Victoria Falls

Located in Africa and considered to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of The World. Victoria Falls is also known as Mosi-oa-Tunya ("The smoke which thunders").

A far away aerial view of Victoria Falls as the plane approached Victoria Falls International Airport provides me with what seems to be a field of fire and white smoke rising into the sky, hence the local nickname of "the smoke which thunders."

As you get closer to waterfall itself though, it becomes more apparent that what at first appeared to be white smoke is actually a huge cloud of water rising up as the Zambezi River waters come crashing down Victoria Falls with amazing power and beauty. Victoria Falls is considered by some to be the largest and most unusual waterfalls on planet Earth.

When the flight arrives back on earth, there is a very smooth 24km highway trip by car from the airport to Victoria Falls town. Beautiful trees line each side of the road. The actual Victoria Falls town is clean, and can easily be confused with some small modern cities in more developed areas of the world. There really isn't much traffic, with the exception of the large number of buses and minibuses giving tours of the Victoria Falls area.

Before arriving at Victoria Falls, you should make sure to be prepared for a rainy day. It is impossible to view the falls without getting rained on a bit. It won't actually be "rainwater" but will be water from the waterfall and white misty "smoke" that I talked about earlier. My best advice is to take a poncho or a raincoat with you. I'd also recommend wearing shorts instead of long pants. There are paved walkways along all of Victoria Falls are maintained nicely and easily accessible by wheel chair.

The Victoria Falls area has plenty of lodgings and hotels of all sorts that will be perfect for every class of traveler. Use Hotels.com or Hotel Guide to search the area.

The first stop on the tour of the park will probably be the big Livingstone statue. This statue was put under tight security when some locals wanted to destroy it the statue because of political differences between Zimbabwe and Great Britain in the past.

After seeing the Livingstone statue, your next stop should be to view Devil’s Cataract and the Cataract Island. The Devil’s Cataract is at the western end of the falls. There is an amazing force of water flowing down the Devil’s Cataract. The next stop after this is the Main Falls. This is where a person will probably experience the most rainfall, but this is still absolutely the best way of viewing Victoria Falls. From there (the Main Falls), I suggest heading towards the Livingstone Island. Dr. Livingstone himself once docked at Livingstone Island and spent the night there without even knowing the falls were just ahead. Continuing to the east, the next stop location of interest is Horseshoe Falls, and then Rainbow Falls followed finally by the Eastern Cataract.

The beautiful sight of Victoria Falls simply cannot be put into words, and the scene there in person is never the same, yet always amazing and obviously designed by the hand of God. From the Devil’s Cataract to the Eastern Cataract, Victoria Falls is 1,700 meters wide. The average height of Victoria Falls is 93 meters. An average of 34,000 cubic meters of water flow over Victoria Falls each minute.

The best time to visit the falls is probably sometime between February and June. This is the time the falls are fullest and most complete from Devil’s Cataract to the Eastern Cataract. During other months, there is typically less rainfall, and Horseshoe Falls, Rainbow Falls and Eastern Cataract usually have little or no water flowing on them. As you exit the falls after the Eastern Cataract, you will head towards the famous bridge joining Zimbabwe to Zambia. This is the bridge where bungee jumping is very popular. Canoeing and white water rafting are both also also available here downstream. River cruises are available upstream prior to the falls. The best way to actually view the entire falls is probably by helicopter flight. The "Flight Of Angels" provides a fantastic experience and unbelievable view of Victoria Falls.

Victoria Falls has possibly the most diverse and easily seen wildlife of any major waterfall area in the world.

One of the many activities available at Victoria Falls is a "Sundowner Cruise" that will provide a terrific experience. Also, any visit to Victoria Falls should not be complete without visiting The Boma - "The Place of Eating." It is a great place to dine and part of the entertainment features traditional dances. Elephant rides and visits to the crocodile farm are also available. Botswana is just about an hour drive from Victoria Falls and if you have the time, you should definitely consider visiting Botswana for a night or two.