Amanzi Lodge – A Luxury Boutique Hotel in Harare, Zimbabwe
After 40 hours of travel from Canada to Harare, Zimbabwe, I was warmly welcomed at the airport by a car service to take me to the Amanzi Lodge. At the time of this trip, I hadn’t travelled much outside of Canada and the United States, let alone by myself, so being personally greeted at the airport put my mind at ease.
Upon arrival at the main Lodge, David again warmly greeted me. Then, he walked me through the lush gardens and waterfalls to my suite in one of 16 luxury private lodges spread throughout the property. Each suite is stylishly decorated in the style of a different African country.
Both of my stays were short visits in mid-August. It was too cold to enjoy the pool, though I could curl up outside on the covered area of my suite and enjoy a beautiful African sunset.
Rooms
The two rooms I’ve stayed in are the Morocco Suite and the Seychelles Suite. If I am fortunate enough to visit again, the Egypt Suite is at the top of my list, as it was being renovated on my last visit and was unavailable. After a long day, one of the highlights for me was soaking in the old-fashioned bathtub and listening to the wildlife outside through my open window — in my imagination, it was the sounds of monkeys chattering and swinging through the trees, but it was probably something completely different.
Dining
The chefs in Amanzi’s main Lodge create the most wonderful dishes with flavours worldwide. They were very accommodating for those with food sensitivities. The hosts and servers were not hurried and greeted us by name. It felt like a much better version of “home”!
You must venture out to Amanzi Restaurant for a special meal or two! It is an old farmhouse on 4 acres updated to a modern restaurant and features herbs and vegetables grown in the Amanzi gardens. It’s a short drive from the Lodge and must be reserved as it’s very popular and seats a maximum of 100 people. We enjoyed our meals with wine on the terrace, listening to the bullfrogs in the nearby ponds.
Activities
My stay was quite short so I couldn’t take advantage of some of the activities on the property, such as the fitness centre and tennis courts, but I did venture out for a few hours to Wild is Life Wildlife Sanctuary. This was the perfect introduction to African wildlife face-to-face, and I met a baby elephant named Moyo — an experience I will never forget. For more details, you can read my blog post on the Sanctuary.
Visit the Amanzi Lodge’s website to read more about it and browse the gallery of stunning African-themed suites! I need to go back and explore more of Zimbabwe.
