Victoria Falls and Livingston Falls, discovered by a Scottish explorer. Discovery of Victoria Falls by David Livingston Victoria Falls discovered

British physician, missionary, prominent explorer of Africa

He explored the lands of South and Central Africa, including the Zambezi River basin and Lake Nyasa, discovered Victoria Falls, Shirva and Bangweulu lakes, Lualaba river. Together with Henry Stanley, he explored Lake Tanganyika. During his travels, Livingston determined the position of more than 1,000 points; he was the first to point out the main features of the relief of South Africa, studied the system of the Zambezi River, laid the foundation for the scientific study of the large lakes of Nyasa and Tanganyika.

Named after him City of Livingstonia in Malawi and Livingston (Maramba) in Zambia, as well as waterfalls in the lower reaches of the Congo and mountains on the northeastern shore of Lake Nyasa. Blantyre, Malawi's largest city with a population of over 600,000, was named after Livingston's hometown.

"I will discover Africa or perish."

(David Lingvinston)

Brief chronology

1823-38 independently learned Latin and Greek, mathematics. At the University of Glasgow, he studied theology and medicine for 2 years, received a doctorate.

1838 received the priesthood

1840 as a missionary, Livingston traveled to Africa to the Moffett Mission at Kuruman on the northern frontier of the Cape Colony

1843 Livingston established his own mission at Kolobeng in the Bechuan Country (future Bechuanaland Protectorate)

1849 as a topographer and researcher, Livingston, accompanied by African guides, was the first European to cross the Kalahari Desert and explore Lake Ngami on the southern edge of the Okavango swamps. For the discovery he was awarded the British Royal Geographical Society with a Gold Medal and a cash prize.

1853 entered the Zambezi River basin, entered the main village of the Linyanti Makololo tribe

1855-56 returned to the headwaters of the Zambezi, traced the entire course of the river to the delta, discovered Victoria Falls(named Livingston in honor of the Queen of England), went to the Indian Ocean near the city of Quelimane, thereby completing the crossing of the mainland

1857 published "The Travels and Explorations of a Missionary in South Africa"

1858-61, as consul of the Zambezi region, Livingston went to East Africa, where he made a number of discoveries, in particular Lake Shirva. Mapped Lake Nyasa, studying the origins of Africa's main waterway, the Nile River

1866-71 Livingston went to Africa for the third time, explored the southern and western coasts Lake Tanganyika, discovered Lake Bangweulu to the southwest of it and the large river Lualaba flowing north

1874 his notes of 1865-1872 were published. titled "The Last Diaries of David Livingstone in Central Africa"

Life story

David Livingstone was born into a very poor Scottish family and at the age of ten he experienced much of what fell to the lot of Oliver Twist and other children from the books of Dickens. But even exhausting work in a weaving factory for 14 hours a day could not prevent David from attending college.

Having received a medical and theological education, Livingston entered the service of the London Missionary Society, whose leadership sent him as a doctor and missionary to South Africa. From 1841 Livingston lived at the mission in the mountainous area of ​​Kuruman among the Bechuans. He quickly learned their language, which belongs to the Bantu language family. This was very useful to him later on during his travels, since all Bantu languages ​​are similar to each other, and Livingston was free to do without an interpreter.

Livingston's travel companion and work assistant was his wife Mary, daughter of a local missionary and explorer of South Africa. Robert Moffett. The Livingston couple spent 7 years in the Bechuan country. During his travels, David combined the activities of a missionary with the study of nature in the northern regions of the land of the Bechuans. Listening attentively to the stories of the natives, Livingston became interested in Lake Ngami. To see him, in 1849 he crossed from south to north Kalahari Desert and described it as a very flat surface, cut through by dry riverbeds and not as deserted as it was commonly believed. Semi-desert is a more appropriate definition for the Kalahari.

In August of that year, Livingston explored Lake Ngami. It turned out that this reservoir is a temporary lake, which fills with the waters of the large Okavango River during the rainy season. In June 1851, Livingston traveled northeast from the Okavango swamp through tsetse-infested territory and for the first time reached the Linyanti River, the lower reaches of the Kwando, a right tributary of the Zambezi. In the large village of Sesheke, he managed to establish good relations with the leader of the powerful Makololo tribe and receive help and support from him.

In November 1853, Livingston began a water tour of the Zambezi. A flotilla of 33 boats, on which 160 Negroes of the Makololo tribe settled down, moved up the rapids river through a vast plain - a typical South African savannah. As the rapids were overcome, Livingston let black sailors and warriors go home. By February 1854, when there were very few people left, the expedition went up the river to the upper right tributary of the Shefumage. Passing along its valley to the watershed, Livingston saw that behind him all the streams flowed in a northerly direction. These rivers turned out to be part of the Congo system. Turning west, the expedition reached the Atlantic Ocean near Luanda.

Following the short Bengo River to its upper reaches, in October 1855 Livingston passed to the upper section of the Zambezi and began rafting down the river. Passing Sesheke, he discovered a majestic waterfall 1.8 km wide. This waterfall, named Victoria in honor of the Queen, is now known as one of the most powerful in the world. Here, the waters of the Zambezi rush down from a ledge 120 m high and leave in a stormy stream into a narrow and deep gorge.

Gradually descending the river through a mountainous country with many rapids and waterfalls, on May 20, 1856, Livingston reached the Indian Ocean at the port of Quelimane. Thus was completed the crossing of the African continent.

In 1857, returning to his homeland, Livingston published Missionary's Travels and Explorations in South Africa book, which in a short time was published in all European languages ​​and made the author famous. Geographical science was replenished with important information: tropical Central Africa south of the 8th parallel “turned out to be an elevated plateau, somewhat lowering in the center, and with crevices along the edges along which rivers run to the sea ... The place of the legendary hot zone and burning sands was occupied by a well-irrigated area, reminiscent of North America with its freshwater lakes, and India with its hot, humid valleys, jungles, ghats (highlands) and cool high plateaus.

For a decade and a half lived in South Africa, Livingston fell in love with the locals and became friends with them. He treated his guides, porters, rowers as equals, was frank and friendly with them. The Africans responded to him with complete reciprocity. Livingston hated slavery and believed that the peoples of Africa could achieve liberation and independence. The English authorities took advantage of the high reputation of the traveler among the Negroes and offered him the post of consul in Quelimane. Having accepted the offer, Livingston abandoned missionary work and came to grips with research work. In addition, he contributed to the penetration of English capital into Africa, regarding this as progress.

But the traveler was attracted by new routes. In May 1858, Livingston, with his wife, young son and brother Charles, arrived in East Africa. In early 1859, he explored the lower reaches of the Zambezi River and its northern tributary, the Shire. Several thresholds were opened to them and murchison waterfall. In the spring, in the basin of this river, Livingston discovered and described Lake Shirva. In September, he surveyed the southern shore of Lake Nyasa and, having made a series of measurements of its depth, obtained values ​​of more than 200 m (modern data bring this value to 706 m). In September 1861, Livingston returned to the lake again and, together with his brother, advanced more than 1200 km north along the west coast. It was not possible to penetrate further due to the hostility of the natives and the approach of the rainy season. According to the results of the survey, Livingston compiled the first map of Nyasa, on which the reservoir stretched almost along the meridian for 400 km (according to modern data - 580 km).

On this journey, Livingston suffered a heavy loss: on April 27, 1862, his wife and faithful companion, Mary Moffet-Livingston, died of tropical malaria. The Livingston brothers continued their journey. At the end of 1863, it turned out that the steep shores of Lake Nyasa were not mountains, but only the edges of high plateaus. Further, the brothers continued the discovery and study of the East African Rift Zone, i.e., the giant meridional system of fault troughs. In England in 1865 came out book "The story of the expedition to the Zambezi and its tributaries and the discovery of lakes Shirva and Nyasa in 1858-1864.".

In 1866, Livingston, having landed on the eastern coast of the continent opposite the island of Zanzibar, went south to the mouth of the Ruvuma River, and then, turning west and rising to its upper reaches, went to Nyasa. This time the traveler circled the lake from the south and west. During 1867 and 1868 he examined in detail the southern and western shores Tanganyika.

Wanderings in tropical Africa are always fraught with dangerous infections. Livingston did not escape them either. For many years, suffering from malaria, he became weak and so emaciated that he could not even be called a "walking skeleton", because he could no longer walk and moved only in a stretcher. But the stubborn Scot continued his research. Southwest of Tanganyika, he discovered lake bangweulu, whose area periodically changes from 4 to 15 thousand square meters. km, and Lualaba River. Trying to find out whether it belongs to the Nile or Congo system, he could only assume that it could be part of the Congo.

In October 1871, Livingston stopped for rest and treatment in the village of Ujiji on the east coast of Tanganyika. At this time, Europe and America were concerned about the lack of any news from him. Went in search journalist Henry Stanley. He accidentally found Livingston in Ujiji, and then together they went around the northern part of Tanganyika, finally making sure that the Nile did not flow out of Tanganyika, as many thought.

Stanley called Livingston to Europe with him, but he limited himself to handing over diaries and other materials with a journalist to London. He wanted to finish the exploration of Lualaba and again went to the river. On the way, Livingston stopped in the village of Chitambo, and on the morning of May 1, 1873, the servants found him dead on the floor of the hut. The Africans, who adored the white defender, embalmed his body and carried the remains on a stretcher to the sea, overcoming almost 1,500 km. The great Scot was buried in Westminster Abbey. In 1874 his diaries entitled "The Last Journey of David Livingstone" were published in London.

The Zambezi River turns into a foamy and roaring cascade of water from one of the most magnificent waterfalls breaking down from sheer cliffs.

When the Zambezi River is full, 7,500 cubic meters m of water passes through the Victoria Falls in a second. The volume of water is so large and it rushes down with such force that a cloud of spray rising into the air can be seen even 40 km away. The local name for Victoria Falls is "Mosi-oa-tunya" which translates to "Smoke that thunders". A rainbow often plays in the spray of this majestic waterfall, rising to a height of up to 300 m.

The waterfall is only the beginning of a picturesque section of the riverbed, because the river, shrouded in a cloud of spray, immediately rushes with a roar into a narrow gorge, along which it winds in zigzags for almost 70 years. These intricate twists and dizzying turns are caused by cracks in the rock, widened over millennia by the sheer force of water. The Zambezi River meanders over a plateau formed from layers of sandstone and basalt; at the meeting points of these two different rocks, cracks form.

David Livingston - a weaver who became a doctor, a famous traveler, explorer - discovered the Victoria Falls to the world. During all the years of his stay in Africa, he allowed himself only once to change the local name and only once carved his initials and the date "1855" on the tree - the year of the great discovery. Livingstone's heart was committed to African soil in Ilala, his body rests in Westminster Abbey in London. The great traveler left us a handwritten drawing of Victoria.

In November 1855, Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone was the first European to reach the Victoria Falls. He had first heard of the falls four years earlier when, together with William Cotton Oswell, he reached the banks of the Zambezi River 130 km to the west.

Then in 1853-1856 Livingston was the first European to cross Africa. As a missionary, he hoped to open the heart of Africa to Christian preachers. Livingston traveled north from South Africa through Bechuanaland (now Botswana) and reached the Zambezi River. Then he headed west, towards the ocean towards Luanda (Angola). Deciding, however, that this path was too difficult, he turned east and, having traveled most of the way along the Zambezi, reached Quelimane on the Mozambican coast in May 1856.

Surprisingly, the explorer was not at all happy to have discovered such a magnificent waterfall as Victoria, although he later wrote that he gave "views so beautiful that they should have delighted angels in flight." For David Livingston, the waterfall, which is literally a wall of water about 1,675 meters long and 107 meters high, was, in fact, an obstacle in the way of Christian missionaries seeking to reach the natives in the depths of the mainland. For him, the main result of the journey was the discovery of the Batoka plateau east of the falls - a place that seemed to him suitable for establishing a settlement if the Zambezi was navigable along its entire length (this did not happen). Despite the annoyance caused by the discovery of the waterfall, which cut off the "path" he saw, Livingston nevertheless admitted that his greatness was worthy only of the name of the British Queen Victoria.

The falls and the area around it have been declared national parks to keep the region from being over-commercialised. Victoria Falls has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List along with four more natural and architectural monuments of Zimbabwe. The Zambezi National Park is located just a few kilometers upriver from the falls. Here visitors can enjoy the sight of elephants, hippos, crocodiles, zebras and many exotic birds, as well as see herds of the rarest saber-horned antelope.
The Victoria Rolls National Park covers the area just behind the falls and includes an endless number of races. crevices, which in the early centuries were part of the waterfall. Visitors can enjoy a sunny day on the Zambezi River, take a boat trip down the river, or take a bird's-eye view of the falls on one of the light pleasure planes, or view the falls in all their beauty while strolling through the lush rainforest, kept moist by the ever-decreasing water. dust from the waterfall.
For the most adventurous, the Zambezi River offers such a form of entertainment as rafting, kayaking or canoeing down the turbulent river. Not for the faint of heart, another local form of entertainment is bungee jumping from the Victoria Falls Bridge. Victoria Falls can be reached by almost any means of transport: by road, air, rail or water. On the spot, tourists will be offered the best living conditions.

Victoria Falls is located, which is superior in width and is 120 meters, width - 1.8 km.

The Zambezi itself is a very calm river, which changes dramatically on the cliff of the basalt plateau. The river here overthrows in five powerful streams, dropping about 550 million liters of water into the gorge per minute. The force of the impact of the water mass on the rock below is so strong that it seems as if the spray turns into "steam" and forms columns of "smoke" of great height.

Victoria Falls is an unusual natural phenomenon. It was formed during the splitting of basalt into tectonic blocks, as a result of which a crack formed across the channel of the Zambezi River, which was then expanded by powerful water flows. River waters, squeezed by a narrow gorge, seethe and boil, creating a roar and rumble. Victoria Falls is only the beginning, which winds through a narrow gorge in zigzags along cracks in basalt rock for almost 70 km.

The strength of the flow of water varies depending on the season and time of year. In the spring, during floods, the water level in the Zambezi rises, and the waterfall fills with strength, becomes powerful, fast and impetuous. During drought, the nature of the waterfall is tamed, islands of land appear on the river and on the edge of the cliff.

If you swim upstream to the waterfall, it seems that the water goes into the ground, because you can see the “shore” in front of you along the river. Opposite the waterfall there is another cliff covered with continuous tropical forest.

Victoria Falls is famous for a rare phenomenon: magnificent "lunar rainbows". They are formed by the refraction of not only sunlight, but also moonlight. Night rainbows are especially attractive during the full moon, when the Zambezi River becomes full.

All tourists who decide to visit this attraction must take umbrellas, waterproof clothes and shoes with them. All equipment also requires protection from the splashes that the Victoria Falls creates. The photos taken here will cover all these chores with a vengeance. After all, only in this case the memories will remain imprinted.

Victoria is a waterfall that can be observed from several viewing platforms. One of the most successful is considered the bridge called “Knife Blade” - here you can see powerful streams of water and a place called “Boiling Cauldron”, where the river turns and goes into the Batoka Gorge. It is very convenient to evaluate this most beautiful place from the railway bridge thrown over the waterfall, as well as from the “Observation Tree”. Here the waterfall appears in all its frightening power and beauty.

Not far from the parking lot, where tourists begin their tour, there is a Museum of the history of the waterfall. Its exhibitions tell about the changes that Victoria Falls has undergone over its long history, and how the water has laid and continues to make new sections in the rock.

From the side of Zimbabwe, near the waterfall, there is the city of Victoria Falls with the reserve of the same name, as well as another national park called Mosi-oa-Tunya.

During an excursion to the waterfall, you can go canoeing or rafting along the river, go on a safari, go horseback riding or elephant riding. For lovers of adrenaline, bungee jumping is offered - jumping from the highest point of the waterfall on a rope.

Victoria Falls is classified as the largest in the world, although it does not lead at all in terms of height or width when separately considering its size. However, it is the only one of all waterfalls that is both wider than 1 km and higher than 100 meters.

The grandiose waterfall is formed by several rapid streams, into which the Zambezi River is divided by islands. The total width of the waterfall, taking into account all the falling streams, is 1708 m, so it is not at all surprising that it looks so bewitching from a height, and tourists from observation platforms on the ground can observe only separate sections, and not the full picture.

The height of the Victoria Falls is 108 meters (according to other sources - 120 m).

Thus, the waterfall is about 8-9 times lower and at the same time 16 times wider than Angel, the highest waterfall in the world.

Victoria Falls was included in the list of UNESCO sites in Africa in 1989.

Now the natural waterfall is one of the brightest and most popular tourist attractions in Africa, included in several basic routes through the national parks of the continent (at its foot, the smallest national park in Zimbabwe has been created).

Where is Victoria Falls

A wide waterfall is located almost in the middle of the flow of the Zambezi River, on the border of two countries - Zimbabwe and Zambia. Cascades of water in this place fall into a narrow crevice-precipice (about 120 m wide) with sheer walls.

Victoria Falls coordinates

Viewpoint in Zimbabwe - 17°55'30.1"S 25°51'13.3"E

Viewpoint in Zambia - 17°55'27.3"S 25°51'20.3"E

There are other viewing platforms - there are especially many of them on Livingston Island and opposite it. An experienced guide can suggest sites with non-trivial views of the crevice and cascades.

Who Discovered Victoria Falls

The first European who had the honor to see this waterfall and tell the world about it was a missionary and explorer, born Scot David Livingston. He managed to look at the waterfall from the modern Zambian side - a place later called Livingston Island. The discoverer named the waterfall in honor of the English Queen Victoria, who ruled at that time.

The name of the waterfall, given to it by the indigenous people of Tonga, is Mosi-oa-Tunya ("Smoke that thunders"). The possibility of an appropriate official renaming of the waterfall is being discussed.

How to get to Victoria Falls

Tourists who are going to visit the famous waterfall arrive in the city of Victoria Falls from Zimbabwe or Livingston in Zambia. Both cities have their own airport, and the settlements are connected by a railway bridge.

Air Zimbabwe operates daily flights between Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. The route along the Harare-Kariba-Victoria Falls triangle operates three times a week. In addition to regular flights, there are also charters from Wilderness Air, Executive Air and Halstead Air. The only low-cost carrier to Victoria Falls Airport is Fastjet.

Flights to Victoria Falls from Windhoek and Maun are operated four times a week by Air Namibia.

In Zambia, flights to Lusaka and Livingston are regularly supported by a single airline, Proflight Zambia.

The most colorful transport to the Falls National Park remains the restored historic train Victoria Falls Steam Train - with a dining car and a colonial-style interior, luxurious passenger service.

Many tourists come to the falls as part of tours of the national parks of Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Panorama of the waterfall from Zimbabwe, opposite Livingston Island

Video of the waterfall from the BBC

One of the most amazing natural phenomena, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, is located in South Africa on the Zambezi River. The name of this phenomenon, which causes delight and admiration, is Victoria Falls.

A feeling of admiration is caused not only by the cascade of water itself, falling from a height of 120 m, sometimes splitting into many separate jets, sometimes converging into a single plume, similar to a monolithic wall, but also the flow of seething water through a narrow gorge, which is 13 times narrower. than the Zambezi River falling from the rocks. A stream rushing down with a width of 1,800 m rushes with a roar into a narrow passage, whose width is only 140 m at the widest point of its mouth. Further, the mouth of the gorge shrinks to 100 m and the water rushes noisily into this crevice, spitting out clouds of tiny splashes that hang in the air and rise from impacts many hundreds of meters above the solid wall of a giant stream falling from a height. This is not the largest of the waterfalls in the world in height, but in its majesty it undoubtedly surpasses and.

Yes, not the highest, but the widest. Victoria is the only waterfall that is almost 2 km long with a height of just over 100 m. But the most unique thing is the plume of water that the waterfall overturns down: it is so even that it seems that instead of water, smooth transparent glass descends from a rocky peak. Plume Density: 1.804 Mcfm. Not a single waterfall in the world can boast of such a density of a water plume!

In addition, crystal-diamond spray rises over the Batoka canyon, where a narrowing gorge is located that receives a stream of water (up to 400 meters), and they are visible at a distance of up to 60 km on a clear day.

Off the western coast of Zimbabwe, the Zambezi streams are divided into three parts by several islands covered with lush tropical vegetation. The eastern part of the river, which belongs to the state of Zambia, is disturbed by about 30 large and small rocky islands.

Zambia and Zimbabwe "own" the waterfall on equal terms, the borders of these states lie along the calm banks of the Zambezi.

The river carries its waters freely along the flat plain of Savannah to the Indian Ocean, starting its way in black swamps and washing out its channel among soft sandy rocks. Washing over islands with small trees and shrubs, the river is wide and lazy until it reaches a rocky cliff, from where it falls vertically with a roar and noise. This is the watershed between the upper and middle Zambezi, the boundary of which is the Victoria Falls.

Who Discovered Victoria Falls?

The Zambezi River got its geographical name from the Scottish explorer and missionary David Livingstone. It is difficult to say who he was more - a missionary or a research scientist, but the fact remains: David Livingstone was the first European who managed to go so far along the channel of this fourth longest river in Africa, "bringing the Christian faith to black tongues", and at the same time exploring those parts of the African continent where the foot of a white man has not yet set foot. And only he has the right to be called the discoverer of the Victoria Falls.

From the local Makololo tribe, who from time immemorial put their simple dwellings near a waterfall on the banks of the river, Livingston learned that in the local dialect the name of the river sounds something like Xasambo-Wayze. He marked something like this on the map: "Zambezi." So the river that feeds the Victoria Falls received the official name on all geographical maps.

Some jets of the cascade are so small that they do not have time to return to the stream and scatter into thousands of thousands of diamond splashes right in the air, mixing with the iridescent haze that constantly envelops the waterfall. Livingston was simply smitten. Probably, the impression of the Victoria Falls was strengthened by the rainbow, which the scientist-missionary saw on the falls on a moonlit night. A lucky few have been able to observe this phenomenon. This happens when the high water level in the Zambezi coincides with the full moon.

A huge silver-white moon floats in the sky, illuminating, like a ghostly lantern, the silent forest, the smooth surface of the river sparkling with white stars and the seething waterfall. And above all this hangs a multi-colored rainbow, arched like a bow with a bowstring, one end resting against the black velvet of the sky, and drowning the other in a myriad of drops of water.

And all this splendor is possible within just 3 days. It is impossible to guess, despite the fact that high water is kept in Zambia from January to July, but the night rainbow at the waterfall does not “pamper” at all with its frequent appearance.

Continuation of the history of the waterfall

The scientist, who discovered for himself and for the rest of the world all the unique beauty of the flow of clear water of the Zambezi River falling from the rocks on November 17, 1855, was simply stunned.

“It’s dust from the wings of angels!” he whispered. And he added, like a true Brit, - God save the Queen! So this water cascade got its English name - Victoria Falls.

Livingston would later write in his diaries: “This is the only English name I have ever given to any part of the African continent. But, God knows, I could not do otherwise!”

Emil Golub (a Czech historian-researcher) spent several years on the banks of the Zambezi, although it took him only a few weeks to draw up a detailed map of the waterfall, so much was the power of this waterfall that attracted him. “I feed on his power! - said Emil Golub, - And he is not able to take his eyes off this force! As a result, arriving in Victoria Falls in 1875, he published his detailed plan only in 1880.

British artist Thomas Baines, who arrived in Africa, intrigued by stories about another miracle of nature, painted pictures in which he tried to convey all the unique beauty and bewitching power of the Victoria Falls. These were the first images of Victoria Falls seen by Europeans.

Meanwhile, the waterfall had its own local names. As many as three:

• Soengo (Rainbow).
• Chongue-Waizy (Sleepless Water).
• Mozi-oa-Tunya (Smoke that thunders).

To date, the World Heritage List recognizes two equivalent names for the waterfall: Victoria Falls and Mozi-oa-Tunya.

The island from which David Livingstone first had the opportunity to admire the greatness of the falls, today bears his name and is located in the very center of that part of the canyon top that belongs to the country of Zambia. In Zambia, a national park has been organized around Victoria Falls, bearing a “national” name - “Thundering Smoke” (“Mozi-oa-Tunya”). On the country side of Zimbabwe, there is exactly the same national park, but it is called "Victoria Falls" ("Victoria Falls").

Of course, whole herds of zebras and antelopes roam the territories of these reserves, a long-necked animal giraffe walks, there are both lions and rhinos, but the special pride of the parks is not the fauna, but the flora - the Singing Forest, which is also called the Weeping Forest.

A huge amount of the smallest drops of the waterfall rises for many miles around, and the mist irrigates the trees constantly growing in the forest and “tears” continuously flow from them. If you move a little further from the abyss in order to weaken the sound of the sound of water and listen, you can hear a ringing, lingering sound, similar to the hum of a string - the forest “sings”. In fact, this sound is emitted by the same water dust, constantly hovering over the green massif.

What else is worth knowing?

Of course, the waterfall itself! In addition to their unique width, the ledges of the abyss where the water falls are also unique, which is why they are commonly called “falls”.

Total falls 5:

1. eye of the devil. Often called "Cataract" or "Devil's Font". This natural bowl has its name, which is about 70 m from the upper edge of the abyss and about 20 sq. m area. The narrow stone pool, formed as a result of falling water, got its name from a small island in the neighborhood, where local pagan tribes used to make human sacrifices. The Europeans who arrived after Livingston called such a service to the black gods "devilish", hence the name of the island and the bowl. Despite the fact that now you can go down to the pool with the help of a guide (who knows exactly which descent is the safest) to admire the unreal view of falling water from a height of more than 100 m, the Devil's Font still collects its pagan harvest, taking 2- 3 people per year.
2. Main waterfall. By far, this is the most majestic and widest curtain of water, diving from a height at a speed of 700,000 cubic meters / min. In some of its sections, the water does not have time to reach the Batoka Gorge and, picked up by mighty winds, breaks in the air, forming thousands of thousands of small sprays, creating a dense fog. The height of the Main waterfall is about 95 m.
3. Horseshoe or Dry Falls. Height 90-93 m. It is famous for the fact that it dries up from October to November, and in normal times it does not shine with the amount of water in the literal sense of this expression.
4. rainbow waterfall. The highest of all falls - 110 m! On a clear day, the rainbow fog of billions of hanging drops is visible for several tens of kilometers, and only here on a full moon can you see a lunar rainbow.
5. East threshold. This is the second highest fall at 101 m. The Eastern Rapids lies entirely on the Zambian side of the Victoria Falls.

So that Victoria Falls can be viewed and many magnificent photographs taken from different angles, several sites have been made. The most popular is the Knife Blade. It is located right on the bridge across the entire waterfall, from which you can see the Eastern Threshold, the Boiling Cauldron, and the Eye of the Devil.

The pictures that remain in the memory after visiting Victoria Falls are in no way inferior in brightness to the impressions received when visiting this miracle of nature. And to make these pictures harder to remember, you can order a flight-excursion from a bird's eye view by helicopter or, conversely, rafting in kayaks or canoes.

In general, after the construction of the railway in 1905, the flow of tourists to the waterfall increased to 300 thousand people a year, however, since there is no political stability in African countries, this flow has not increased for the last 100 years.