Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls, the vast curtain where the Zambezi thunders into a chasm, is shared between Zambia and Zimbabwe, and the Zambian side, reached from the town of Livingstone, offers its own thrilling perspective on this UNESCO World Heritage wonder. Here visitors walk out along the Knife-Edge Bridge for close, drenching views into the gorge, and, in the low-water months, brave swimmers can be guided into Devil's Pool, a natural rock pool right on the very lip of the falls, peering over the edge, an experience found nowhere else on earth.

History

The Tonga called the falls Shungu na mutitima, the Ndebele aManz' aThunqayo and the Makololo, whose language the Lozi use, Mosi-oa-Tunya, all meaning in essence the smoke that thunders, and a map by Nicolas de Fer of 1715 already shows them in the right place. In November 1855 David Livingstone, travelling down the Zambezi between 1852 and 1856, became the first European known to see them, paddled out to the island that now bears his name on the Zambian side, and named them after Queen Victoria; he came back in 1860 with John Kirk to study them in detail. The falls, 1,708 metres wide, were seldom visited by Europeans until the railway arrived in 1905, and the town of Livingstone grew up on the north bank (Wikipedia, Victoria Falls).

Highlights

• The Knife-Edge Bridge - the close, drenching walkway into the gorge.
• Devil's Pool - the dry-season swim at the very brink of the falls.
• The Boiling Pot - the swirling gorge at the foot of the falls.
• Livingstone Island - the island trips to the edge of the falls.

When to go

Timing matters greatly: February to July brings the fullest, most thunderous flow, though heavy spray can obscure views; August to December, the low-water season, reveals more rock but allows the famous Devil's Pool swim, which is closed at high water. The two seasons offer very different experiences.

Practical notes

The Zambian side can slow to a relative trickle in the driest months, late in the year, when the Zimbabwean side holds more water, so it is worth checking the season, though low water is exactly when Devil's Pool opens. Devil's Pool, while guided, is genuinely exhilarating and not for the faint-hearted. The intimate, thrilling views and the unique brink-of-the-falls swim, though, make the Zambian side unforgettable.

Nearby

The town of Livingstone, the Zambezi and Zimbabwe's falls are close by.

Key facts