Victoria Falls - Zimbabwe

VICTORIA FALLS - Best Natural Places to visit in Zimbabwe

Largest Water Curtain

THE BEAUTY

Nature has given such masterpieces to the world that human imagination can not reach to that level of excellence. There is every kind of beauty that you can find in this world. From the sky high mountains to lush green valleys, from noisy rivers to the dead and silent seas, from the beautiful lakes to the astonishing waterfalls, from the green meadows to the vast deserts, in short this world is full of beauty and wonders. Among other spectacular sceneries, there is one place which is just amazing, astonishing and beautiful. It is called Victoria Falls. These falls are called the largest curtain of falling water in the world because when you see the picture or have a visit of Victoria falls it looks like a curtain on a wall. If someone is planning to have a romantic time with nothing around you, a quite atmosphere, then this would be the best place to romance your loved one. If someone likes some thrill and action and love the sunny days then no place would be matched other than the Victoria falls. This place is famous around the world for its unmatched beauty. Its popularity can be understood with the fact that more than 300,000 tourists around the world visit Victoria Falls every year. This is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and a world heritage site.

HISTORY

The history of this spectacular place is not so far long. It was discovered in 1885 by David Livingstone, but the tribes near the falls are living since hundreds of years. David Livingstone was a Scottish and Physician by profession. Before the David’s visit, it was named Mosi-oa-Tunya. Then Livingstone named the falls on the name of his Queen Victoria.

LOCATION & FORMATION

This beautiful place is located in southern Africa on Zambezi River. It is situated between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Zambezi River flows over a basalt sheet. On this sheet there are distant sandstone hills shallow valleys. There are also some islands which are in increasing numbers near the falls. The visitors will wonder that there are no mountains or valleys which create waterfall. There is just a basalt plateau which is wide spread on hundreds of kilometers. The river plunges headlong into the 100 m vertical chasm. The river spans here about one and half kilometer. If we say that this water fall is the largest water fall of the world then it will not be wrong. We can not say that it is the highest or widest water fall in the world. Its height is 108 m (354 ft) and width is 1,708 m (5604 ft). With this height and width it forms the largest falling water sheet of the world. Victoria falls are easily accessible from anywhere in Africa.

WEATHER

There is a rainy season from November to April and weather remains dry for the rest of the year. River faces a flood from February to May and it reaches to its peak in April. When the water falls it creates a spray of water. This spray is normally 400m high and some times it reaches twice of the normal. Visitors can see the spray from a distance of 50km.

NATIONAL PARKS & WILDLIFE

There are number of national parks in the area. One is called Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park which is about 66 sq km and the other one is called Victoria Falls National Park which is 23 sq km. 40km Zambezi National Park has also been established along the river. These national parks also contain an abundant wildlife. There you can find elephants, buffalos, zebras, lions, leopards, vervet monkeys and baboons.