The Smoke That Thunders

The Zambezi River is the fourth largest in Africa (1673 miles) after the Nile, the Congo, and the Niger.

Roughly 620 miles from the source of the Zambezi, the river divides the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe where it plunges into a deep gorge to form one of the largest waterfalls in the world, Victoria Falls.

The first European to see Victoria Falls was David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary and explorer.

Upon viewing the massive waterfall, he named it Victoria Falls in honor of the Queen of England. However, the locals had long called the falls Mosi-oa-Tunya – the Smoke that Thunders.

This name comes from the spray from the falls that rises to a height of over 1300 feet (up to 2600 feet in high season) and is visible up to 31 miles away!

My first views of Victoria Falls were from the Zimbabwe side, in the early morning around sunrise, and the spray only occasionally granted me a glimpse of this awesome waterfall.

As the day wore on, I was able to enjoy more views of the falls, which are 5698 feet wide.

Every year, the area experiences a rainy season from November to April. Therefore, the river swells from February to May – reaching its peak in April (when I was visiting the falls!). During the flood season, the walks along the cliffs opposite the falls are in a constant shower. In fact, spray shoots upward as if it’s raining from below! Needless to say, I got wet.

Average water flow in April is ten times that of the lowest time (usually around November) creating quite a different view for visitors.

As a point of comparison, during peak flow in April, an amount of water equal to the annual water consumption of all of New York City goes over the falls every 3 ½ days!

This variation in flow causes some difficulties when trying to rank the size of Victoria Falls against other large waterfalls of the world.

There are three ways to measure a waterfall: height, width, and volume. In height, Victoria Falls doesn’t rank in the top 800, it is 10^th largest by width, and only 13^th largest by volume. However, some call Victoria Falls the largest waterfall in the world since the width and height together form the largest single sheet of falling water in the world.

Iguazu Falls in Argentina/Brazil is a close contender for this title. However, despite being over 3000 feet wider, Iguazu is broken into 270 separate falls. Therefore, it cannot lay claim to the largest single sheet of falling water. (For more information and photos of Iguazu, see my earlier blog: http://bothsidesnowblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/poor-niagara.html).

I really enjoyed the views from both the Zambian and Zimbabwean National Parks as well as the Victoria Falls Bridge that links them.

But one thing that struck me in both national parks were the safety measures, or lack thereof, and what a sharp contrast this is to parks in the United States. To be clear, I think all of the guard rails and signs in the US take it too far. However, Victoria Falls is clearly at the other end of the spectrum. Some examples:

A warning sign in Zimbabwe mentioning “slippery rocks” and “no barriers.”

Sure enough, slippery rocks and no barriers!

Some typical walkways in the Zambian park – next to a 350 foot plunge to the raging waters below!

Not that I mind the natural views without signs and fences, but I did step a bit more carefully!

The locals, however, didn’t seem too concerned. The water at the lip of the falls seems to be a popular spot for a dip.

I however, stayed on dry ground.

But, surprisingly, the park authorities don’t have a problem with more “adventurous” behavior. I was completely shocked to see this sign as I watched the water rushing over the edge just a few feet away:

Personally, there’s nothing about this view:

that makes me want to walk across the river (especially when I hear about the “occasional deaths”). I prefer to walk on more designated walkways, with the spray, you get just as wet as going for a dip!

Regardless of whether or not Victoria Falls is the largest waterfall in the world, no one can deny its natural beauty. Mother Nature certainly blessed this section of Africa!

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