The Mother of Falls

Africa » Zimbabwe » Victoria Falls
October 10th 2011

Published: June 17th 2017

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01 Falls

My first view of the amazing Victoria Falls.

Geo: -17.93, 25.84

This morning we had breakfast at the backpackers and then got in the car. It was a short drive to the Victoria Falls National Park, where the famous Victoria Falls can be viewed. The entrance fee was quite steep – USD 40. I was excited to be here, as I have heard about these impressive falls. The falls have been declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Sight. At their highest, the falls measure 108 metres in height and 1.7km wide. They are also known as 'The Smoke that Thunders', possibly due to the noise it makes. The falls were discovered by the Scottish explorer – David Livingstone in 1855.

We walked through the rainforest and then had our first view of the falls. The other side of the falls is in Zambia. It was an impressive sight. On our way to the next lookout point we stopped to watch a few Vervet Monkeys. We also saw a statue of David Livingstone. As we walked between each lookout point, Paul, Claudine & Neil did some birding. They were able to identify many birds. The most interesting sound we heard was from the Trumpeter Hornbill. We spent the next hour looking

02 Falls

Another view of the falls.

for it. We took many photos of the falls, as the water fell into the various gorges.

Further along the path, we could see people on the Zambian side swimming at the top of the falls. It looked dangerous. At the end of the path, we enjoyed sitting on the rocks and looking down, watching the water fall. From near here, we had a great view of the Victoria Falls Bridge. This is the entrance to Zambia.

Being dry season, there was not as much water as there would be during the wet season. I thought that there was still an impressive amount of water.

In the end we spent an hour and a half here. It is a really nice place. Before we leave Victoria Falls, we had some more shopping to do. We did a last shop at the supermarket and then we were off to the isolation of Hwange National Park!

Additional photos below

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