The Victoria Falls – Also acknowledged as ‘The Smoke That Thunders’
General Information for Victoria Falls:
Also known as Mosi-oa-Tunya (the smoke that thunders). It is positioned in Southern Africa on the Zambezi River amid the countries of Zimbabwe and Zambia. They are the greatest falls in the world. One of the seven natural wonders of the world the falls were named after Queen Victoria by David Livingstone, a missionary and trailblazer who was believed to have been the first European reported to have viewed the falls in 1856 and then made it known to England. He initially saw the falls from an island known as Livingstone Island in Zambia. And though it is not the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world it is recognized as the largest.
Victoria Falls Water Flow:
The flow of water varies by much from season to season. Just after the rainy season in March or April the amount going over the falls in one minute is around half a million cubic metres, but in the dry season occurring in December it can be less than a twentieth of this. The most desirable time to view the falls is perhaps some time between these two extremes as when the falls are in bursting flood one cannot get close to them in safety. They are after all spectacular when not in full flood because they are not obscured by the fine mist.
David Livingstone believed that the falls had been started by some exceptional fracture in the earths crust in the far-off past. Geological data now shows that the present chasm is the eighth in a continuation which has worked it’s way upstream over many many years.
Composition of the Victoria Falls:
The falls have a breadth of 1708 metres and a height of 108 metres. This forms the biggest layer of falling water in the world. For quite a way upstream from the falls, the Zambezi river flows over a sheet of basalt in a shallow valley bound by sandstone hills. The rivers course is peppered with many little islands that build in number as the river gets nearer to the falls. There are no mountains, deep valleys or escarpments that would be likely to create a waterfall. There is only a grand flat plateau.
There is a considerable chasm, carved by the water into the plateau wherewith the water from the river takes a distinct vertical drop over a 1708 metre wide area and plummets into a gorge. The depth of the gorge, called the First Gorge, is 80 metres deep on the western end and 108 metres deep in the centre. An outlet to the First Gorge, the only one is a 110 metre wide crevice about two thirds of the way across the width of the falls from the western end, through this outlet, the whole volume of the river pours into the Victoria Falls gorges.
The Islands of The Victoria Falls:
At the crest of the falls there are two Islands. Boaruka Island (or Cataract Island) near the western bank and Livingstone Island near the middle. Livingstone Island is the place from which David Livingstone had his first sight of the falls from Zambia. These islands are big enough to divide the curtains of water, even at full flood. When it is less than plentiful flood other islets divide the curtain of water into individual streams. The main streams are called Devil’s Cataract (recognized as Leaping Water to some), Main Falls, Rainbow Falls and Eastern Cataract.
Rainy Season in The Victoria Falls:
The rainy season is from late November to early April and the dry season is for the balance of the year. The Zambezi river’s annual flood season is from February to May with the climax in April. The spray from the waterfall rises anywhere from 400 metres to 800 metres high and can be traced from as far as 50km away. During the day a daylight rainbow can be seen and during a full moon a moonbow can be seen in the spray. In the flood season the spray shoots upward like inverted rain especially at Zambia’s Knife- Edge Bridge. During the dry season the bottom of the first gorge can be seen.
Victoria Falls – Largest Waterfalls:
Victoria Falls is more or less double the height of the Niagra Falls in North America and well over twice the width of the Horseshoe Falls. The only contest in height and width by South America’s Iguazu Falls.
The full-fledged contents of the Zambezi river pours through the First Gorge. After this it enters a zigzag course of a suite of gorges. Water entering the Second Gorge makes a definite right turn carving a deep basin titled Boiling Point. It is in the neighborhood 150 metres across. It is named Boiling Point because even though it’s surface is smooth and stationary at low water, it is full of angered turbulence at high water.
The Gorges of The Victoria Falls:
The First Gorge is the one that the Zambezi river falls into at Victoria Falls. The Second Gorge which is spanned by Victoria Falls Bridge is 2.15 km long. The Third Gorge is 1.95 km long and contains the Victoria Falls Power Station. The Fourth Gorge is 1.15 km south and 2.25 km long. The Fifth Gorge is 2.25km south and 3.2km long. The Songwe Gorge (labeled after the Songwe river) is 5.3km south and 3.3km long. The Batoka Gorge is about 120km long taking the river through the basalt plateau to the valley where Lake Kariba now lies.
The walls of the gorges are approximately upright and roughly 120 metres high.
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