented suites, each one spacious and utterly private. But what sets them apart isn’t their design so much as their feeling.
The colours are soft and earthy, the beds are dressed in crisp linens, and the outdoor baths invite you to soak beneath the stars. This is a lodge that’s designed for comfort, and that comfort extends to the people, too. There’s a real warmth here with the staff, that feels genuine.
A Commitment to a Better Future
An exciting chapter in Royal Zambezi’s 20-year story is their recent membership of The Long Run, one of the world’s largest business-led movements for nature-based sustainability. The Long Run champions lodges and nature-based businesses that commit to a holistic approach to sustainability, known as the 4Cs: Conservation, Community, Culture, and Commerce. Membership is not a badge earned easily; it reflects years of thoughtful practice, of doing things the right way, even when no one’s watching.
For Royal Zambezi Lodge, their commitment to protecting the Lower Zambezi’s fragile ecosystem, supporting local communities, and celebrating Zambian culture has long been part of their way of doing things. Joining The Long Run simply formalised what they’d been living for years: the belief that travel can, and should, be a force for good. Royal is the first lodge in Zambia to join The Long Run.
Letting the Magic In
The sun sets on our final evening here in the Lower Zambezi. We sit by the fire with a gin & tonic, listening to the soft murmur of voices, the gurgle of the river and the distant trumpet of an elephant. Beside the deck, a hippo has left the water and come ashore to feed. He chomps nosily on the grass. We turn the torch on him and he pauses mid-chew, before returning to his supper. Royal Zambezi isn’t about ticking off sightings or racing from one adventure to the next.
It’s about letting the magic of the African bush seep into your bones. After twenty years, this is a lodge that has definitely found its stride, not by chasing trends, but by embracing timelessness. Warm, relaxed and utterly Zambian, Royal Zambezi Lodge reminds you that sometimes the greatest luxury of all is simply being still.
Tell me more about Royal Zambezi Lodge
E: res@royalzambezilodge.com OR reservations1@royalzambezilodge.com
T: +260 97 0010124 OR +260 96 674 8249
Rates: 7 presidential suites (from $819pppn in the low season), 8 deluxe suites (from $675pppn in the low season), and one dedicated family unit (2 adults, 2 children) consisting of two Deluxe suites with a shared seating area (from $2,208 per unit in the low season). Rates include accommodation, all meals, soft drinks, house wines, local beers, non-premium drinks, and two privately guided activities per day.
Getting there: Royal Zambezi Lodge is a 30-minute flight from Zambia’s capital city Lusaka on a small plane. Alternatively, it’s an approximately 5-hour drive, with a 4×4 vehicle highly recommended, as the last 70km is extremely rough in places.
