Victoria Falls/The Mosi-oa-Tunya is the giant curtain of falling water in the World; it is 1708 m wide and with up to 500 million liters per minute descending at 61 m (Devil's Cataract), 83 m (Main Falls), 99 m (Rainbow Falls), 98 m (Eastern Cataract).
Eight spectacular gorges of igneous origin (i.e., comprising basalts) and several islands in the core zone serve as breeding sites for four endangered and migratory bird species, such as the Taita Falcon and Black Eagle.
The riverine 'rainforest' within the waterfall splash zone is a fragile ecosystem of discontinuous forest on sandy alluvium, dependent upon the maintenance of abundant water and high humidity resulting from the spray plume of about 500 m (at maximum height) that can be seen from a distance of 50 km and 30 km from Bulawayo and Lusaka roads respectively.
A direct frontage viewing of the falls is possible in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls and associated eight steep-sided gorges have been formed through the changing waterfall positions over a geological time scale. The gorges are an outstanding example of river capture, and the erosive forces of the water continue to sculpt the hard basalts.
These gorges take a zigzag course of a distance of about 150 km along the Zambezi River below the falls. Seven previous waterfalls occupied the seven gorges below the present falls, and the Devil's Cataract in Zimbabwe is the starting point for cutting back to a new waterfall. In addition, an aerial view of the falls shows possible future waterfall positions.
Upstream is a spectacular series of riverine islands formed during the ongoing geological and geomorphological processes. The property is characterized by banded basalt of the ancient lava flow, Kalahari sandstones, and chalcedony, out of which stone artifacts of Homo habilis dating three million years, stone tools of the Middle Stone Age, and weapons, adornments, and digging tools of the late Stone Age that indicate occupation by hunter-gatherers.
The transboundary property extends over 6860 ha, which is considered relatively intact and adequately sized to maintain the diverse natural processes, functions, and interactions, including the waterfall, gorges, riverine ecosystem, breeding ground, habitat, or landing base for migratory endangered bird species making it an Important Bird Area (IBA), lava flows, ancient stone artifacts and tools for hunter-gatherers.
It comprises 3779 ha of the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park (Zambia), 2340 ha of the Victoria Falls National Park (Zimbabwe), and 741 ha of the riverine strip of Zambezi National Park (Zimbabwe). The boundary includes areas of the Zambezi River upstream of the waterfall in Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The remaining protected areas are considered the buffer zone on either side of the Zambezi River in Southern Zambia and north‐western Zimbabwe. The Mosi‐oa‐Tunya National Park boundary follows the left bank between the Sinde River and the Songwe Gorge, bounded in the North by Dambwa Forest Reserve and the Maramba Township.
On the right bank, the Victoria Falls National Park is bounded by the river from 6 km above to 12 km below the falls and by the town of Victoria Falls on the West. Sprays from this giant waterfall can be seen 30 km from Lusaka Road, Zambia, and 50 km from Bulawayo Road, Zimbabwe.
The system is directly bordered by three protected areas, which serve as a buffering system.
By UNESCO.
By UNESCO.
VICTORIA FALLS HISTORY
Pre-colonial history
Diggings in Archaeological sites found around the falls area have yielded Homo habilis stone artifacts that date back to some 3 million years ago. Middle Stone Age tools (50,000 years) and Late Stone Age weapons and digging tools (10,000 and 2000 years) have also been found.
Khoisan hunter-gatherers using iron tools displaced these Stone Age people, and they, in turn, were replaced by the Southern Tonga people, now known as the Batoka tribe; these people still live in the area today.
Iron-using Khoisan hunter-gatherers displaced these Stone Age people and, in turn, were replaced by Bantu tribes such as the southern Tonga people known as the Batoka/Tokalea, who called the falls Shungu na mutitima. The Matabele, later arrivals, named them aManz' aThunqayo, and the Batswana and Makololo (whose language is used by the Lozi people) call them Mosi-o-Tunya. All these names mean essentially "the smoke that thunders."
Later, many more tribes arrived, including the Matabele and the Makololo tribes, which are still present in the area.
Members of this Makololo tribe escorted David Livingstone, the first person to spread the word of the existence of the falls to the Western World, on November 17, 1855.
However, Nicolas de Fer's 1715 map of southern Africa has a fall marked in the correct position. It also has dotted lines denoting trade routes that David Livingstone followed 140 years later.
There also exists a map from c.1750 drawn by Jacques Nicolas Bellin for Abbé Antoine François Prevost d'Exiles marks the falls as "cataracts" and notes a settlement to the north of the Zambezi as being friendly with the Portuguese at the time.
The falls were well known to local tribes, and Voortrekker hunters may have known of them, as may the Arabs under a name equivalent to "the end of the world."
LIVINGSTONE EXPLORES VICTORIA FALLS
During his 1852–56 journey from the upper Zambezi to the mouth of the river, Livingstone had been told about the falls before he reached them from upriver on 17 November 1855 and was paddled across to a small island that now bears the name Livingstone Island on the Zambian half of the river.
Livingstone had previously been impressed by the Ngonye Falls further upstream but was astounded by the new find, so Livingstone gave them their English name in honor of Queen Victoria.
He spent the night on Kalai Island, a few kilometers upstream of the Falls, having come down the river by foot, and the following day, he was paddled out by the local villagers in a small canoe to approach the thundering smoke.
He landed on the most significant island on the lip of the falls, now called Livingstone Island, and obtained his first view of the Falls from there.
" Creeping with awe to the verge, I peered down into a significant rent which had been made from bank to bank of the broad Zambezi and saw that a stream of a thousand yards broad leaped down a hundred feet and then became suddenly compressed into a space of fifteen to twenty yards….the most beautiful sight I had witnessed in Africa."
Of the surrounding area, he wrote: "No one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England. It had never been seen before by European eyes, but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight" (Livingstone 1857).
He sent word of the Falls to England, deciding to name them after Queen Victoria.
Locals still refer to the Falls as Mosi Oa Tunya, and the area continues to be revered as a sacred site among the local tribes.
David Livingstone was not the first to see Victoria Falls, although he is always credited with discovering it. Many locals feel they should be rebranded Mosi Oa Tunya.
1860, Livingstone returned to the area and studied the falls in detail with John Kirk. Other early European visitors included Portuguese explorer Serpa Pinto, Czech explorer Emil Holub, who made the first detailed plan of the falls and its surroundings in 1875 (published in 1880),[17] and British artist Thomas Baines, who executed some of the earliest paintings of the falls.
COLONIAL SETTLEMENT
Other Europeans seldom visited the falls until the railway building opened in 1905.
European settlement of the Victoria Falls area started around 1900 in response to the desire of Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company for mineral rights and imperial rule north of the Zambezi and the exploitation of other natural resources such as timber forests north-east of the falls, and ivory and animal skins. Before 1905, the river was crossed above the falls at the Old Drift by dugout canoe or a barge towed across with a steel cable.
Rhodes' vision of a Cape-Cairo railway drove plans for the first bridge across the Zambezi, and he insisted it be built where the spray from the falls would fall on passing trains, so the site at the Second Gorge was chosen. See the page on Victoria Falls Bridge.
The falls became an increasingly popular attraction during British colonial rule of Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), with the town of Victoria Falls on the Southern side becoming the main tourist center.
By the end of the 1990s, almost 300,000 people visited the falls annually, expected to rise to over a million in the next decade.
The two countries permit tourists to make day trips from each side, and visas can be obtained at the border posts. Costs vary from US$45 to US$80 (as of 01 December 2013). Visitors with single-entry visas must purchase a visa each time they cross the border. Regular changes in visa regulations mean visitors should check the rules before crossing the border.
WORLD HERITAGE SITE
In 1989, Victoria Falls was inscribed as a World Heritage Site. What makes the concept of World Heritage exceptional is its universal application. World Heritage sites belong to all the World's peoples, irrespective of the territory on which they are located.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to encourage the identification, protection, and preservation of cultural and natural heritage worldwide, considered outstanding to humanity.
This is embodied in an international treaty, the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972. UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The falls also enjoyed being one of the World's seven natural wonders for many years. (this is voted on and changed from time to time).
A visit to this breathtaking natural phenomenon – the Smoke that Thunders- is a must-see on any visit to Africa. And with the many varied activities to do in the surrounding area, it makes the trip all the more worthwhile.
Victoria Falls Facts
- Victoria Falls is classified as the World's giant curtain of falling water based on its width of 1,708 meters (5,604 ft) and height of 108 meters (354 ft),
- Approximately 650 million liters of water drop every minute over the cliff at Victoria Falls and continue flowing downstream to the lower Zambezi River.
- Victoria Falls sits on the very border of Zambia and Zimbabwe
- The indigenous name of Victoria Falls is Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means "the smoke that thunders. "The Fall is still referred to by this name by many people in Africa and even in other parts of the World
- The Scottish missionary and explorer Doctor David Livingstone discovered Victoria Falls in 1855 and named the falls after Queen Victoria in England
- Victoria Falls is one of the few places on Earth where the Lunar Rainbow or Moonbow occurs regularly and can be witnessed easily. Moonbowsor lunar rainbows are rare natural atmospheric phenomena that occur when the Moon's light is reflected and refracted off water droplets in the air.
- The spray of Victoria Falls rises to a height of over 400m. On full moon nights
- Victoria Falls is the only waterfall on the list of the World's seven natural wonders.
- There are five gorges, or deep cracks, to which the Zambezi River flows from the falls. They vary in size and intensity of water flow and are all named from one to five in the order the river reaches them. The fall passes through the first gorge and gradually opens into the rest. A pool at the end of the second gorge is aptly named Boiling Pot due to the swirling motion and highly rough water. It is at this point where almost anything that falls over the falls is captured. The pattern of these gorges has changed throughout the fall-long history, and new gorges are forming.
- Devil's Pool ( Natural Swimming Pool) is adjacent to the famous Livingstone Island at the top of Victoria Falls.
What to do
