Overlooking Zimbabwe’s Zambezi National Park, Victoria Falls Safari Lodge pairs the cosy comforts of a grand treehouse with animal encounters that come to you.

"Days unfold with a welcome kind of licensed laziness, where doing very little is completely justified."

At breakfast, the clink of cutlery on the terrace pauses as someone spots movement below. An elephant steps into view at the waterhole, followed by another, then another — and suddenly, the day is alive, and no one is checking their phone. Guests linger over coffee as binoculars are grasped mid-sentence, monosyllable alerts of “look”, “there” rippling across the terrace faster than the caffeine.

Built of timber and thatch, Victoria Falls Safari Lodge rises breezily across levels, its vast A-frame silhouette resembling an open-plan treehouse. From almost every vantage point, the landscape takes centre stage. Decks, walkways and gathering spaces are oriented towards a wildlife-rich waterhole.

As part of Travelmarvel’s Grand African Journey, days here unfold with a welcome kind of licensed laziness, where doing very little is entirely justified and each moment arrives with barely a lift of your finger. A morning visit to the mighty Victoria Falls is pleasantly relaxing, the thundering walls of water invigorating and the misty spray refreshing, inviting an easy switch back into full leisure mode as you return to the lodge.

Afternoons stretch by the two-tiered swimming pool or on your private balcony with sweeping views of the bushveld. The animal kingdom sets the agenda below: impala wander in without ceremony, warthogs trot through like they own the place, and elephants arrive with unhurried authority.

As evening settles, lanterns flicker on and the lodge's sundowner watering hole, the Buffalo Bar, comes to life. Dinner follows at the award-winning MaKuwa-Kuwa Restaurant, or perhaps at The Boma, where an open-air feast beneath the stars brings culture, rhythm and colour before the night softens once more. As bedtime beckons, within the cosy quarters of your treehouse setting, the savanna’s trademark lullabies rise around you — grunts, whoops and distant roars. Tomorrow’s cast of characters is already pottering about below, long before dawn breaks over the waterhole.