The Victoria Falls is a magnificent waterfall spanning the width of the Zambezi River. The river is over 2 kilometres wide at the point where the waterfall begins its descent down the basaltic gorges.
The shining mist rising from the waterfall can be seen over 20 km away. Upstream from the falls, the Zambezi flows over a sheet of basalt through a low valley made of short sandstone hills. Many tree-covered islands including the Livingstone Island are scattered across the river as it nears the falls. Victoria Falls is almost double the width and depth of the Niagara Falls. As a popular tourist destination, construction of various buildings and tourism facilities are posing a threat to the ecology of the waterfall.
It is believed that Scottish missionary and explorer, David Living-stone, was the first European to view the Victoria Falls. He saw the waterfall on 16 November 1855 from a place now called the Living-stone Island. The island is in the middle of the Zambezi River, immediately upstream from Victoria Falls. Livingstone named the waterfall after Queen Victoria of England.
Picture Credit : Google
