Boma – Dinner & Drum Show chef Tendai Mutava at the salad bar with the new decor in the background
The US$250,000 refurbishment – completed last month – was done to keep pace with the
growing popularity of this “must do” Victoria Falls dining and entertainment experience,
which opened its doors 27 years ago.
Africa Albida Tourism (AAT) chief executive Ross Kennedy said: “The levels of business
experienced in 2018, coupled with the growth in the previous two years, led us to make the
appropriate investment decisions to equip The Boma for the next five to ten years.
“Keeping pace with the latest equipment and service delivery expectations, whilst
maintaining the tastes, sights and sounds of The Boma – Dinner & Drum Show, were key
factors in this major project,” he said.
The new refrigerated salad and dessert bars at The Boma – Dinner & Drum Show.
“The machine that delivers The Boma experience has been modernised. We set out to
update The Boma without detracting from its essence.
The main kitchen, which guests don’t see, and the main cookhouse, were gutted and rebuilt,
new equipment installed, and structural changes and enhancements made to the serving
areas, such as new granite surfaces and refrigeration of the salad and dessert bars.”
Interior designer Belinda Jones said the concept for the décor came from the traditional
cooking huts, and it was an amalgam of different Zimbabwean tribes.
“The Boma staff love it, because it reminds them, especially the entrance, of their
grandmothers’ huts,” Jones said.
Traditional dancers and drummers at The Boma – Dinner & Drum Show
“It’s where the woman’s cooking utensils are proudly displayed. The traditional art form of
decorating the walls and shelves with bright pigment goes back a while, but it is now being
revived as a new art form,” she said.
“The women translate the rhythms of their lives into abstract patterns, but now include
motifs from nature, both floral as well as animals,” she said.
AAT operates a portfolio of properties in Victoria Falls – Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, Victoria
Falls Safari Club, Victoria Falls Safari Suites, Lokuthula Lodges and The Boma – Dinner &
Drum Show, as well as Ngoma Safari Lodge in Chobe, Botswana.