The Victoria Falls presents a spectacular sight of awe-inspiring beauty and grandeur on the Zambezi River, forming a natural border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It was described by the Kololo tribe living in the area as ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ – ‘The Smoke that Thunders’ for the immense spray and incredible noise caused by the rushing water. Victoria Falls is now also known as the greatest curtain of falling water in the world when its width and height are combined.
Columns of spray can be seen from miles away as, at the height of the rainy season, more than five hundred million cubic meters (over 17 billion cubic feet) of water per minute plummet over the edge, over a width of nearly two kilometers or over a mile, into a gorge over a hundred meters or 300 feet below.
The wide basalt cliff over which the Falls thunder transforms the Zambezi from a placid river into a ferocious torrent cutting through a series of dramatic gorges.
Facing the Falls is another sheer wall of basalt, rising to the same height, and capped by mist-soaked rain forest. A path along the edge of the forest provides those prepared to brave the tremendous spray with an unparalleled series of views of the Falls.
One special vantage point is across the Knife-edge Bridge, where you can have the finest view of the Eastern Cataract and the Main Falls as well as the Boiling Pot, where the river turns and heads down the Batoka Gorge. Other vantage points include Livingstone Island, the Falls Bridge, Devil’s Pool and the Lookout Tree, both of which command panoramic views across the Main Falls.
Both sides offer magnificent views of the waterfall, but it’s your accommodation preferences and choice of activities that might influence your decision.
If you want the best of both worlds, you can easily get across the border via Victoria Falls Bridge. All you’ll need is your passport and a double / multiple entry visa, which you can purchase at the border control (your guide or transfer agent generally expedites this for you). This means that if you’re staying on the Zambian side and want to view the Falls from the Zimbabwean side, you can do so comfortably on a day trip – and vice versa.
As about three quarters of Victoria Falls lie in Zimbabwe, the country has the lion’s share of vantage points. You can take a stroll down Victoria Falls National Park’s footpaths, meandering through drizzling rainforest and out onto gorge-edge viewpoints where you’ll be greeted head-on by the glorious Main Falls – thundering down into the rocky chasm below, causing tremors in the ground beneath your feet.
