Victoria Falls

At Victoria Falls the whole Zambezi pours into the First Gorge, then leaves it through one gap 361 ft wide, two thirds of the way along the curtain from the west. The falls mark the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe: Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park covers 25 mi² on the Zambian bank, Victoria Falls National Park 8.9 mi² on the Zimbabwean one.

Four falls, two islands and a 354 ft gorge

By combined width and height, the falls are described as the largest sheet of falling water in the world. The curtain is about 1.1 mi wide, and its parts follow one another from Zimbabwe in the west to Zambia in the east:

1. Devil’s Cataract, at the Zimbabwean end.
2. The Main Falls.
3. Rainbow Falls, the highest of the four.
4. The Eastern Cataract, at the Zambian end.

Two islands sit on the crest: Boaruka, also called Cataract Island, near the western bank, and Livingstone Island near the middle. Below, the First Gorge is 262 ft deep at its western end and 354 ft in the centre.

• The Boiling Pot, a whirlpool at the bend of the river below the falls, is reached by a steep footpath from the Zambian side.
• The Victoria Falls Bridge, a steel arch over the Batoka Gorge, links the two countries.
• On the Zimbabwean side, you can walk down to the bottom of the First Gorge in low water.

The smoke that thunders, from Lozi names to 1855

Mosi-oa-Tunya, the Lozi name kept by the Zambian park, means “the smoke that thunders”; the Tonga name, Shungu Namutitima, means “boiling water”. The spray earns both:

• As a rule it rises more than 1,312 ft, sometimes twice as high.
• It can be seen from up to 31 mi away.
• At full moon it produces a lunar rainbow, the moonbow.

David Livingstone, the first European recorded to have seen the falls, looked at them on 16 November 1855 from the island that now bears his name. UNESCO inscribed the site as natural World Heritage in 1989.

Mosi-oa-Tunya beyond the falls

The Zambian park stretches for about 7.5 mi along the Zambezi upstream of the falls. Its wildlife includes:

• Southern white rhinoceroses, the only ones in Zambia.
• Elephants, seen mostly in the dry season.

The Zimbabwean bank has historically drawn many more visitors than the Zambian one, thanks to its visitor facilities. From September to December the flow shows a falling trend, sharper in drought years, which are becoming more frequent.