Only a short 2 hour flight from Johannesburg, a trip to Victoria Falls is certainly memorable. One of the 7 Wonders of the World, the Falls are situated between Zambia and Zimbabwe, and with a width of 1.7 km and a volume of 9 million litres per second pouring down a vertical drop of just over 100m they are certainly one of the largest waterfalls in the world.
The sheer noise of the Falls as they cascade over the edge into the deep gorge is deafening, and the misty clouds of spray, occasionally broken by rainbows, are visible from over 30 km away - hence it's local name, Mosi-oa-Tunya, "The smoke that thunders".
The Victoria Falls are roughly twice the height of the famous Niagra Falls in North America, and well over twice the width of its Horseshoe Falls. The only other falls in the world that seriously rival the Victoria Falls in terms of height and width are the Iguazu Falls in South America.
The Victoria Falls are one of Southern Africa's most popular tourist attractions, and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors to the Falls can view them from either the Zambia or the Zimbabwe side, although tourism to the Zimbabwe side has dropped significantly in the past few years as a result of the political unrest the country is currently experiencing.
The Falls are part of 2 National Parks - the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia, and the Victoria Falls National Park in Zimbabwe. Although the main feature of both Parks is the Falls, they also do contain an abundance of wildlife, including elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra and a variety of antelope.
The big tourist draw of the Victoria Falls is that visitors can view virtually the whole width of the Falls face-on, at the same level as the top of the Falls where the mighty Zambezi River drops over the edge into the gorge. In some places you can get as close as 60m - although you should be warned - at these points you do get incredibly wet from the spray ! Covering your camera and video equipment with a plastic bag is definately advised !
The Falls are at their most spectacular around March / April time, when the Zambezi River is at its annual peak flooding time. The lowest water flow over the Falls occurs in November and December, and in some parts of the Falls no water falls at all.
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