06Feb

Mosi-oa-Tunya-The Victoria Falls fun facts

by: Jonathan Education‚ Tourism‚ Travel‚ Zambia‚ Zimbabwe Comment off
  • Mosi-oa-Tunya (From the Kololo or Lozi language) that is the name known to locals, can be translated as smoke that thunders.
  • British explorer and missionary David Livingston was the first European to view it and named it Victoria Falls after the then queen of England
  • The Zambezi river that falls as Victoria Falls is the fourth largest in the African continent and goes across six different nations —it’s journey is 2,700 km.
  • Mosi -oa-Tunya National Park is UNESCO World Heritage site that is home to some of the Victoria Falls.
  • Victoria Falls borders two countries, Zimbabwe and Zambia. It is the biggest waterfalls in the world, depending on the season, only Iguazu falls can rival Victoria Falls sometimes during rainy season in terms of water volume that falls and height.
  • The best view of course is on the Zimbabwean side, 75% of the view, the remaining percentage is on the Zambian side.
  • You can see moon Rainbow at Victoria Falls. Rainbows are very common at Victoria Falls, what is fascinating, a lunar rainbow can occur at Victoria Falls. If water levels are high or during heavy rain, the heavy falls create a large amount of spray and mists, that light from light from the moon can create a rainbow at night. The best time to observe this spectacular view is when there is Full Moon.
  • The Victoria Falls Bridge was was built by Cecil Rhodes in 1905 to link up Cairo with a railway.
  • The Rainforest that rain 24/7. The Victoria Falls rainforest is the only place where it rains everyday in the world. The falls’ rising water vapor causes the constant rain to pour down to many living things around the place. You can only observe the 24/7 rainforest if you are on the Zimbabwean side.
  • It is one of the seven Natural Wonders of the World. Victoria Falls make this list alongside Aurora Borealis, the Harbour of Rio de Janeiro, the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, Mount Everest and Parícutin.
  • 500 million litres of water cascade every minute. To put things to perspective that’s equivalent to 200 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
  • You can swim to the edge of the Waterfall. If you are daring ,you might enjoy swimming up to the edge of the Falls at Devil’s Pool. You can always do this when the water is at the lowest level, from September to December.
  • The noise of Victoria Falls can be heard from a distance of 40 kilometres, while at a distance of 50 kilometres you can see the spray and mist from falling water rising to a height of over 400 meters.
The Victoria Falls Bridge was built in 1905 by Cecil Rhodes