SMOKE
Dowd. My oa Tunya. The appearance of a giant waterfall. Poetic description. In memory of the great traveler.
The streams of water that clothed her
Breaking down, breaking on stones,
And clubs of foam fly up in rings,
And thin light steam strives upward,
Hiding the colonnade of the waterfall;
He is like a rainbow with a brilliance of colors,
Half a day proud sun tiara
And at night he is white as the Milky Way,
And dotted with small stars ..
Strive, waterfall, and sing for all
Coming generations of Africans.
B. W. VilakaziOn November 17, 1855, a light canoe driven by two blacks was moving rapidly along the great African Zambezi River. The third was a European. His weathered, tanned face was overshadowed by a friendly, good-natured smile, and his gaze was directed down the river, in the direction of the boat's movement. Every now and then exclamations of genuine surprise and admiration burst from the lips of the passenger. Sometimes he eagerly raised himself, trying to make out something ahead.
Careful, Daoud! So after all, you can turn over! And if this happens, there will be trouble: My oa Tunya will swallow everyone. Yes Yes! She doesn’t like to joke… ”, the elder of the blacks said, respectfully addressing the European.
Don't worry, old man, don't worry, it won't come to that. Everything will be good. Pester that island over there. Everything will probably be clearly visible from there. Click, Takeleng, click!
Dangerous, Daoud, very dangerous! Suddenly we will not cope with the flow, then what? We'll be lost for nothing. - Negro grumbled uneasily, and meanwhile he pressed on the oar, shouting at his comrade, so that he would more precisely rule to the island.
The traveler did not hear his fears. All his attention was focused on what lay ahead. Let's take a look and we together with him downstream of the river.
The wide, majestic Zambezi swiftly rolled its waters among the green high walls of the forest. A few hundred meters below it, the current broke into streams with black basalt islands. And over the river and islands, five huge columns of swirling smoke rose high into the sky, appearing here as if over a giant conflagration. And the hum was so strong that it drowned out the voices of the people sitting in the canoe.
Having safely overcome the strong current, the Negroes deftly drove the canoe to the island and pulled it to the rocky shore. Then all three went to the opposite end of the island.
Dowd, follow me. It's very dangerous here! Wrong step - and you will fly down, you will not collect bones! So good; Look carefully under your feet, don't stumble, - as if an old Negro told a European to a small child.
Now, Daud, let's crawl. Yes, slowly, take your time. Only in this way, lying down, you can approach the cliff.
And so all three slowly crawl to the edge of the cliff.
If there had been someone else in the place of the man whom Takeleng respectfully called Daud, then it is possible that he would have recoiled in horror or froze in mortal fright, seeing a terrible deep abyss that opened beneath them, at the bottom of which a boiling cauldron was seething.
But the traveler, who has been wandering the mountains, forests and wilds of Africa for many years, is accustomed to all kinds of surprises. Dangers more than once lurked him on the way, and more than once he looked death directly in the eyes.
Yes, Takeleng, what I was told about My oa Tunya exceeded all my expectations! What a pristine beauty, I can't find words! - says the traveler.
Dowd sees streams, separated by islands at the edge of a rocky cliff, slide down and off great height fall to the bottom of the abyss, where chaos reigns from boiling water, spray and foam. A white cloud looms over the abyss, and a giant column of either steam or smoke rises from it to a great height. It is undoubtedly one of the five pillars he has seen before. The lower part of the pillar is surrounded by two arcs of rainbows, so brightly colored as if they were woven from shiny fibers of multicolored silk.
The enchanted traveler cannot take his eyes off the enchanting sight for a long time. He is so depressed and shocked that he really could not immediately find words to describe what he saw. This is evidenced by the scanty lines in his diary: “... a wonderful, extraordinary spectacle of a majestic waterfall opened before us. Trying to describe it in words is a hopeless task. My oa Tunya is so extraordinary that it should always seem like a miracle ... "
And only in England, in the next year, 1856, still under the impression of what he saw, he described the waterfall in more detail in his book Travel and Research of a Missionary in South Africa”, Published in many countries and glorified his name.
The reader now apparently recognized this man. Yes, it was the famous traveler David Livingston. In 1841, he arrived in Africa as a missionary to preach the word of God and convert pagan Negroes to the "truly correct" Christian faith. However, carried away by travels in Africa, he became a geographer-naturalist, and missionary affairs receded into the background.
Livingstone made many important geographical discoveries... He was the first of the Europeans to visit many parts of the continent, on previously unknown rivers, lakes, in unfamiliar areas. Once from local Negro residents, he learned that a large river flows in the southern part of the mainland. "From that time on, I was more and more gripped by the hope of opening a waterway to a completely unexplored and densely populated area ..." - he wrote.
Open unknown before big river, so that, using it as a navigable route, to bring the dark African peoples European culture, to eliminate the shameful human trafficking, to import goods, medicines, everything necessary - such were Livingston's noble plans.
A tireless explorer, a true friend of black people, he naively believed in all this. But how wrong he was! The white invasion of Africa brought the peoples not culture and freedom, but enslavement, misfortune, death.
And Livingston with great energy, not sparing himself, commits great travel deep into the African continent. Negro friends were his faithful companions in his endless campaigns.
Looking for " big river Livingston went from one river to another.
The Negro companions were perplexed. “What, you don't have enough water in this river? they asked the researcher. - We drink water from it and are happy. Are you so greedy for water? "
So, traveling through South Africa, Livingston got to the Zambezi River - the largest waterway in this part of the African continent.
Some biographers of Livingstone claim, and apparently not without reason, that he was addicted to rivers, but disliked waterfalls; they often interfered with him when traveling along rivers and were often an insurmountable obstacle that had to be avoided.
Contemplating the majestic waterfall, Livingston thought bitterly that his dream of discovering a large navigable river that could be used to connect with the hinterland of the country had not been fully realized. The waterfall tore her apart. He calmed down a little when he learned that the rest of the Zambezi was free of large rapids and waterfalls.
Livingston gave the name Victoria to the grandiose waterfall on the Zambezi. He did this in honor of the queen of England reigning at that time. The local population does not recognize this and continues to call the waterfall Moy oa Tunya, which means “Thundering smoke”. Another name is less common - Chongue - Rainbow. The Arabs, obviously experiencing a mystical fear of the amazing natural phenomenon, the waterfall is known as the "End of the World".
And now about the waterfall itself. Actually, it, like Iguaza, consists of many waterfalls, and five of them are the largest and most important. Each has its own name.
The one that is closer to south coast, called "Devil's Falls", followed by "Main Falls", next to it is "Rainbow", and the most extreme - "Eastern". They fall from a height of 90-120 meters into a deep and narrow crack in the earth's crust, which suddenly opens up in the path of the Zambezi River.
Waterfalls are varied: some fall in the form of a curtain, others, breaking against protruding rocks, form a series of cascades and slopes.
During the rainy season, in early spring, the waterfalls behave especially violently: at this time, a huge amount of flood waters pass along the Zambezi River. From September to December, a rainless period lasts, the water in the river is much less, the waterfalls are calmer.
Waterfalls are an exceptional sight in a quiet, windless time. Huge masses of the smallest water dust, gathering in clouds, rise high into the sky in five pillars. They can be seen far away, 20-25 kilometers from here. And the roar of the waters falling into the cleft, we hear a few kilometers away.
A light rain falls from the clouds above the waterfalls. It irrigates the surroundings of the waterfall, so everything is covered with lush vegetation. The vast forest near the waterfall is called the Rain Forest.
It is not surprising that passengers traveling by train or in cars across the bridge, arranged below the waterfalls through a narrow gorge, sometimes get good portions of rain on their heads. It is very pleasant to receive such a peculiar greeting from the waterfalls in the summer - it's hot!
The air is so saturated with water dust that on clear days rainbows are sure to shine over the waterfall. They play even at night, in bright moonlight.
From a narrow crevice where the waters of the Zambezi fall, there is only one narrow exit, and the waters rush there. Below they flow along the bottom of the deep and narrow zigzag Batoka canyon, where the depth of the stream reaches 20-30 meters.
Beautiful, very beautiful Victoria Falls! Perhaps the best description of it belongs to the pen of the hunter and naturalist James Chapman, a contemporary of David Livingstone; we quote from it an excerpt:
“We stood before a wonderful creation, which combined an amazing variety of such grandiose and beautiful phenomena that they inspired both horror, admiration and genuine joy ... A deep abyss threw up into the sky huge dense clouds of the smallest spray and water dust, and the rays of the setting sun played in two or three amazing rainbows, throwing their bright arcs first into the depths of the gorge, and then raising them higher and higher. The rainbows here are as vibrant and vibrant as you will never see in the sky. The lower one was so dazzling that it was almost impossible to look at it. Rising upward, the rainbows reached the clouds above the waterfall. Contemplating the waterfalls, you see thousands of beautiful phenomena that defy description ... The multitude of jets of steam, rapidly rushing upward, passing through wide living bands of rainbows, so amazingly resembled tongues of flame that I even believed it. The stream from the rocky ridge fell rapidly into the depths of the abyss, resembling giant folds of snow-white drapery, and the water hairs that suddenly appeared on the edge of the black rocks glittered in the sun like diamond threads. The picture changed dramatically to repeat itself again ... "
Not far from the waterfall is the Livingston monument. His name was given to the city located nearby, where there is a museum. It houses many exhibits related to the life of the great traveler.
Many tourists from different parts of the world come here to admire the wonderful waterfall.
They say that on the island from which Livingston first observed the waterfall, there is still a tree where he carved his initials.
If, dear reader, and you ever have to visit Victoria Falls, pay attention to the inscriptions warning tourists not to walk near the cliff, for falling into the abyss threatens inevitable death. The waterfalls cannot be viewed from one place, so you need to walk a lot from one end to the other. So, be careful, because quite unexpectedly you can meet crocodiles. We must pay tribute to the delicacy of the latter - they prefer not to attack, but to get away as soon as possible. They, like other animals, are not touched here, since the area of the waterfalls has been declared a nature reserve.
And in conclusion of our story, we must say that the mighty power of one of the world's greatest waterfalls is not used in any way. Needless to say, if you harness such a giant and make him work, he would illuminate a good half of the "black" continent.
But this is still a pipe dream. For centuries, the colonialists kept the African peoples in darkness and ignorance, they used the natural resources of the countries predatory, and when they left, they left behind them collapse and devastation.
Therefore, the conquest of My oa Tunya is a matter for the future.
The world famous Victoria Falls, which locals call “Mosi-oa-Tunya” (“Thundering Smoke”), is one of the most picturesque and enchanting spectacles on the African continent.
Victoria Falls is a legendary landmark that attracts tourists from all over the world. Here the mighty Zambezi River falls down, forming a water curtain with a length of almost 2 kilometers. Such a sight meets tourists who come here in spring, when the river is filled with water as much as possible, so that every second 5 million liters of water fall down 100 meters and 30 km from the waterfall you can see clouds of steam rising above the water.
The waterfall is just the beginning of a picturesque section of the river bed, because the river, shrouded in a cloud of spray, roars immediately into a narrow gorge, along which it zigzags for almost 70 km. These intricate twists and turns are caused by cracks in the rock widened over millennia by the force of water alone. The Zambezi River wanders over a plateau formed from layers of sandstone and basalt; where these two different rocks meet, cracks are formed.
Indeed, water spray rising from the waterfall forms a cloud that looks like smoke from a distance. The waterfall owes its name to David Livingston, the discoverer and the first white man who saw it in 1885 and decided to name it after the English Queen Victoria. When local natives took him to the waterfall and showed him 546 million liters of water, which every minute crash into a 100-meter abyss, David Livingston was so shocked by what he saw that he immediately christened him with the name of the queen.
At the waterfall, the width of the Zambezi River reaches 1.6 km. Water falls with a roar into the 106-meter gap formed on its way.
In 1857, David Livingston wrote that in England no one can even imagine the beauty of this spectacle: “No one can imagine the beauty of the spectacle compared to anything seen in England. The eyes of a European have never seen such a thing before, but the sight so beautiful must have been admired by the angels in their flight! "
Professor Livingston described the falls as the most beautiful sight he had seen in Africa: “Crawling fearfully to the edge, I looked down into a huge crack that stretched from coast to coast of the wide Zambezi, and saw a stream thousands of yards wide rushed down onto a hundred feet and then suddenly shrank into a space of fifteen to twenty yards ... I have witnessed the most wonderful sight in Africa! ”
The waterfall is extremely wide, approximately 1800 meters wide, the height of the water falling varies from 80 meters at the right bank of the waterfall to 108 meters in the center. Victoria Falls is about twice the height of Niagara Falls and more than twice as wide as its main part ("Horseshoe"). Falling water creates spray and fog that can rise to heights of 400 meters or more. The fog created by the waterfall is visible at a distance of up to 50 kilometers. During the rainy season, more than 500 million liters of water per minute pass through the waterfall, due to the enormous force of the falling water, the spray rises hundreds of meters into the air. In 1958, during the floods in the Zambezi, a record level of flow was noted - more than 770 million liters per minute.
Access to the waterfall From Zimbabwe, the entrance to the national park Victoria Falls paid (25 USD). The hotels are located in the town of Victoria Falls. The closest to the waterfall are Victoria Falls Hotel 5 *, The Kingdom at Victoria Falls 4 * and Ilala Lodge 5 *. From the side of Zambia, everything is much more interesting. If you stay in one of the hotels of the Sun International group (Zambezi Sun 3 * or The Royal Livingstone 5 *, then the entrance to the waterfall is free for you and unlimited directly from the territory of the hotels. For those who live in other hotels and lodges, the entrance is paid - USD 30 Plus, you have to travel every time as the rest of the hotels are located upstream of the Zambezi.
The waterfall, according to some parameters, is the largest waterfall in the world, and is also one of the most unusual in shape (the waterfall is an extraordinary sight - a narrow abyss into which water falls), and has the most diverse and easily observed wildlife of any part of the waterfall ...
Although Victoria Falls is neither the tallest nor the widest falls in the world, its status as the largest is based on a width of 1708 and a height of 108 meters, forming the largest sheet of falling water in the world. Numerous islets on the ridge of the waterfall divide the water stream into several branches. The dense fog and thunderous roar produced by the waterfall can be perceived from a distance of approximately 40 km.
A few meters ahead and you fall down with the waterfall.
Ever since, thanks to the Scottish explorer, doctor and missionary Livingston, the world learned about the waterfall he named after his Queen Victoria, guests from different countries... Agree, it would be strange to be near Thundering Smoke and refrain from visiting such a striking sight in Africa? And we went there. I rode and imagined how the Discovery was made ... After a long drought, the river was low. But over the night, nature recovered a little from the heat, and is warm pure water smelled fresh ...
The first European on the Zambezi River at the waterfall
And so it was. The water level has dropped significantly due to drought, but it is not for nothing that in the local dialect the name Zambezi means “ great river". Tropical dragonflies hovered over the countless green islands that divided its vast expanse. Innumerable legions of waterfowl - gulls, sandpipers, cormorants - were feeding on the rocky shoals, African skimmers were silently maneuvering over the very surface, fishing eagles scanned the depths in search of fish.
The hippos were serenely basking in the sun when a narrow, fidgety mokoro swam very close by about two dark heads. The rower stood on the back of the dugout boat and deftly, in complete silence, steered it with a long pole. The flat-bottomed maneuver in the middle of the river between slippery and jagged black rocks, overcame the surrounding furious streams, glided over rare areas of relatively calm water.
She was heading towards the roaring abyss, where the entire mass of water rushed. A white cloud of fog hung over the cliff, which continually fluctuated, then descending, then rising again. Several more hippopotamus heads emerged, which, as if seeing off, turned their small round ears after the boat ...
Mysterious natural phenomenon - Thundering Smoke
In the middle of the 19th century, many believed that the center of the continent was occupied by the desert. And he, for many months now, had listened to reverent conversations about Mosi oa Tunya. Thundering Smoke ... And I thought about this phenomenon. What is it? Possibly in an unexplored part inner Africa is there a large volcanic area? And he went to find this volcano and place it on the map.
But I found something much more wonderful. On one of the days of the trip, a rainbow suddenly appeared on the horizon under a cloudless sky. Then, in the hot midday atmosphere, distant thunder was heard, and five columns of smoke were visible above the treetops, as if large patches of grass were burning in the savannah.
All this was incredibly strange, he had to face such phenomena for the first time in his life. It is noteworthy that in the area of sixty miles there was not a single local settlement, and this is not surprising: after all, people were convinced that Thundering Smoke was the possession of an evil and cruel Great Spirit.
The black faces of his native companions turned gray at the thought of approaching his abode. But he was not at all superstitious or fearful and considered it his duty to study this part of the continent before - after all, he was a missionary! - to bring here the light of Christianity.
Day after day he went over in his mind the possible causes of these incomprehensible natural phenomena until he was on the doorstep of the greatest waterfall in the world. One of the five great rivers of Africa, the Zambezi, spreading along a vast valley a mile wide, interrupted its smooth flow here. Across the channel was a giant crack in the earth's crust. The water made its way to it through the fringe of small islands and, with desperate madness, threw itself into the abyss.
In the footsteps of the great traveler
And on November 16, 1855, with a pencil and a notebook in his pocket, the greatest explorer in history, David Livingston, is sailing to one of these pieces of land. The islet is bordered by a waterfall at one end. What an irrepressible European will see, lying on his stomach and looking with trepidation into the foamy abyss behind the steep and ink-smooth ledge, from which a thick curtain of water rushed down, will amaze him for life ...
But these two old pictures of Victoria Falls, placed in the article, were not made by the hand of a great traveler, but by a completely different European - Thomas Baines, who reached Thundering Smoke on the Zambezi River a few years after Livingstone.
Pay attention to the lower right corner of the photo with the monument, the composition includes the very Mokoro boats.
Victoria Falls is included in the UNESCO list of natural sites World heritage humanity. From national park Chobe, where we were, is not far from this miracle of the world. But the whole difficulty was that according to the terms of renting our car, we could only drive around Namibia and Botswana.
I had to arrange at the hotel so that they would take us to the Rainbow Hotel in Victoria Falls Zimbabwe on their own transport, and take us back a day later.
Without delay, I quickly left my things in my bag for two days, Sanya carefully prepared a photo-backpack and now we are going to the border with Zimbabwe in a safari car. It's good that we left early: by 8 o'clock a huge queue lined up behind us at the border. We were also lucky with the ranger who accompanied us: he spoke to the immigration officer, helped us quickly get the visa and handed us over to the Zimbabwean driver, who dropped us off at a hotel in Victoria Falls two hours later in a rattling minivan.
How to convey the greatness of the waterfall? What art is it for? For more than a hundred years, poets, writers and artists have tried to pay tribute to the outstanding landmark of the black continent and, to the best of their talent, immortalize it in their creations. But the time has come and digital cameras have appeared, capable of capturing the grandeur and beauty of water flying down to the nearest drop.
Victoria Falls has now been featured in millions of photos. We intend to add our bit to them by filming the sunset and dawn, and to make these shots in all our skill - after all, he made an impression on us no less than on his discoverer.
From heaven, like one of the angels
Huge, powerful and unspeakable beautiful waterfall Victoria ... His discoverer Livingston was convinced that even the heavenly angels in flight are staring at him! Indeed, in order to assess its scale and understand how it works, you need to look at the roaring smoke of Mosi-oa-Tunya from above. Well, take off team?
Victoria Falls is located approximately halfway between the source of the Zambezi and its mouth.
The river approaches this particular section of its channel wide and calm. It flows slowly over flat terrain, forming wide floodplains. It is a continuous idyll: ankle-eared herons catch big-eyed frogs in the shallows, elephants knee-deep in water eat purple hyacinths and splash water on each other, cannes antelopes graze on the shore ...
And suddenly, absolutely unexpectedly, the river bed is cut by a narrow crack. As if someone had just slashed the living body of the Earth with a sharp knife, and the edges of the cut had not yet parted. And a powerful avalanche of water poured into the gaping wound from the entire width of the river.
In a cloud of spray, with a deafening noise and accompanied by a slight shudder of the earth's interior, it falls into a deep abyss and seems to go into unknown depths. And this phenomenon of the sudden disappearance of a wide river is amazing.
Below the waterfall, there is again an almost flat terrain, which is cut in sharp zigzags by several almost bottomless gorges, along which the Zambezi River runs raging along. But more on that later.
Interesting facts: the height of Victoria Falls and more
So, a powerful water avalanche falls into a narrow abyss with steep walls, located at right angles to the upper channel. Let's hover just over the waterfall for a minute, but first, a few numbers. Since statistics know everything:
- The length of Victoria Falls (which coincides with the width of the Zambezi River at this place) is 1708 meters.
- The width of the gorge is from one side to the opposite, from 50 to 120 meters.
- Depth earth fault at its western end - 80, in the middle - 108 meters. For clarity, the bell tower of my beloved would be hidden there along with the ball and cross crowning it.
- Just imagine: every minute 500 million liters of water slides over the edge into the abyss during the rainy season. In dry it is much less, only 10 million liters. In comparison, our standard bathtub holds about 200 liters of water.
- The formation of Victoria Falls is a cloud of fog saturated with moisture. They envelop the seething gorge and stretch towards the sky, you can see them even at a distance of 50 km.
More about Victoria Falls
And how does he look against the background of his fellows? Surprisingly and surprisingly, it is neither the tallest, nor the widest, nor even the deepest.
| Waterfalls | Height (meters) |
Width (meters) |
Average consumption water (cub.m / sec) |
Maximum water consumption (cubic meter / sec) |
| Victoria | 108 | 1708 | 1088 | 12800 |
| Niagara | 53 | 792 | 2400 | 5720 |
| Iguazu | 60-82 | 2700 | 1756 | 6000 |
| Angel | 979 | 107 | 300 | ? |
And the peculiarity of this grandiose miracle of African nature is that, firstly, this waterfall is located not in a mountainous, but in the middle of a flat area. Secondly, none of them has such a wide curtain of falling water. Almazna mountain falls ... It creates favorable conditions for numerous magnificent rainbows that connect the opposite edges of the gorge.
By the way, did you know, friends, that a rainbow is not an arc at all, but a circle?
What is a rainbow
It has been known since school that the rainbow is a special optical phenomenon which occurs when the sun's rays are refracted in tiny drops of water. "The stream is swift and bright, In an alluring dance it breaks down, Dozens of multi-colored rainbows Colorfully lit up under the sun ..." double rainbow not so much a rare event... It was seen by many after a heavy rain, when the air is oversaturated with water droplets, sunlight refracts again.
We are all accustomed to believing that the rainbow is in the shape of an arc, since this is how people see it, standing on the surface of the earth. But if you observe this phenomenon in heights, for example, from an airplane, then the viewer will see a full circle from a series of colors - outside red, orange and so on, ending with the inner violet.
It is rarely possible to see this, even less often it turns out to be photographed. On the AirPano website, Russian photographers are proud to present a photograph of a round rainbow at Victoria Falls, taken during the filming of panoramas for the project.
Victoria Falls is famous not only for its bright and juicy double, triple daytime rainbows, it is one of the few places on earth where there are great chances to catch and photograph such a rare and amazing natural phenomenon as the lunar rainbow.
Are you surprised? How can you see a rainbow at night, because it is the result of the refraction of the sun's rays? Friends, the amendment is not from the sun, but from the light rays! This effect is possible when the full moon is providing enough light and the sky is dark and clear. The lunar rainbow is perceived by the human eye as pale and white, although in fact it is just as colorful.
There are even foggy rainbows. They are very weakly colored and appear on the columns of water suspension.
In the First Gorge along the ridge of the waterfall
Follow me, reader! Look: the river breaks in such a way that the front of the waterfall looks like an almost straight wall. During low water, only separate streams fall on the rocky surface of the wall. The exposed areas of basalt dry up and stretch almost to the very bottom of the gorge. At this time, it becomes possible (although not entirely safe) to walk along the ridge of the waterfall, crossing the exposed shallows, treacherous stones and sections of the river, so deceptively calm before a sharp fall.
The structure of Victoria Falls from west to east looks like this:
- The first stream - 35 meters wide and 61 meters high - is called the Devil's waterfall (or cataract).
- It is followed by the island of Boaruka (Cataract), three hundred meters wide, where the natives worshiped the evil deity of the waterfall and brought him gifts.
- The main cascade of the waterfall, called Main Falls, begins behind the island. It is 460 meters wide and 83 meters high.
- This is followed by Livingston Island, overgrown with trees and bushes. It was here that the Mokoro of the outstanding explorer of Africa moored.
- The third, disappearing in the dry season, a horseshoe-shaped stream - Horseshoe.
- Next is the place of the most beautiful rainbows - the 99-meter Rainbow Falls.
- The last one - Eastern-Cataract - is an eastern waterfall, 98m high.
Zimbabwe or Zambia?
Oh, how we wanted to see an amazing natural phenomenon from above! But the helicopter flight cost so much that, tormented by this amount, we overcame our passionate desire. Feet, legs - closer to nature, we decided. And, having caught a taxi, we went from the hotel to watch the waterfall from our Zimbabwean side, for there was still time before sunset.
Victoria Falls are divided between two countries Zambia and Zimbabwe, therefore it is part of two national parks- "Mosi-oa-Tunya" and "Victoria Falls" with an area of 66 sq. km and 23 sq. km respectively. You can cross the bridge to the Zambian side, but we feared that we would not be allowed there without a yellow fever vaccination, so our dreams did not extend to the Zambian side.
However, running ahead, I will say that we were wrong and this time without much difficulty and with small financial losses managed to visit Zambia. But the rules for obtaining a visa, unfortunately, often change and the next year we have not crossed the Zambian border: we canceled one-day visas, and buying a monthly one, which costs $ 50 per person for a couple of hours of stay in the country, would be stupid.
See Victoria Falls
We walked in small park Victoria Falls is almost four hours before dusk. Of course, they were photographed in memory of the bronze figure of Livingstone, who did not take his eyes off his discovery. We were in Victoria Falls in early May, when the power of the falls is just beginning to wane, and it was incomparable!
On the shore opposite the water curtain, there is a tropical rain forest - dense bushes and groves of mahogany, figs and date palms, walking paths with many viewing platforms, from where there are different points of view of the waterfall. The water of the Zambezi River thundered, we did not take our eyes off the huge rushing streams. Clouds of water dust, then completely covered the waterfall, then, like clouds, spread to the sides. Hundreds of small sparks danced around and played the brightest rainbows I have ever seen.
Friends, remember: the stones on the cliffs are wet, which means they are slippery, branches and thorns are thrown at the edges of the observation platforms, so it is advisable to choose shoes for the excursion with reliable fixation and a solid sole. Touring sandals with ankle fastening are great, they will be quite comfortable in them.
Clothes here should be worn such that it is not a pity to get wet, it is even better if it dries quickly. My version with denim breeches turned out to be far from the best. But I want to note that the raincoat jacket with a hood that is usually recommended for tourists for such a walk is completely meaningless. Yes, it will save you from splashing. But, since it is forty degrees outside, under it you will sweat as if you were just getting wet. From my point of view, honestly getting wet is preferable.
A big bonus for the dry season: during this time, another rare opportunity is available on the Zimbabwean side - an overview of Victoria Falls from the bottom of the gorge, from where the water usually boils.
Where are we going to sail?
Compressed in a narrow canyon, a huge mass of water looks for a way out and finds it in one single narrow and short gap leading to the second gorge. Entering it, a powerful stream turns sharply, forming a so-called boiling cauldron with whirlpools.
From here begins a zigzag cascade of narrow gorges with steep, 120–240 meter high walls. Together with the Victoria Falls itself, there are now eight of them. Have you noticed the word "now"?
Different secrets of the Mosi-oa-Tunya waterfall
It's all about secrets - everything starts with them. For me, acquaintance with the Victoria Falls began at school age with an exciting treasure hunt that was safely hidden by the Kaffir kings in a hiding place behind the falling streams. How many unforgettable adventures I had to go through together with the heroes of Boussinard ...
Thundering Smoke beckons many adults with a veil of mystery that is hidden in the ancient legends of a giant black snake with a gray-blue head. Chipik, a dangerous and fat monster, lives in Mosi-oa-Tunya and draws people into his depths with the help of an unknown force. Well, yes, of course, he was seen.
No, it was not only seen by Africans with ardent imaginations. Here, for example, is the testimony from 1925 of a certain Mr. V. Pare, who, in shallow water, descended the rocks into the canyon. Suddenly, a snake-like monster shot up out of the water in front of him, standing literally on its tail. Several long seconds passed before the terrible creature disappeared into the depths of the cave at the foot of the Devil's cataract ...
God knows who this man was and why no one allows himself to doubt the veracity of his story, but there were too many cases of this kind to simply give up on them. There is definitely something here.
But the real secret of Mosi oa Tunya is connected with the origin of this geological formation, consisting of a waterfall and seven steep gorges adjacent to it.
How Victoria Falls originated
Geologists now adhere to this theory. During the Jurassic period, a huge stream of fiery lava splashed out through cracks in the earth's crust. He created that basalt plateau, along which the Zambezi River now flows. But before that, many millions of years still had to pass. Cooling down, the basalt burst, the cracks slowly filled with sandstone - a much less durable material than basalt.
And when the powerful stream of the Zambezi flowed over the sandstone-filled fractures, the river began its endless labor of washing away the rocks, gradually, over thousands of years, forming a deep gorge with a wide waterfall rushing into it. The earliest version of Victoria Falls was formed about 5 million years ago and was much further downstream than the current one. Then the water fell from a cliff with a height of 140 m, and its length was 3.3 km - a much larger formation.
The work of the water continued - it eroded the sandstone in the next fissure upstream, and the waterfall zigzagged. This is the eighth waterfall in the last 100,000 years. And not the last one. The Devil's cataract is the starting point for forming his next position. The satellite image shows two existing, not yet eroded, but very suitable cracks in the basalt.
Devil's Font and other entertainment
Having barely settled in the hotel, we went to see what they breathe in the town. What he saw made me think. It turned out that after economic crisis in Zimbabwe they live quietly without a national currency. For a hang glider, a helicopter, a bungee, a visit to the park with a waterfall - all the prices are not only in dollars, but, moreover, they really bite.
Zimbabweans are resourceful. To empty the pockets of tourists at Victoria Falls, they offer many exciting opportunities - canoe walks and sunset, fishing in the Zambezi, rafting on the white water of the Zambezi River ... But many of the proposals are quite dangerous.
For example, swimming in a small pool at the very edge of a waterfall off Livingston Island. It is not known when and who first discovered this oddity in the river bed, but it attracts tourists with hypnotic power. The Devil's Font is a three-meter hole with water; a natural stone barrier separates it from the roaring abyss. The devil's pool area is not fenced off from the fast and furious currents that surround it, and, of course, tragic accidents happen here!
On a bridge full of adrenaline
An arched bridge is thrown across the Second Gorge, diagonally to the waterfall, its length is 198 meters and a height of 128 meters above the Zambezi level. This engineering structure is part of the ambitious plan of Cecil John Rhodes - a politician, industrialist, financier and just an extraordinary person who constantly walked in an old shirt and trousers, although he was the diamond king and founder of the De Beers Corporation.
The bridge was erected as an element of a strategically important railroad, which began in Cape Town, went across the Zambezi River and, according to plans, was supposed to end in Cairo. Fortune turned her back on Rhodes, the grandiose plan did not materialize, but the constructed railway bridge is still functioning perfectly.
Additionally, it is used for pedestrian and car travel. We paused to take some photos as heavy trucks transited across the bridge rumbled past the breathtaking views of Victoria Falls.
So, on the bridge, you can not only go to the other side, it offers a cool opportunity to jump off on a rope with your head down. I wonder why the majority of bungee jumpers are women?
One day, 22-year-old Australian Erin Langworthy succumbed to the temptation to swing on such a giant swing, but failed. While bungee jumping from the bridge, her holding rubber rope snapped. The free fall began at an altitude of 110 meters. Poor Erin - head down and with her legs tied - flew straight into the river, teeming with crocodiles. The reptiles, who were clearly bored before that, immediately became interested ...
Fortunately, they managed to save the girl, she escaped with nothing but fright, a broken collarbone, severe bruises and numerous bruises. But ... is it worth the risk? Here is the incident on the video:
We did not risk it, but just stood this bridge a little. Livingstone dedicated his remarkable discovery to Queen Victoria, however, although she lived for a long time, she never saw this impressive waterfall. But in April 1947, her great-grandson George VI arrived here with his wife and two daughters.
One of the princesses - then still very young Lilibet - will become Elizabeth II in the future. From this bridge, the royal family looked for a long time at the Zambezi River, on which two islands received new names in honor of the royal daughters. Now Princess Elizabeth Island belongs to Zimbabwe, and Princess Margaret Island is the territory of sovereign Zambia.
View from Zambia to Thundering Smoke
Here they do not say "Zimbabwe" or "Zambia", the names of the countries are shortened to short Zim and Zam. In the dark blue sky, a hot, almost hot sun, it sets behind us. It's time to leave Zim and get to Zambia. We walk across the bridge, past the bungee queue, past the line of cars to the border control.
“Will you be long? Are you planning to spend the night in Zimbabwe? " We answer: “Yes,” we are stamped with passports, then a standard wet rag, we pay for the entrance to the park. “And here it’s cheaper,” we rejoice, we receive a leaflet with route options and walk along the Zambian land.
Here we are the only white people - also a kind of attraction. As wedding generals, we are continually asked to stand to liven up the composition in the middle of the laughing groups. Here the park is called "Thundering Smoke", there is also a monument to Livingston, here is the same waterfall of stunning beauty, the same splashes and sparks.
Only here is not fog, but a wall of water dust, through which you have to go. How right are those who say that the miracle of Victoria Falls must be seen, both from Zambia and from Zimbabwe.
Oooh! A gust of wind, a second tropical downpour and we, wet as mice, not a single dry thread. Waiting until another flock of visitors passed us, I pulled off my jeans and a T-shirt, Sanya squeezed them out and I pulled everything back. I made it in time - another group of also wet and happy Chinese walked by.
There is a small souvenir market near the park. Everything that was offered to us in Zimbabwe cannot be compared with the local assortment of elephants, hippos, ebony figurines. It was more difficult to walk back across the bridge, hands were holding back souvenirs. We crossed the border among the last, when the sun was already almost on the horizon.
Who Wants to be a Trillionaire?
Victoria Falls greeted us with the hubbub of street beggars and vendors. Seeing a bunch of packages and parcels in our hands, they became twice, not three times more insistent. Buy this ... Buy this sir! Very cheap ... But in Zim, one of the poorest countries in Africa, everything is shockingly expensive. However, Sanya could not resist and became the owner of a trillion dollars. True, Zimbabweans and those out of circulation after the default, but still TRILLION - on the stunning banknote, the zeros barely fit in one line.
You know about the annual Nobel Prize, which is a parody of the Nobel Prize? She is always funny and awarded for useless and meaningless discoveries. A worthy reward for its laureates is a hammer in a glass box or a similar wonderful bill - a genuine one hundred trillion Zimbabwean dollars in one piece.
What could the Zimbabweans get for their fabulous money? Practically nothing, it was impossible to buy even chocolates for such a bill. The Central Bank of Zimbabwe, conducting a currency exchange in the country, for 250 trillion dollars in national currency meted out one good old American dollar. Glorious days for those dreaming of being a billionaire ended after dollarization, and the number of millionaires itself has sharply declined - after all, the average wage in the country is about $ 253 per month.
The adventure is coming to an end
Twilight came, for a billion people all over Africa another day was ending with its joys and difficulties ... We had dinner at the hotel at a table by the pool. A local ethnic group performed here tonight. Seeing us as the only and interested audience, the artists gradually concentrated around us, which allowed us to record their inspired songs and dances on the phone.
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The world famous Victoria Falls, which locals call “Mosi-oa-Tunya” (“Thundering Smoke”), is one of the most picturesque and enchanting spectacles on the African continent!
A legendary landmark that attracts tourists from all over the world. Here the mighty Zambezi River falls down, forming a water curtain with a length of almost 2 kilometers. Such a sight meets tourists who come here in spring, when the river is filled with water as much as possible, so that every second 5 million liters of water fall down 100 meters and 30 km from the waterfall you can see clouds of steam rising above the water
Indeed, water spray rising from the waterfall forms a cloud that looks like smoke from a distance. The waterfall owes its name to David Livingston, the discoverer and the first white man who saw it in 1885 and decided to name it after the English Queen Victoria. When the local natives took him to the waterfall and showed him 546 million liters of water, which every minute crash into a 100-meter abyss, David Livingston was so shocked by what he saw that he immediately christened him with the name of the Queen
At the waterfall, the width of the Zambezi River reaches 1.6 km. Water falls with a roar into the 106-meter gap formed on its way.
In 1857, David Livingston wrote that in England no one can even imagine the beauty of this spectacle: “No one can imagine the beauty of the spectacle compared to anything seen in England. The eyes of a European have never seen such a thing before, but the sight so beautiful must have been admired by the angels in their flight! "
Professor Livingston described the falls as the most beautiful sight he had seen in Africa: “Crawling fearfully to the edge, I looked down into a huge crack that stretched from coast to coast of the wide Zambezi, and saw a stream thousands of yards wide rushed down onto a hundred feet and then suddenly shrank into a space of fifteen to twenty yards ... I have witnessed the most wonderful sight in Africa! ”
The waterfall, according to some parameters, is the largest waterfall in the world, and is also one of the most unusual in shape (the waterfall is an extraordinary sight - a narrow abyss into which water falls), and has the most diverse and easily observed wildlife of any part of the waterfall
Though Victoria Falls It is neither the tallest nor the widest waterfall in the world, its status as the largest is based on a width of 1708 and a height of 108 meters, forming the largest sheet of falling water in the world. Numerous islets on the ridge of the waterfall divide the water stream into several branches. The dense fog and thunderous roar produced by the waterfall can be perceived from a distance of approximately 40 km
A boiling cauldron at the beginning of a winding gorge 80 km long, through which streams rush from the waterfall, is crossed by a bridge 198 meters long and 94 meters high
At the top of the 120-meter Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, there is a natural mountain body called Devil's Pond, where the water is relatively calm. From September to December, when the water level is low, Devil's Pond becomes one of the largest bodies of water in the world to swim in. The surrounding view will certainly make you a little nervous.
Or get very nervous))
Victoria Falls is often compared to the Argentine-Brazilian Iguazu Falls, because if you do not take into account the discontinuity of the Iguazu water wall, it would be the widest waterfall in the world!
There are hardly any metaphors that have not yet been applied to this magnificent natural wonder of the world; it's just hard to describe in words. The falls and its immediate surroundings are so vast that it is difficult to capture their true splendor with a glance, and for this reason, they are perhaps best viewed from the air.
A few more photos Victoria Falls bird's-eye
Victoria Falls is named after the English Queen Victoria. It was discovered in 1855 by the famous Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingston. In the local dialect, the waterfall is called "Mosi-oa-Tunya", which means "Thundering smoke". It was called so by the people of the Makololo tribe who came to these places in the 19th century. Neither the Makololo tribe nor Livingston were the discoverers of these places - stone artifacts indicate that the first people appeared here more than 3 million years ago.
Livingston became the first European to see this waterfall on November 16, 1855. In his diary, he wrote: "Angels in flight looked at places so beautiful." The waterfall is surrounded by the world's largest water curtain, 1688 m wide, and maximum depth- more than 100 m. The rumble of falling water and spray soaring high into the sky speak of the proximity of the waterfall long before you see it with your own eyes. Water rushes off the cliff into a narrow crevice, the width of which is different time from 60 to 120 m. The most spectacular waterfall looks in April and May, after which the volume of water gradually decreases until December, when the rains begin to fall again, filling the Zambezi channel.
The lush rainforest along the river banks is also included in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia and Victoria Falls and Rivers Park in Zimbabwe. Together, these parks cover an area of 56 thousand hectares.
The territory of the parks also includes stretches of the river 5 km below and 35 km upstream of the waterfall.
The rainforest surrounding the river contains a number of endemic plants, most notably ferns, which are extremely rare elsewhere in Zambia and Zimbabwe. The spray clouds covering the entire area adjacent to the waterfall create increased humidity here, which is conducive to vegetation. Among the trees found here, one can distinguish teak, fittelefas (matte palm), golden ficus and ebony. Further from the river and the waterfall, the typical Kalahari forest area begins, covering most of the area. It is home to about 30 species of large mammals, including elephants, monkeys and baboons.
The river is home to crocodiles and hippos, and the coastal forests are home to over 400 bird species, including the rare Livingstone turaco with a bright green breast, the trumpet rhino and several species of sunbirds.
During the rainy season, many flowers bloom in the coastal forests, such as red lilies, wild yellow gladioli, palm flowers and a range of native flora.
From a geological point of view, Victoria Falls is a very young formation. Scientists believe that about 1 million years ago, the channel of the Zambezi River passed along a wide valley along the plateau to the middle rapids of the Zambezi, where the mouth of the Matetsi River is today. At this breaking point crust the river falls from a height of 250 m along the vertical slope of the exposed rock. The fast current washes away the edge of the waterfall, cutting an ever deeper channel in the basalt plateau.
Basalt was formed by large layers of lava that poured out even before the appearance of the Zambezi River. The volcanic eruption occurred here from 100 to 50 million years ago. Lava flows flowed along cracks in the earth's crust, gradually cooling and solidifying. Basalt inside consists of soft rocks that are easily washed away by water.
By the middle of the Pleistocene period - 35,000 - 40,000 years ago - erosion gradually formed the Batoka Gorge, cutting it about 90 km from the present waterfall. The gradually falling water eroded the edge of the falls, and the valley began to turn northward until it was almost at right angles to the east-west basalt fault lines.
Over time, the water punctured the fractures, turning them into stone walls. The river was trapped inside narrow faults, the walls of which continued to collapse under the pressure of water. Since the faults run from east to west, the formation of a waterfall is possible only when.
Over the millennia, the water continued to erode the stone, until a weak point was found, at which, under the pressure of water, the stone layers collapsed, and a new rift was formed, which became a wall for the falling water.
The Scotsman who discovered Victoria Falls for Europeans was a missionary who spent most of his life traveling in Africa. Following from west coast Africa to the east, he reached the Zambezi River at Sesheki in 1851, but saw the waterfall only on November 16, 1855 and wrote in his diary: “... I saw three or five large columns of water vapor rising a hundred or more feet in height ". Livingston was so wary of exaggerating the size of the falls that he seriously downplayed its true length and height.
Livingston returned to Africa in 1865, hoping to discover the source of the Nile, after which he disappeared. The New York Herald newspaper sent a journalist and traveler Henry Stanley in search of him, who in 1871 managed to find the Scotsman.
Soon after, Livingston set out again in search of the source of the Nile, although he was weakened by malaria. He died in the village of Chitambo, in present-day Zambia in 1873, without reaching his goal. His remains were transported to England and buried at Westminster Abbey in London.
GUIDE 
1. The Victoria Falls Bridge was built in 1905. This 198 m long bridge passes over the river near the waterfall, from which they open magnificent views... The bridge is open to traffic for trains, cars and pedestrians. The bridge connects Zambia and Zimbabwe.
2. Blade of the Knife ledge - this is the best view of the falls from the Zambian side. The trail leads down along a spray-shrouded bridge to an island surrounded on all sides by water.
3. "Devil's Threshold", the westernmost point of the waterfall, where the erosion of the stone continues. Nearby there is a monument to David Livingston, the first European to see the waterfall.
4. Field Museum, built on site archaeological site... Some of the items found during the excavations are displayed here, including evidence that the first people appeared in these places about 3 million years ago.
5. The trail along the Zambezi River passes through the rainforest, which makes it possible to observe wild animals: baboons, monkeys, crocodiles and elephants - as well as various species of birds and plants.
6. "Boiling Cauldron" - the point at which the streams of river water merge, starting their fall down into the Batoka gorge.
7. River cruise provides an excellent opportunity to observe wildlife and feel the tranquility of the river above the waterfall.
8. Ferry "White Water" - this risky journey can be made only if accompanied by an experienced guide who knows the river rapids. The Zambezi is one of the ten largest timber floating rivers in the world.
Curious facts
■ Surrounded by coastal rainforest Victoria Falls on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe is considered one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. The Zambezi River, whose width in this place reaches 2 km, crashes its waters from the basalt cliffs with a roar, lifting a curtain of water into the air, which can be seen from a distance of more than 20 km.
■ The waters of the Zambezi River plunge off the cliff, forming a spray cloud that can be seen from miles away. During floods, every minute about 500 million liters break down from the cliff. water.
■ "Big tree" variety of baobab - grows near the place where the discoverers of the waterfall set up their camp before crossing the river. According to scientists, the age of this tree is more than 1500 years.
■ The huge amounts of splash and water vapor generated when the Zambezi River falls off the basalt cliffs result in small cumulus clouds. Crocodiles sometimes appear over the waterfall from the river, wanting to be warmed up in the sun in the coastal silt.
■ The waterfall is home to over 400 species of birds, including weavers that build their amazing nests from grass or other plant material. The Victoria Falls Bridge was built in 1905. He connected the copper and coal mines around Nwange with a railway line. With the advent of the railway, people began to settle where the city of Livingston later arose.
