Victoria Falls

The Victoria Falls must surely be one of the most memorable sights in the world. The mighty Zambezi River expands to an incredible width of over a mile before thundering 100 metres down a sheer chasm and into the turbulent white waters below. Before reaching the falls, the river is a peaceful place with palm-dotted islands scattered throughout the water. The area around the falls is rainforest fed by the constant spray from the falls. Magnificent rainbows can be seen from all angles. Viewing of the falls is done from within the Victoria Falls National Park where you can see antelope, vervet monkey, warthog and banded mongoose living amid the spray.

The town of Victoria Falls is only a few minutes walk from the falls and is the tourist hub for a huge range of activities covering both general tourism and the adrenalin adventure seekers. The town has many craft and African art shops ranging, perhaps inevitably, from the top class through to the cheap and cheerful tourist souvenirs. This means that there is much to do in the area and it is quite possible to enjoy several excursions in the falls area.

David Livingstone reported the existence of the Falls to the outside world in 1860. The result was immediate and from that point, the number of foreign visitors rose steadily.

Winters (May to September) are like luscious Mediterranean summers with warm, sunny days and cool, clear nights. There is never any snow, not even in the eastern highlands, but overnight frosts and freezing temperatures are not uncommon anywhere on the plateau.

Most of Zimbabwe's rain falls in brief afternoon deluges during electrical storms in the summer months (October to April) and bring little relief from the humidity.