Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls is one of the most spectacular natural sights in Africa and perhaps the world and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1989. It is located on the Zambezi River on the borders of Zimbabwe and Zambia and close to the border of Botswana. It's location means that it can easily be added on to holiday in any of these 3 countries. The closest towns are Victoria Falls Town in Zimbabwe, Livingstone in Zambia and Kasane in Botswana. All three towns have airports.

A visit to the Falls is definitely worth including in your holiday plans. If possible try to time it to coincide with a full moon. At this time, weather permitting, very special evening tours are organised to view the unique and beautiful 'lunar bow' over the falls.

The first European to “discover” Victoria Falls was David Livingstone, the famous Scottish missionary and African traveller. He heard about the Falls in 1851 and discovered them four years later, on 16th November 1855 and he named them in honour of Queen Victoria.

In the local Kololo language though they are called the Mosi-oa-Tunya - "The smoke that thunders". The name comes from the mist that rises up from the falls. At the peak of the wet season this mist can reach up to 300 metres in height and can be seen up to 30 km away.

With a width of 1708 m Victoria Falls is one of the widest waterfalls in the world. The Falls offer a very different spectacle depending on the time of year. The volume of water flowing over the falls reaches its peak in about February or March and to see the Falls then is a truly impressive sight although the spray can often obscure the Falls when close to them and make it hard to get good pictures. By September and October the volume of water has dropped significantly and in years of bad drought can be reduced to a small trickle.

It is not just the Victoria Falls though that are special. They are located in Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park, an area of beautiful and lush rainforest which has been a protected conservation area since 1934. The park occupies an area of 68.6 km² and has a well developed infrastructure and many large animals and provides you with wonderful and peaceful surroundings to walk through as you view the Falls.