A look inside Wild Horizons’ community and conservation impact from September 2025 to January 2026
When you book a luxury safari at Victoria Falls with Wild Horizons, the impact reaches far beyond the unforgettable game drives, river cruises, and Falls tours that fill your days. Every night you spend at Old Drift Lodge, The Elephant Camp, Wallow Lodge or Waterfalls Lodge directly supports the communities, schools and conservation projects that make this corner of Zimbabwe so extraordinary.
Over the past five months — from September 2025 to January 2026 — Wild Horizons with the help of our amazing partners invested over USD 150,000 in education, healthcare, clean energy, women’s empowerment and environmental conservation across the Victoria Falls region. Here’s what that looks like on the ground.
$150K+
Total Investment
1,009
Students Impacted
8
Biogas Digesters
5 Awards Won
A $110,000 Partnership With UNICEF
In October 2025, Wild Horizons and UNICEF Zimbabwe signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding in Victoria Falls — a partnership worth USD 110,044 that delivered climate-smart education infrastructure to three schools and a community clinic.
The project, implemented with Welthungerhilfe (WHH), brought solar-powered boreholes, drip irrigation systems, rehabilitated sanitation facilities, menstrual hygiene management rooms, and an upgraded ICT computer lab to Mkhosana Adventist Secondary, Sizinda Secondary, and Ndlovu Secondary schools. The solar boreholes alone now provide clean water to over 200 households in the surrounding Ndlovu community — not just the schools.
At Ndlovu Clinic, the project funded a complete maternity ward renovation including roof repairs, new ceiling, bathroom upgrades, and tiling of the delivery room.
By December 2025, the entire WASH project was completed and officially handed over. A total of 1,009 students and 22 staff members now benefit from the upgraded facilities. Comprehensive menstrual hygiene training sessions reached 545 girls across the three schools, and 50 community members were trained in maintaining the solar water systems for long-term sustainability.
Building a School From the Ground Up
At Monde Primary School, a brand new Early Childhood Development classroom block has been taking shape since mid-2025 — and the final months of the year saw it come to life. In October, internal and external plastering was completed. By December, the building was fully painted. And in January 2026, custom-built desks and chairs were delivered, making the classrooms fully functional and ready for learners.
The roofing, plastering, and window installation phase cost USD 10,617, with painting adding USD 2,552 and furniture USD 4,600. The result is a bright, modern, purpose-built learning environment for the youngest students in the community.
Separately, a visiting client was so inspired by a school tour at Chamabondo Primary that they donated a brand-new set of marimbas and 172 textbooks worth USD 2,808 — proof that the connections made during a Victoria Falls safari can have a lasting impact well beyond the trip itself.
Clean Energy That Changes Women’s Lives
In October 2025, Wild Horizons installed eight biogas digesters in rural communities around Victoria Falls, with support from Go2Africa, Mr. Willis Hughes and Africa Inscribed. The total project value was USD 12,000.
These digesters do far more than provide clean cooking fuel. By replacing firewood collection — a task that falls overwhelmingly on women and girls — they free up hours every day. That’s time that girls can now spend in school, and time that women can redirect toward income-generating activities. Indoor smoke, a major health hazard in rural households, is virtually eliminated.
Clean energy, in this context, isn’t just an environmental initiative. It’s a direct investment in gender equity, health, and economic empowerment.
Supporting Women Through Agriculture
In the Chinotimba township, a group of 20 women manage a community vegetable garden that provides both food and income for their families. In October 2025, Wild Horizons donated shovels, wheelbarrows, hosepipes, garden forks, and spray bottles — essential tools that strengthen their ability to grow and sell fresh produce, pay school fees, and support their households.
It’s a small investment — USD 250 — with an outsized impact on food security, sustainable livelihoods, and women’s economic independence.
Responsible Tourism in Action: Shopping With a Purpose
During the review period, Wild Horizons hosted twenty Road Scholar groups for its “Shopping With a Purpose” programme. Visitors are taken to Chinotimba’s traditional market, where they purchase groceries that are then donated to the local Old Age Home, Rose of Charity Orphanage, and Chamabondo Primary School.
Over five months, these groups purchased USD 3,000 worth of cooking oil, mealie-meal, sugar beans, pasta, soya chunks, flour, salt, kapenta, washing powder, and meat. The programme supports local vendors financially while providing nutritious food to some of the community’s most vulnerable residents.
This is what responsible tourism looks like when it’s woven into the fabric of the guest experience — not a checkbox, but a genuine exchange that benefits everyone involved.
Creating Spaces for Young People to Thrive
On 1 November 2025, Wild Horizons celebrated the official launch of the Samkele Skatepark in Victoria Falls — a collaboration with Matter and the PUSH Project. More than just a sports facility, the skatepark is a safe, inclusive space that promotes creativity, physical fitness, discipline, and confidence among young people in the community.
Combined with support for 19 school Speech and Prize Giving Days (260 exercise books, 289 rulers, and 114 frames, valued at USD 2,409), golf tournament sponsorships for community engagement, and direct donations to organisations ranging from the local prison to the Ministry of Women Affairs, Wild Horizons’ total community donations for the period reached USD 10,215.
Keeping Victoria Falls Pristine
Wild Horizons partners with Pristine Victoria Falls Society on monthly clean-up campaigns across the town and surrounding areas. Teams from across the company — from the cruises department to accounts — adopt designated sites including Masuwe Bridge, the Lookout Café surroundings, and the jetty site, clearing waste that could otherwise harm the local wildlife.
In September, Wild Horizons co-hosted the annual Pristine Schools Awards with 31 participating schools, recognising outstanding environmental club achievements. In November, National Tree Planting Day saw nine indigenous trees — Natal Mahogany, Kigelia africana, and Brown Ivory — planted at three schools, followed by poetry and environmental performances by learners.
And our in-house Sustainability Champion award went to Jane Coombes and the Merchandise team, who introduced locally made reusable polypropylene “Bags for Life,” eliminating single-use plastics across eight shops and selling 6,500 bags in the first year.
Healthcare and Employee Wellbeing
In September, Wild Horizons partnered with Eye Love Africa to provide free eye screenings for 170 employees. Of those, 109 were identified as needing reading glasses, which were donated by Eye Love Africa at no cost to the staff. The screening was conducted alongside a qualified eye nurse from the Ministry of Health and Child Care, ensuring proper medical oversight.
It’s a reminder that community impact starts with how you treat your own people.
Recognition on the National Stage
The review period brought recognition for Wild Horizons across multiple fronts. The Association of Zimbabwe Travel Agents awarded the company Best Ground Handler and named Waterfalls Lodge Best New Establishment. Megafest Holdings recognised CEO Gary Archer as Outstanding Hospitality Leader of the Year (Diamond category) and CFO Wirimai Chimbongore as Outstanding CFO of the Year (Platinum category). And the ESG Network Zimbabwe presented Wild Horizons with the ESG Award for Inclusive Development of Sustainable Development Goals.
These awards reflect what guests experience every day — a company that takes its role in the community as seriously as it takes the quality of its safari experiences.
What This Means for You
Every safari with Wild Horizons at Victoria Falls is part of a bigger story. When you choose Wild Horizons, you’re not just choosing an incredible safari experience. You’re choosing to make a difference.
Ready to experience a safari that gives back?
Explore our lodges at wildhorizons.co.za or contact our reservations team to plan your Victoria Falls safari.
