VICTORIA FALLS

The Victoria Falls National Park was included on the World Heritage list in 1989.
The park comprises the left bank of the Zambezi River above the eastern half of Victoria Falls themselves, and a series of deep gorges below the falls.

VICTORIA FALLS NATIONAL PARK

The falls are the most significant feature of the park, and in February or March when the Zambezi is usually in full flood they form the largest curtain of falling water in the world. During these months over 500 million litres of water go over the falls per minute.  The falls are 1708m wide and drop 99m at Rainbow Falls in Zambia. At low water in November the flow can be reduced to around 10 million litres per minute and the river is divided into a series of braided channels that descend in many separate falls.

Below the falls the river enters a narrow series of gorges, which represent locations successively occupied by the falls earlier in their history. Since the uplifting of the Makgadikgadi Pan area some two million years ago, the Zambezi River has been cutting through the basalt base rock, exploiting weak fissures, and forming a series of retreating gorges. Seven previous waterfalls occupied the seven gorges below the present falls, and Devil's Cataract in Zimbabwe is where the next cut back will form a new waterfall that will eventually leave the present lip of the falls high above the river in the gorge below.

VEGETATION

The predominant vegetation is mopane forest, with small areas of teak and miombo woodland and a narrow band of riverine rainforest' along the Zambezi, a fragile ecosystem of discontinuous forest on sandy alluvium, dependent upon maintenance of abundant water and high humidity resulting from the spray plume within the waterfall splash zone.  Tree species within this forest include Acacia, ebony, ivory palm, African olive, date palm, waterbroom and Cape and strangler figs.

FAUNA

Victoria Falls forms a geographical barrier between the distinct fish faunas of the upper and middle Zambezi River. Thirty-nine species of fish have been recorded from the waters below the falls, including butter barbel, eastern bottlenose, chessa and nkupe, and eighty-four from the waters above the falls, including African mottled eel, tigerfish, Kafue pike and silver barbel.

Several herds of elephant occur in Zambezi National Park which cross occasionally to the islands and Zambian mainland during the dry season when water levels are low. There are small herds of buffalo and wildebeest, as well as zebra, warthog, giraffe and bush pig and schools of hippopotamus. Klipspringer can be seen in the gorges below the falls. Vervet monkey and chacma baboon are common. Lion and leopard are occasionally seen. Taita falcon, scarce but widespread in eastern and central Africa, breed in the gorges, as do black stork, black eagle, peregrine falcon and augur buzzard.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

Stone artifacts of Homo habilis from 3 million years ago have been found near the falls, as have stone tools indicating prolonged occupation of the area in the Middle Stone Age (50,000 years ago). Weapons, adornments and digging tools indicate the presence of hunter-gathering communities in the Late Stone Age (from 10,000 to 2,000 years ago), displaced about 2,000 years ago by farmers using iron tools, who kept livestock and lived in villages. 

Today Victoria Falls is a lively town with numerous bars, restaurants, excellent shopping in shops and markets and of course many adventure activities to keep everyone happy.  There is an airport at Victoria Falls and also just across the border in Livingstone, Zambia. Viewing the Victoria water falls and most activities can be done from the Zimbabwe or the Zambian side.

AVAILABLE HOLIDAY PACKAGES TO THIS REGION:

Bostwana Green Season Spectacular - 10 nights holiday package 10 Nights Victoria Falls, Chobe, Linyanti, Moremi Game Reserve & Okavango Delta (Optional Kalahari Extension) Rate : 10 Nights from $3,350.00

Botswana & Victoria Falls - 6 nights holiday package 6 Nights Victoria Falls & Chobe Safari  The Zambezi Waterfront Chobe Safari Lodge Rate : 6 Nights from $1,025.00 [per person sharing]

Botswana & Victoria Falls - 6 nights holiday package 6 Nights Victoria Falls & Chobe Luxury Safari Tongabezi Lodge Chobe Chilwero Rate : 6 Nights from $3,190.00 [per person sharing]

Botswana Adventure Safari - 11 nights holiday package 11 Nights Makgadikgadi Pans, Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve, Chobe National Park, Victoria Falls & Upper Zambezi Rate : 11 Nights from $3,590.00

Botswana Best Value Lodge Safari - 10 nights holiday package 10 Nights Victoria Falls, Chobe, Moremi Game Reserve, Okavango Delta & Makgadikgadi Rate : 10 Nights from $2,950.00 [per person sharing]

Botswana Chobe & Victoria Falls - 6 nights holiday package 6 Nights Victoria Falls & Chobe Superior Thorntree Lodge Muchenje Safari Lodge Rate : 6 Nights from $1,790.00 [per person sharing]

Botswana Mobile Lodge Safari - 12 nights holiday package 12 Nights Victoria Falls, Chobe National Park, Moremi Game Reserve & Okavango Delta Rate : 12 Nights from $4,025.00

Botswana Northern Highlights - 10 nights holiday package 10 Night Victoria Falls, Chobe, Linyanti, & Okavango Delta Rate : 10 Nights from $3,955.00 [per person sharing]