South Africa: Most big waterfall in the world - "Victoria"!

Victoria Falls- one of the outstanding attractions of Africa and one of the most unusual waterfalls in the world.

It is created by the Zambezi River, abruptly falling into a narrow chasm 100 meters wide.

Moreover, Victoria is the only waterfall in the world that is more than a kilometer long and more than a hundred meters high.

Mosi-o-Tunya ( Thundering smoke) this is what hunters of the Batoka tribe called the waterfall on the Zambezi River for a long time.

And the Matabele pastoralists living on the opposite bank gave him another, no less poetic name - Chongue, which in their language means " Rainbow Place".

Modern name- Victoria - the first European who saw it in 1855, the Englishman David Livingston, gave the waterfall in honor of his queen.

He discovered this natural wonder after a two-year arduous journey through the savannahs and jungles of Central Africa.

The three hundred warriors of the local leader Selectu who accompanied the explorer did not dare to approach the roaring mass.

In their opinion, a formidable deity lived in the abyss under the boiling wall of water, making itself known with a terrifying roar.

Only two of Livingston's bravest companions dared to board the shuttle with him and swim to the island located on the ridge of the waterfall.

But let’s give the floor to the traveler himself:

“Huge columns of “steam” appeared before our eyes, rising upward five to six miles from us.

The “steam” rose in five pillars and, deviating in the direction of the wind, looked as if these pillars were touching a low cliff covered with forest. At such a distance, it seemed that the pillars above were mixing with the clouds.

Below they were white, and above they became dark, like smoke.

This whole picture was extremely beautiful.

The waterfall is limited on three sides by cliffs about 100 m high, which are covered with forest.

The rowers, having guided the shuttle into the middle part of the stream among whirlpools formed by many protruding stones, brought me to an island located in the very middle of the river, not far from a ledge over which the water flowed. Although the waterfall was very close, we could not determine where this huge mass of water was going; it seemed that it was going into the ground, since the opposite ledge of the crack, at which the water disappeared, was only 27 m from us.

At least I could not understand this until I crawled with fear to the very edge and looked down into a huge chasm that stretched from one bank to the other across the entire width of the Zambezi...

Looking deep into the chasm, to the right of the island, I saw nothing but a thick white cloud, on which at that time there were two bright rainbows.

From this cloud a huge stream of “steam” burst out, rising 200-300 feet; condensing at the top, the “steam” changed its color, becoming dark like smoke, and came back in a hail of small sprays, which soon did not leave a single dry thread on us.

This shower falls mainly on the other side of the chasm; a few meters from the edge of the cliff there are evergreen trees standing like a wall, the leaves of which are always wet.”

A modern tourist who wants to see Victoria Falls with his own eyes will see almost the same picture as the English explorer saw a century and a half ago.

Thousand-ton masses of water hit the basalt foot of Victoria with such force that the water turns into clouds of spray, flying back in five columnar white clouds, rising hundreds of meters into the sky.

They can be seen from a distance of forty kilometers, and the roar of the waterfall, similar to continuous peals of thunder, can be heard almost as far away.

The Zambezi River, spreading almost two kilometers wide in this place, suddenly stumbles upon a giant crack in the basalts, and a powerful water avalanche falls one hundred and twenty meters down, falling into a narrow abyss with hundred-meter steep walls, located at right angles to the upper channel.

The islets divide the entire breadth of Victoria into several separate streams bearing the names:

"Devil's Falls", "Main Falls", "Horseshoe", "Rainbow" and "East Falls".

Water jets, reminiscent of arrows flying down with foamy ends, are carried into the abyss and disappear in a cloud of spray.

Two magnificent rainbows constantly glow above the waterfall.

Shocked by the picture that opened before him, Livingston wrote in his diary: “This sight was so beautiful that the flying angels must have admired it.”

The waters of the Zambezi, squeezed by a narrow gorge, seethe and bubble like volcanic magma, foam and rage with a wild roar and crash.

And the scientist’s pencil turns under the influence of this fabulous majestic picture into the poet’s pen, for it is impossible to convey the sensations of an eyewitness to this earthly miracle in the dry language of a scientific report.

Here is another excerpt from the description of David Livingston's journey:

“The entire mass of water overflowing the edge of the waterfall, three meters below, turns into a kind of monstrous curtain of snow driven by a blizzard. Water particles are separated from it in the form of comets with flowing tails, until this entire snow avalanche turns into a myriad of small comets rushing in one direction , and each of them leaves behind its core a tail of white foam."

Victoria Falls is the only place on Earth where you can see a rare natural phenomenon - a lunar rainbow.

It does not occur often - only at those moments when the flood on the Zambezi River coincides with the full moon period.

And even people who have been here more than once cannot always boast that they have seen this night miracle.

After all, sometimes 10-15 years pass between the next appearances of a lunar rainbow.

Only recently did photographers from National Geographic magazine manage to capture it on film for the first time.

Alas, the black and white illustrations in our book are powerless to convey its mysterious charm.

It’s hard to even say what makes the greatest impression on those who have visited Victoria Falls: the spectacle of a gigantic river suddenly disappearing into a bottomless pit, the monstrous roar of a water avalanche, rainbows in clouds of spray, or the wet splendor of the evergreen forest framing this fantastic picture.

Each of the tens of thousands of tourists who visit the waterfall every year takes away something of their own in their memory, something that particularly struck them in this most beautiful corner of Africa.

Some believe that the most stunning impression occurs when observing the white columns of “thundering smoke” in the rays of sunset, when the fading sun throws a golden stream of rays onto the cloud pillars, coloring them gray-yellow, and then it seems that some giant torches.

It must be said that the Africans treated their waterfall much more carefully than the Americans, who spoiled the landscape of Niagara with ridiculous observation towers.

To see Victoria from above, just walk fifty meters to a huge baobab tree towering above the green sea of ​​the jungle. Climbing a metal ladder to its top, you can enjoy a bird's-eye view of the waterfall without disturbing the natural harmony.

Many travelers do not limit themselves to just the spectacle of the waterfall.

No matter how beautiful and menacing the view of a hundred-meter wall of water falling into the abyss is, Africa still conceals many wonders.

And if you go on a pirogue journey through the dark waters of the Zambezi, which spills above the waterfall, you can see on the banks and islands of the river a whole world of mysterious and amazing African nature: green walls of the jungle descending to the water, bathing hippos and elephants, lurking crocodiles and people coming to drink antelope...

And thrill-seekers sometimes decide on a desperate and risk-filled rafting trip on inflatable rafts along the lower reaches of the Zambezi, roaring and raging in the gorge under the waterfall.

On a twenty-kilometer stretch of the river they have to overcome nineteen rapids with waves reaching six meters in height...

The discoverer of Victoria Falls, friend and teacher of indigenous Africans, Dr. Livingstone, is immortalized here forever.

Just a few meters from Devil's Falls stands a modest monument to the remarkable explorer. And nearby, in a town named after Livingston, his memorial museum is open.

Victoria Falls is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is the most... wide waterfall with continuous flow. Its height is 120 meters (which is twice as high Niagara Falls), and the width is approximately 1800 m.

Where is Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls is located on the border of the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe, on the Zambezi River in South Africa. The indigenous people of Zambia call it Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means “thundering smoke”. Also from the local population you can hear the name Chongue (“place of the rainbow”).

Who discovered Victoria Falls in Africa

The waterfall first received widespread publicity in 1855. While traveling along the mouth of the Zambezi River, Scottish explorer David Livingstone saw "a beauty that cannot be compared with anything seen in England." The Scot named the waterfall in honor of Queen Victoria and dubbed it the most wonderful sight in Africa.

For exactly 50 years, Victoria Falls was heard only from travelers who described it in notes. In 1905, a railway was built across the Zambezi River towards the city of Bulawayo. Since then, the flow of tourists has only increased, and Zimbabwe has tourist town Livingston.

By the mid-19th century, the days of the British colonial empire were numbered and South Africa regained its independence. The wave of tourists to Victoria Falls resumed in the 1980s - by which time the annual number of tourists had increased to approximately 300 thousand people.

Description of the area

Above the Victoria Falls, along the Zambezi River, there are islands of different sizes; as you approach the abyss, their number increases. These islands divide the falls into four parts. The right bank of the river is known for “jumping water” - this is the name of the 35-meter wide stream. Behind the island of Boaruca, the width of the waterfall is approximately 460 meters. This is followed by the second main stream behind Livingston Island (530 m). And on the left bank of the Zambezi River there is an eastern waterfall.

The entire flow of Victoria Falls water falls into a narrow crevice and passes through it for about 120 meters, then flows into a zigzag gorge.

Devil's Font

On the Zimbabwe side, at the very precipice of Victoria Falls, there is a section where the water flow is relatively weak, and a narrow rocky ridge creates a so-called pool. This area is known to tourists as the "Devil's Font" and becomes popular from September to December when the water level is low. Desperate extreme sportsmen swim a couple of meters from the cliff. There have also been accidents where swimmers have been carried over the edge, so you should carefully weigh your decision before venturing into the “devil’s pool.”

Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park

In the Thundering Smoke Park in Zambia you can see such wild animals as elephants, giraffes, zebras, antelopes, two white rhinoceroses, and hippos splash peacefully in the river. There are no predators here, so the animals are not shy and are accustomed to humans.

Tourist Information

Entertainment and excursions on the territory of Victoria Falls

• Explore the rapids of the Zambezi River behind the waterfall - for fans of kayaking and rafting. For less extreme tourists, boat trips are offered.
• Experience an adrenaline rush by jumping from a bridge right above the gorge - bungee jumping to the sound of a thundering waterfall.
• See all the beauty of Victoria Falls from a bird's eye view - helicopter and paragliding excursions.
• Book a jeep safari in the national park.
• Fly over the canyon on a zip line - Zip-line attraction.
• Visit the Victoria Falls Museum to learn about how it has changed over its thousand-year history.

When is the best time to go?

Depending on the season, Victoria Falls can be seen in different states. From January to July, the water level in the Zambezi rises, the river flow becomes faster and more powerful (during this period extreme species sports at the waterfall are limited). From August to December, the river dries out significantly, its flow becomes less rapid and strong - this is the peak season for extreme travelers.

How to get to Victoria Falls

Most The best way- fly by plane to the capital of Zambia - Lusaka. Next, you can use local airlines to get to the city of Livingston. The cheaper way is by bus, but the travel time is 7 hours.

It’s better to book a hotel in Livingston in advance to take a break from the road, and in the morning visit Victoria Falls, half an hour’s drive from the city.

Where is Victoria Falls on the map of Africa:

Geographical coordinates: 17°55′28″ south latitude and 25°51′24″ east longitude.

Oddly enough, the driest continent on our planet is also home to majestic waterfalls. Few people have not heard of the famous Victoria Falls, but not many people know that in Africa there is a Tugela Falls four times its height.

Tugela Falls, Tugela River (South Africa)

Tugela Falls, although not the most famous African waterfall, is the second highest waterfall in the world. Although, strictly speaking, the Tugela is more likely to be five free-falling waterfalls, the total height of the water falling in them is 947 meters.

It is located in the Republic of South Africa, in the Drakensberg Mountains, which are part of the Royal Natal National Park in KwaZulu. Tugela means sudden in Zulu. The Drakensberg Mountains are called Ukhahlamba in Zulu. They contain the source of the Tugela, the largest river in this province that gave birth to the largest African waterfall. The cliff from which the Tugela Falls falls is often covered with snow during the winter months.

The Southern Drakensberg is a landscape of forested river valleys framed by majestic cliffs, hillside fields and vast areas of pristine nature. The park provides tourists with: leisure- canoeing, mountaineering, mountain biking, hiking, and more relaxing holiday- fishing, leisurely nature walks and scenic tours.

Tugela Falls is undoubtedly the key attraction of any trip to the Drakensberg Mountains. A beautiful mountain trail leads to the top of Mount-Aux-Sources, which starts from the nearest parking lot. The road to the top of the Amphitheater - Drakensberg cliff is very flat, with the exception of only one relatively short climb. You can freely walk across two hanging bridges to the top of the mountain. All the way to observation deck It takes about 5 hours to get to the waterfall and back.

The second trail at the foot of the Tugela Falls begins in the Royal Natal National Park. It's also a very easy seven-kilometre climb. The trail along the Tugela Gorge runs through primeval forest. At the final stage of the ascent to the Tugela waterfall, you have to overcome boulders, and then a suspension bridge is built, which leads to observation deck, from which you can see a waterfall rushing down from the Amphitheater, consisting of five cascades following each other.

Kalambo Falls, Kalambo River (South Africa)

Kalambo Falls, at 427 meters (772 feet) high, is one of the majestic waterfalls on the Zambia-Tanzania border. The width of the waterfall is 3.6 - 18 m. It is the second highest continuously falling waterfall in Africa. The waterfall is located on the Kalambo River of the same name, which flows into Lake Tanganyika.

Downstream from the waterfall, the river flows through a 5-kilometer gorge about 1 km wide. and a depth of up to 300 m before entering the valley of Lake Tanganyika.

The waterfall was first discovered by Europeans only in 1913. Archaeologically it is one of the most important sites in Africa. Human activity has been traced in its surroundings for more than two hundred and fifty thousand years. For the first time excavations around small lake at the bottom of the falls in 1953 was led by John Desmond Clark.

Stone tools and hearths dating back to approximately 300,000 BC were found there. The hearths indicate to us that people were already systematically using fire.

Augrabies Falls, Orange River (South Africa)

Augrabies Fallsis is located on the Orange River in the national park South Africa. It ranks third in terms of water fall height and is ahead of the next famous Victoria Falls. The local Khoikhoi tribe calls this waterfall Ankoerebis - “place of great noise”, and this is no coincidence, because powerful streams of water rush with a roar from a height of 146 meters into a rocky gorge with a maximum depth of about 200 meters and a length of 18 km.

Aughrabies received its name in 1778 from a Finn, Hendrik Jakob Wikar. This name was adopted by the Boers who settled here later.

During the 1988 flood, 7,800 cubic meters of water passed through the waterfall every second, and 6,800 cubic meters of water in 2006. This is three times the average flood flow at Niagara Falls, 2,400 cubic meters per second, and more than the highest peak on record for Niagara Falls, which was 6,800 cubic meters per second.

Victoria Falls, Zambezi River (Zambia and Zimbabwe)

Victoria Falls is undoubtedly one of the main attractions in South Africa. Victoria Falls is listed World Heritage UNESCO. It is located in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe on the border of the two national parks- Thundering Smoke Park (Mosi-oa-Tunya) in Zambia and Victoria Falls Park in Zimbabwe. Scottish explorer David Livingstone, who visited the waterfall in 1855, named it in honor of Queen Victoria. Local tribes gave it the name "Thundering Smoke".

The width of Victoria is approximately 1800 meters, the height is 108 meters. Thanks to this, it is unique in the world. Victoria is almost twice as tall as Niagara Falls and more than twice as wide as its main part, the Horseshoe Falls. The mass of falling water breaking into splashes forms a fog rising to a height of more than 400 meters, visible at a distance of up to 50 kilometers. During the rainy season, more than 500 million liters of water flow through the falls per minute, and in 1958 the Zambezi recorded a record flow of more than 770 million liters per minute.

At the point where it falls, Victoria Falls is divided into four parts by islands. On the right bank of the river, up to the 300-meter-high island of Boaruka, a 35-meter-wide stream of water rushes down, called “jumping water,” followed by the main waterfall, the width of which is about 460 meters. It is followed by Livingston Island and a stream of water about 530 meters wide, and the eastern waterfall is located on the very left bank of the river.

The Zambezi River falls into an approximately 120 meter deep fault earth's crust. Numerous islands on the ridge of the waterfall form channels and divide the waterfall depending on the seasons. Over time, the waterfall retreated upstream of the Zambezi. At the same time, he gnawed through the soil to the bottom of the crevice, now forming a zigzag river bed with steep walls.

The only exit of the river from the crevice is a rather narrow channel, made by water in its wall approximately 2/3 of the distance from the western end. Its width is only about 30 meters and its length is about 120 meters. Coming out of it, the Zambezi flows into a zigzag gorge that stretches for 80 km. After the zigzag closest to the waterfall, a deep reservoir about 150 m wide, called the “Boiling Cauldron,” formed.

During the rainy season, the water of the Zambezi flows through Victoria in a continuous stream, but during the dry season the falls almost dry up. The spray and fog above it are practically invisible and the water level in the gorge at the bottom of the waterfall decreases by almost 20 meters.

Below the Boiling Cauldron, a railway bridge 250 meters long and 125 meters high above the river level is thrown across the gorge. It was built in 1905 and is one of five existing bridges on the Zambezi River.

Blue Nile Falls, Blue Nile River (Ethiopia)

The Blue Nile Falls (Tis Ysat, or Tis Abbay) are located on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia. In Amharic they are called Tis Issat, which means "Smoking Water". They are located in the upper reaches of the Blue Nile River, about 30 km downstream from the city of Bahir Dar and Lake Tana. The Blue Nile Falls are considered one of the most famous tourist attractions in Ethiopia. It is estimated that four streams of water fall from a height of 37 to 45 meters, changing from small streams in the dry season to a torrent of more than 400 meters wide in the rainy season.

The entirety of Tees Abbay Falls consists of a cascade of several small waterfalls located at the feet of the large upper waterfall.

In 2003, two hydroelectric power stations started operating at the waterfall. Some of the water from the Blue Nile flows to them through artificial canals located above the waterfall. Thanks to this, the flow of water through the waterfall has become smaller, but this does not prevent the formation of a rainbow above it, which many tourists come here to see. The gorge into which the river falls is famous for the oldest stone bridge in Ethiopia, which was built by Portuguese missionaries back in 1626.

Namaqualanda Falls (South Africa)

Namaqualanda (Afrikaans: Namakwaland) is a waterfall in the arid region of Namibia. This region stretches over 970 km. along west coast and its total area is 440,000 km². The region is divided by the lower reaches of the Orange River into two parts - Lesser Namaqualanda in the south and Greater Namaqualanda in the north.

Namaqualanda Falls is located on the Orange River a few miles north of Nieuwoudtville on the road to Loeriesfontein.

Berlin Falls, Blyde River (South Africa)

Berlin Falls is located in the Mpumalanga province in northeastern South Africa. It is 262 feet high. Berlin Falls is part of the famous African Panorama route and is located north of Graskop and close to God's Window in the Blyde River Canyon area.

Murchison Falls is located on the Nile River.In its upper part, Murchison cut his way into rocks only 7 meters wide and 43 meters deep. In the west, the river flows into Lake Albert.

Murchison Falls National Park is the largest national park in Uganda. It occupies 3840 square kilometers. The park is home to the famous Murchison Falls, where cliffs squeeze the waters of the Nile into a narrow gorge, just 7 meters away.Buffaloes, elephants, lions, leopards, rhinoceroses inhabit this corner of wildlife

In 1855, leading a fleet of 33 boats and crewed by 160 Makololo natives, Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone traveled up the Zambezi River. And so, when the expedition passed the next channel, a majestic, incomparable riot of nature opened up before them. The largest waterfall in Africa appeared before the travelers in all its power and beauty.

Livingston wrote that in England no one can imagine, even for a moment, all the splendor of this miracle of nature: “No one can imagine all the beauty of the waterfall. The eyes of a Briton, or any European, have never seen anything like this, but the angels in heaven probably admired such an incredibly beautiful sight!” The traveler named it after the then reigning Queen of Great Britain, Victoria. Since ancient times, hunters of the Batoka tribes called the waterfall Mosi-o-Tunya - “Thundering Smoke”, and the Matabele tribe, from the other bank, called it Chongue - “Place of the Rainbow”.

It is one of the largest in the world and the most stunning waterfall. Of course, Victoria Falls is a fantastic sight. He appears as if out of nowhere. There are no mountains or hills in the landscape. In the basalt plateau along which the Zambezi flows, a huge chasm forms, into which the flows of a full-flowing river fall.

The waterfall is very wide, about 1800 meters, and the height from the top point of falling water varies from 80 meters to 108 meters. The water creates fog and spray that rises above 350 meters and is visible at a distance of up to 40 kilometers. During the rainy season, more than 500,000,000 liters of water per minute pass through the waterfall.

On the edge of the abyss there are four islands that separate the streams of water. On the right bank is the “Jumping Water” stream, 35 meters high. Behind the island of Boaruca, the “Main” waterfall is about 450 meters wide. Livingston Island separates the main channel from another “river within a river”, and off the left coast the “Eastern” cascade rushes into the abyss.

The waterfall gradually retreats upstream, gnawing new channels in the basalt.

Depending on the time of year, the waterfall looks completely different. During the high season - March and April, it rages with all its might. But the spray and constant fog make it difficult to see its splendor. As the amount of water decreases, the view of the waterfall improves. At the “waterless” point, in November and December, the waterfall flows in meager streams, and in some places it dries up completely. During the dry season, the cliffs are clearly visible and you can see the abyss.

The waterfall is located on the border of two states and two national parks - Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Thundering Smoke in Zambia. IN national parks rich is protected wild nature with settlements of elephants and giraffes. In the Zambezi, a large colony of hippopotamuses lives near the waterfall, and there are crocodiles.

Before construction in 1905 railway to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city, the waterfall was rarely visited by Europeans, today those wishing to quite freely, especially through Zambia, on their own or through developed tourist routes can go to the waterfall.

On electronic maps, Victoria Falls is visible in all its grandeur. Be sure to check it out, you won’t regret it!

? Africa's fourth longest river, the Zambezi, is the mother of the continent's largest waterfall, the Victoria Falls. Due to its area, the African waterfall is considered the largest in the world: its width is 1708 meters and its height is 120 meters. Every minute about 500 million liters of water fall down! Victoria's roar can be heard many tens of kilometers away.

For the first time in 1855, the famous explorer D. Livingston spoke about the waterfall. A wide flat area stretches in front of the waterfall, and suddenly, the Zambezi makes an incredible run and jumps 120 meters into the abyss! Having made such a dizzying jump, the Zambezi smoothly moves onto the plain again and ends its path in Lake Kariba.

You can admire Victoria from different angles: from the air - by taking a paraglider or helicopter flight, by going on a cruise water transport along the Zambezi River, and the bravest can take the jump by doing bungee jumping. Nai best view Victoria can be seen from a small cliff in the middle of the Zambezi - Knife Point. You can always see a rainbow on both sides of the waterfall. Once every ten years, lucky people can see the rarest natural phenomenon - an extraordinary lunar rainbow, which, of all places on the planet, chose Victoria Falls.

Tallest waterfall in the world

The Venezuelan name for the tallest waterfall in the world is Angel, Kerepakupai Meru. This name was proposed in 2009 by the country’s late president, the eccentric Hugo Chavez, an opponent of everything American. Translated, it means “waterfall of the deepest place.”

The height of the famous waterfall is 979 meters, almost a kilometer! It is impossible to get to the waterfall on foot, since the approaches to it are blocked on all sides by impenetrable jungle. Due to the constant fog, it seems that there are geysers or volcanoes around the waterfall. The best view of the tallest waterfall in the world is from the air.

Even though the locals Indian tribes They knew about the existence of the waterfall long before Europeans and Americans arrived here; it became widely known only in the 30s of the 20th century. This is hard to believe, especially considering that Christopher Columbus discovered America in the 15th century. However, the waterfall received its name - Angel only in 1937, in honor of the pilot James Angel. This happened after US pilot James Angel and his passengers spent 11 long days making their way through the jungle from the top of the mountain that gave rise to the waterfall. The name of this mountain, Auyantepui, in contrast to the pilot’s surname, meaning “angel,” is translated as “devil’s mountain.”

Read more about Angel in the article -