Victoria Falls

From ArticleWorld

Situated on the Zambezi River, the Victoria Falls are one of the most magnificent water falls in the world. They are on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe and their position is 17°55′1″S latitute and 25°51′0″E longitude. They stretch over 1.6 kilometers (about one mile) in width and fall from a height of 420 feet (128 meters). They are a are World Heritage site, designated by UNESCO and a major tourist attraction.

The falls were locally known as Mosi-oa-Tunya (meaning “the smoke that thunders”) but was later renamed after Queen Victoria by David Livingstone who visited the site in 1885. The Victoria Falls are shared by two countries : Zambia and Zimbabwe. The former has the falls in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park and the latter in the Victoria Falls National Park.

The Falls

The Victoria Falls are located midway in the course of the Zambezi River. All along the course of the river, there are many tree-clad islands whose density increases with nearness to the falls.

The Zambezi plunges down into a narrow chasm which is only about 400 feet (120 m) wide. The crest of the falls is interrupted by numerous islets, which results into the falls being broken down into a series of falls.

The falls are 1.7 kilometers in width and its height varies from 80 m to 105 m( which is twice the height of Niagara Falls, Canada). The spray and mist thus generated can rise upto a 1.6 kilometers (one mile) and can be detected even 25 miles (40 km) away.

Flow variations

In the rainy season, the river releases about 9,100 m³/s (320,000 ft³/s) of water. During this time, the water just rols smoothly over the main falls unbrokenedly. In the dry season, the flow may be reduced to a mere 350 m³/s (12,500 ft³/s) of water. Only a few cascades remain and the spray is mist is virtually zero. One can look into the depths of the gorge at this time only. The level of the Zambezi in the gorge varies by about 20 meters between the dry season in October and the wet one in April.

Tourism

In 1905, when the railway link to Bulawayo became operational, the falls began receiving tourists. During the British colonial rule, it became a major attraction as one of the most spectacular falls.

Owing to the guerilla warfare in Zimbabwe and suspicion of foreigners under the Kenneth Kaundarulership in Zambia, the number of tourists sharply declined late 1960s onwards. In the 1980s, people again began visiting this site. The end of the 1990s saw an annual tourist count of 300,000. It is expected to cross the one million mark in this decade.

The Zimbabwe side of the falls is more popular as the tourist facilities are much better there. Civil unrest under the rule of Robert Mugabe in the early 2000s saw a sharp decline in the number of tourists in Zimbabwe. Zambia and Zimbabwe permit tourists to cross over in day trips even without a visa.