Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls lies on the Zambezi River where it forms the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Zambian town of Livingstone sits about 10 kilometres away, and the Zimbabwean town of Victoria Falls stands right beside the gorge. Both countries protect their side, Zambia in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park and Zimbabwe in Victoria Falls National Park.

The local Lozi name, Mosi-oa-Tunya, means the smoke that thunders. The Scottish missionary David Livingstone, the first European known to have seen the falls, reached them in November 1855 and named them after Queen Victoria. UNESCO listed the falls as a World Heritage Site in 1989 under both names.

The falls are about 108 metres high and 1,708 metres wide, which makes them one of the largest sheets of falling water in the world. The river drops into a narrow chasm and then zigzags through a series of gorges cut by the falls over thousands of years. In the flood season the spray rises hundreds of metres and can be seen from up to 50 kilometres away.

The Victoria Falls Bridge, completed in 1905 for the railway, crosses the Second Gorge and links the two countries, and it is also used for bungee jumping. Devil's Pool, at the lip of the falls on the Zambian side, is reached by guided trips from Livingstone Island when the water is low. Other activities include rafting in the Batoka Gorge, microlight and helicopter flights, and sunset cruises on the upper Zambezi.

Flow peaks around April, when the spray can hide the view and walkers get soaked, and drops to its lowest around November, when parts of the Zambian side can run dry. Entry to each national park is paid at the gate, with separate fees on each side. A KAZA UniVisa, where available, allows easy crossing between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

How much water goes over Victoria Falls?

On average about 1,088 cubic metres of water per second pour over Victoria Falls, but the figure swings widely between seasons and years. The flood peaks in April. In the 2019 drought the flow fell to its lowest level in a century.

The constant spray waters a strip of rainforest along the edge of the gorge. The two national parks around the falls also protect elephants, buffalo, hippos and rhinos, along with many bird species.

Tourism began in earnest once the railway and the bridge arrived in the early 1900s, which is why the town on the Zimbabwean side grew up right at the gorge. Variable rainfall linked to climate change is now one of the main concerns for both parks, as the character of the falls depends on how much rain reaches the upper Zambezi each year.