The first European to see Victoria Falls with his own eyes was the Scottish missionary and African traveller David Livingstone . After hearing reports about the falls in 1851, he landed four years later, on November 16, 1855, on the small island that lies right on the edge of the Zambezi River and which is now known as Livingstone Island. Deeply impressed, he described the falls as "the most beautiful he had ever seen in Africa" and named them Victoria Falls in honour of the then British Queen Victoria .
The local Kololo people call the waterfall Mosi-oa-Tunya (in English: thundering smoke ). The name refers to the water spray that rises from the falls to a height of up to 300 m and can be seen from up to 30 km away. This is caused by the water masses of the Zambezi pouring over a width of 1708 m into a gorge with steep basalt rock walls that lies across the river. The gorge is 110 m deep and barely more than 50 m wide.

Anyone who wants to experience tourism in Africa should drive or fly here. A special airport has even been built for the Vicfalls, which Lufthansa flies to.
It wasn't quite that easy for our travel group, after all, we've been on the road here for weeks.
Yesterday morning we crossed the border into Zimbabwe. The visa costs 30 US$ per person. Toldi hides and gets through 😂. There is much more Africa here than in Botswana. You can tell from the roads - it's 70 kilometers from the border to Victoria Falls. We drive around all kinds of potholes. We start with a good breakfast in the Vicfalls Cafe.
Then we go to the entrance, entrance fee for foreigners is currently 50 US $.
Zimbabwe does not have its own currency and payments are made in US$, but in principle anything is accepted.
After the entrance you come across Livingstone, the discoverer who gave the falls their name.

Afterwards there are 18 viewpoints on a distance of about 4.5 kilometers.

At the beginning you remain relatively dry

Towards the end of the path things change drastically. Wet down to our underwear, shoes are squishy. Only our cell phones and cameras are protected.
The spray from the water masses comes back like rain from above.
It is truly a natural wonder of the first order, no wonder that the whole world wants to come here and experience it with their own eyes and senses.

Then it's time to dry off, even Toldi is wet because the backpack is wet. If he had known that, he grumbles, he would have stayed in Mr. Leo, but he really wanted to come along.
After a drying phase of about 2 hours, we ended the day with a small snack and drink at the old, venerable Victoria Falls Hotel, a relic and beautiful relic from the colonial era.

Beautiful as soon as you enter

The view from the terrace into the garden is stunning.
Now that we are somewhat presentable again, we also get a nice table.

I think we are the only ones here with a vehicle like Mr. Leo. The rest of the guests will have used the airport and been dropped off directly here.
But it's nice here and eating something fine is always a pleasure.
We drive back to the Senyati Safari Lodge near Kasane, where the Zambezi receives excess water from the Okavango when it floods the land. Zambezi and Okavango meet. In Kasane we have already booked a river cruise on the Chobe River and are looking forward to it.
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