Matetsi Victoria Falls – one family’s mission to return their land back to nature
Sarah Gardiner recounts her family’s ambitious plans and lifelong dream to return 136,000 acres of land back to wildlife and nature. The rewilding of Matetsi Private Game Reserve – which, prior to the establishment of Matetsi Victoria Falls, had been decimated by poaching and illegal hunting – is a source of great pride for Sarah and her team. They have spent six years of tireless conservation work to rehabilitate the land, protect the wildlife and create a favourable habitat for Africa’s most iconic species.
A must-visit destination, this luxury lodge offers a whole new way of experiencing the world’s greatest waterfall – Victoria Falls – in luxury. Set on a private 15km stretch of the mighty Zambezi, the lodge is unique as it offers both a world-class safari experiences and an idyllic retreat from which to visit the Falls. Acclaimed for its exquisite contemporary interiors, the luxury safari lodge has scooped up a number of design awards and travel accolades, and offers guests plenty of space in which to indulge in the wild in privacy.
Matetsi Victoria Falls has most recently announced the launch of a brand new in-house anti-poaching unit, called Amaganyane (Ndebele for “The Wild Dogs”), named after one of Africa’s most effective and formidable hunters. The team is led by passionate Zimbabwean conservationist, Brian Gurney, with their work focused primarily on protecting the vast wilderness that is the Matetsi Private Game Reserve, and the wildlife that call this area home. The team already consists of 18 highly skilled Zimbabwean scouts, with an additional 23 recruits currently in training, and is a perfect complement to the area’s existing conservation efforts.
