About Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls is possibly the largest singular waterfall in the world.
The falls was also known as Mosi-oa-Tunya, which translates to “the smoke that thunders” in the language of the Kololo Tribe, who were present in the 1800s.
Later, David Livingstone, the first European to see the falls, named it in honor of Queen Victoria in 1855.
So awestruck was he upon seeing the falls that he described the falls saying “scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight.”
Sometimes I wonder if Livingstone meant what he said based on the kind of view you see in the photograph above.
One Of The Big Three
This waterfall is what Julie and I consider one of the “Big Three” (the other two being Iguazu Falls and Niagara Falls).
These are the only waterfalls of such size left standing in the world.
There may have been others through earth’s history, but they’ve been either sacrificed by damming or diversion, or they may have been casualties of changes in geology and climate.
Speaking of grandeur, Victoria Falls is a UNESCO World Heritage site as it boasts some mind boggling dimensions.
The falls itself is basically where the mighty Zambezi River drops its entire width (about 1.7km across or just over a mile) over a 108m vertical wall into a narrow gorge.
The volume of water over the falls typically ranges between 300-3,000 cubic meters per second.
The annual mean volume is said to be just over 1,000 cubic meters per second (which roughly converts to 38,000 cubic feet per second or 1 million liters per second).
Mist generated by the falls can be seen and felt from several kilometers away.
We could attest to that fact because we were able to see the mist from as far away as Livingstone (Zambia), which was some 11km from the falls.
When we toured the Victoria Falls, we were even able to feel the mist further downstream from it at the Livingstone Memorial Bridge, which spanned the river between the border posts of both Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Too Much Mist
Since the Victoria Falls plunged into a narrow gorge, all the walkways and viewpoints (with the exception of Livingstone Island) were across the misty chasm directly opposite the falls.
This created a situation where in high flow (which was the case in our visit), the mist from the falls had nowhere to go but up.
In fact, the mist rose so high that it dropped back down like a heavy downpour at all the lookouts.
If you ever wondered why vendors rented out rain ponchos, this was precisely the reason why!
We definitely needed our ponchos in order to prevent our clothing, ourselves, and most importantly our cameras and other electronics from getting drenched.
This high flow also meant that we weren’t able to get any all-encompassing view of the falls let alone even sections of it from the ground.
That said, even in benign conditions, I wondered whether we’d still be able to see a good portion of the Victoria Falls from the ground anyways given its immense scale.
Nevertheless, we ended up deciding to take to the air to really appreciate the entirety of Victoria Falls as well as communicating it through pictures.
The Devil’s Pool
When conditions permit (it wasn’t for us), Livingstone Island (the island where David Livingstone first gazed upon Victoria Falls) allows onlookers a different edge-of-the-world view of the falls.
Indeed, there’s a spot called the Devil’s Pool where it’s said that you could cheat death and literally swim right on the edge of the 108m drop!
You can read about our write-up pertaining to some of the activities that we’re aware are available.
This included those we partook in like the aerial tour and the sunset cruise on the Zambezi River.
Political Ramifications
Since the Zambezi River marked the political boundary between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe, this had some ramifications in terms of us wanting to visit the Victoria Falls from both sides.
We did a writeup discussing the less glamorous logistics of our trip.
This included some of the paperwork and fees we had to go through in addition to other things to plan and prepare for our visit.
Our visit in late May 2008 also happened to coincide with a controversial runoff election between Mugabe and Tsvangirai in Zimbabwe.
This further complicated our ability to visit the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls (let alone stay there) as the country had to deal with hyperinflation at the time.
Timing A Victoria Falls Visit
As a result of our experience and observations at Victoria Falls, we were quickly made aware the experience is largely dictated by timing.
Come (as we did) at a time when the Zambezi River is in high flow and nearly all viewpoints become a misty mess obscuring views and drenching onlookers.
Though the falls may be the most impressive at this time, we found the photography and the viewing experience in general from the ground to be a bit difficult.
Indeed, the more the merrier does not necessarily apply when it comes to Victoria Falls.
Come at a time when the Zambezi River would be in low flow and the falls would segment into several smaller, narrower waterfalls exposing the immense wall underneath.
This would be the time when I’d imagine more activities concerning the falls would become available though the magnitude and visual impact might be dimished.
If we’re fortunate to come back, I would love to return when we could get the best of both worlds.
When that time would be depends on various seasonal factors.
We did a writeup discussing those factors as well as estimating when the optimal time to visit would be.
Victoria Falls and the Zig Zag Erosion
Like all waterfalls, the water’s flow recedes the underlying layer of rock making it “move” upstream over time.
However, what makes Victoria Falls unusual and different from other waterfalls (like Niagara Falls and Iguazu Falls) is that instead of moving continuously upstream over time, this waterfall creates cracks.
These cracks occur in the underlying basalt wall at a different angle than the cliff responsible for the current state of the falls.
Eventually, the angled crack forms a new chasm intercepting the flow of the Zambezi River and becoming the new brink of the falls.
It then leaves the remaining knife-like cliff that once supported the edge of the falls bare and exposed.
Over time, the result is a series of gorges (currently there’s said to be some 6 or 7 of them with the oldest ones being furthest downstream) zig-zagging up to the falls’ current position.
This process is still ongoing as a new crack has started to form on the Zimbabwe (western) side near the section known as the Devil’s Cataract.
Indeed, we only realized this unusual erosion pattern when we saw our aerial photos revealing these chasms further downstream.
The Named Components of Victoria Falls
Finally, like its other Big 3 counterparts, Victoria Falls has named sections such as the just mentioned Devil’s Cataract.
Other named sections included the Main Falls, Horseshoe Falls, and Rainbow Falls (among others).
The named sections are typically segmented or partitioned by islands above the brink of the falls (namely Cataract Island and Livingstone Island).
However, we observed that these named waterfalls blended together (especially since it was during high flow) into a singular wall of water.
I’m pretty sure the average visitor may not even be able to tell let alone care about which section is which (despite the help of signs).
While I can go on and on about various aspects of the world wonder of Victoria Falls, perhaps photos have more impact, which you can see in the tabs below.
Authorities
Victoria Falls resides in the Victoria Falls National Park in Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side and the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park near Livingstone on the Zambia side. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Victoria Falls government website (Zimbabwe) or Zambia Tourism website.
There are many ways of getting to Victoria Falls.
If you’re interested in reading about our accounts of how we managed to get to the falls, you can read about it in this writeup by clicking here.
And as alluded to earlier, for foreign visitors like us, we also wrote up a guide detailing the logistics of how we managed to handle some of the less glamorous aspects of enabling a visit to the falls such as Visas, money changing, etc., which you can read about here.
As for geographical context, Victoria Falls sat between the towns of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and Livingstone, Zambia. We managed to fly to Livingstone after a two-hour flight from Johannesburg, South Africa.
Find A Place To Stay
Sweep from within the Zimbabwe side starting from the wall of water looking towards the Zambia side and ending at the Devil's Cataract
Focused on the main falls as seen from the Zimbabwe side
Sweep of just the main falls from the Zimbabwe side ending towards the misty mess looking towards the Zambia side
Sweep from the Boiling Pots towards the gap revealing a very misty Victoria Falls as seen from the Livingstone Bridge on the Zimbabwe/Zambia border
Sweep of double rainbow embedded in the mist of the falls as seen edge-on from the Zambia side
View from the far eastern end (Zambia side) of Mosi-oa-Tunya
Same view as above but taken the next morning with better light
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Visitor Comments:
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Oops… May 12, 2012 10:14 pm - Your picture showing a sign that is hard to see says "Horse Shoe Falls USA"... Perhaps that photo is on the wrong page? ...Read More You Should Revisit Zimbabwe now. October 12, 2011 9:02 pm - I think the writer should visit Zimbabwe now and come up with a recent true picture of what is currently on the ground. The economy is recovering, the US dollar is the currency in use now and the political situation has calmed down. ...Read More Zimbabwe November 17, 2008 12:52 am - I visited Zimbabwe prior to recent troubles, staying at the Elephant Hills Intercontinental. And from the roof top bar, you could see the 'Smoke that Thunders' away in the distance. Truly awesome! But nothing prepares you for the up close and personal experience of standing next to its intense natural power. We now have a… ...Read More Memories August 2, 2008 8:19 pm - Having spent my childhood in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, we visited Victoria Falls on many occasions. I have black and white photos taken on my old Brownie camera. The scenery seems unchanged and as magninficent and awe inspiring as always. I live in Sweden now and have not visited Zimbabwe since 1970. This site brings back many… ...Read MoreVisitor Reviews of this Waterfall:
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Devil’s Cataract and Main Falls at Peak Flow February 6, 2009 7:10 am - Having never got there when in lived in South Africa, my wife and I spent a few days at the Kingdom Hotel in early May 2007 on a visit to SA from Australia. The Zambezi was at peak flow and though our viewing was restricted to Devil's Cataract and the Main Falls it was simply… ...Read MoreNearest Waterfalls
