The Boma Dinner at Victoria Falls: Drum Show, Buffet and Other Evenings
4 min read
Short answer: for a first evening of Zimbabwean food and drumming, book The Boma Dinner and Drum Show in Victoria Falls town. You are wrapped in a chitenge and face-painted at the door, eat a 4-course meal built around a braai buffet, and everyone gets a djembe for the drum show after dinner. It has by far the most reviews of these evenings, names vegetarian dishes and halal meals, and offers hotel pickup as a booking option.
The evenings side by side
| Evening | Price | Rating | What the booking page says |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Boma dinner and drum show | €53.43 | 4.5 (562) | About 4 hours at The Boma on Squire Cummings Road; starter platter, soup, salad bar and a braai buffet; drum show after dinner; hotel pickup if you choose that option |
| Boma dinner and drum show with transfers | €106.87 | 4.3 (3) | About 5 hours; Shasha Africa collects you from your hotel and takes you to The Boma, with a guide, a stop at a souvenir shop and a face painting of your chosen animal totem |
| Jends Boma feast and drum celebration | €81.93 | 4.1 (27) | About 3.5 hours; a separate venue run by Jends Safaris, limited to 8 guests; transfers; buffet with game, vegetarian and vegan dishes; drumming circle and storytelling; alcoholic drinks extra |
| Simunye, The Spirit of Africa | €36.16 | 4.8 (82) | A one-hour show with puppetry, music and dance at 8 pm in the Victoria Falls Theatre at Elephant’s Walk; no dinner, and for the way there the page points to taxis |
How to choose
The first two are the same restaurant. The listing with transfers is a package by a tour operator, Shasha Africa, that takes you to The Boma; it is not a different dinner. The Boma’s own listing already offers hotel pickup as an option, so the package mainly adds a guide who explains the food and customs on the way, the souvenir shop and the totem story. Both pages describe the same evening inside: welcome dancers, traditional food with game meat, and the interactive drumming. The package page adds mopane worms for the adventurous and an optional visit to a traditional healer for a light-hearted fortune reading.
What The Boma serves. The page lists a shared starter platter with peppered impala skewers and smoked crocodile tail, soup by the campfire, a salad bar, then a braai (barbecue) buffet with beef, pork, boerewors, chicken and game meatballs, served with sadza, the local maize porridge. Vegetarian dishes include a vegetable stir fry and a daily pasta; halal meals are available.
Jends Boma is the small evening. It is a separate venue, not The Boma, with a limit of 8 guests, transfers by Jends Safaris and a buffet that names game, vegetarian and vegan dishes. The page says part of what you pay supports local artists and community projects, and asks you to bring a passport or ID card.
Simunye is a show, not a meal. It starts at 8 pm and the page asks you to arrive 20 minutes early; afterwards you can go on stage for photos with the cast, which takes 20 to 30 minutes. It is an open-air theatre with 195 seats in the centre of Victoria Falls, so it depends on the weather: if a show is cancelled for rain, the page offers another date or a refund. Plan your dinner before or after it.
If you would rather spend the evening on the water, the sunset cruise with dinner is a 2-hour cruise followed by a 3-course dinner on land at The Eatery, by the river. It picks up only in Victoria Falls town, within 5 km, and charges a US$12 park fee at check-in; see our cruise guide.
Diets, children and getting there
The Boma names vegetarian and halal food, the package page vegetarian options, Jends vegetarian and vegan dishes. For allergies, tell the operator when you book. None of the three dinner pages gives an age limit or a dress code; the Jends page calls its performances family-friendly. The Simunye page says the theatre has wheelchair and stroller access, and lists the show as not suitable for people with epilepsy.
For the ride back in the dark: The Boma offers pickup as an option, the package and Jends include transfers, and for Simunye the page points to taxis, which it says are available to and from the theatre. The cultural evenings are collected on our culture page.
Our recommendation
For most visitors: The Boma Dinner and Drum Show, with the pickup option if you do not want to arrange a taxi. It has the reviews to back it up and a menu that covers vegetarians. If you prefer a small group, look at the Jends Boma evening for up to eight guests.
