Victoria Falls
5 things to know about Victoria Falls for a further understanding when you call on. The young city of Victoria Falls is a community of 33 500 residents. It hosts thousands of clients from the region and overseas. In 1989, the Mosi-oa-Tunya Victoria Falls was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
That’s not unpredictable though, since it’s the tallest waterfall in the World. Batoka gorge on which the waterfalls lie is 108 meters in depth. The screen of white-water extends for 1700 meters at its climax. It supports a unique tropical forest because of the sprays from the shower water below the Gorge. The deafening plunge of the splash is discernible 40 km elsewhere. Helicopter flights above the waterfalls present an uncommon sight of the zig-zag sort of the Gorge. Many acknowledge David Livingstone’s comment, ’The view of Angels in flight…’. Nature has its meaning and Victoria Falls is one such admiration of the Natural World.
Victoria Falls town is just 40 sq km and within a National Park. It was established in 1905 when construction of the Victoria Falls bridge was completed. This bridge connects Zambia and Zimbabwe. There were proposals to install a hydroelectric power station at Victoria Falls. However, Kariba dam was later constructed for such a plant. Owing to the industrial expansions of Europe and the USA around the 1930s, 1960s,and 1990s, Victoria Falls became the primary tourism focus.
Victoria Falls wildlife
Wildlife is part of the city. First, elephants, baboons, monkeys, warthogs, and antelopes roam the streets. In addition, in many resorts along the Zambezi river, hippos and buffaloes forage on the grounds. Zambezi National Park outside Victoria Falls has an unusual concentration of wildlife.
Second, Zambezi river winds past two adjacent national parks of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Both parks share the enormous task of preserving wildlife. Above all, the two National Park are home to the big-five-game. Lions, buffalo, elephants, rhino and leopards, and cheetahs are here. Big mammals like giraffes, roans, kudu, eland, hyena, hippos, and crocodiles are available too.
As one would presume, bird-life is excellent thanks to the Zambezi river. They always decorate the break of dawn with their melody. Fish eagles, marabou stocks, white-backed vultures, ground hornbills are some of the gigantic birds in the area.
The growth of the small city is beyond one’s imagination. Hotels, lodges, backpackers, and campgrounds have been expanding. Their services improve significantly to meet the interests of guests. Many families here have turned their homes into B&Bs as the demand for accommodation keeps moving up.
Victoria Falls Industry
It has hosted International and Regional conferences in recent years. Ultimately, making it more marketable on the World platform. Several hotels have since been upgraded to meet the requirements of world dignitaries and conference centers for big events. Popular Hotels are The Victoria Falls Hotel, Ilala Lodge, Kingdom Hotel, A’Zambezi Hotel, Rainbow Hotel, Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, and Cresta Hotels, to mention a few. These are top-of-the-range accommodation, quite priced for many visitors. However, the industry has expanded owing to the demand.
Accommodation in City
They maintained lodges and backpackers in response to the competition in the hospitality industry. Most have bed-and-breakfast on their packages. Recently, the Shearwater Village has added a unique lodge with camping grounds. Victoria Falls Rest Camp was one of the few campsites in the town. With a swimming pool and bar for patrons, their chalets have a fair price if you wish for a longer stay in Victoria Falls.
There is a small industrial area mainly for service building materials and household furniture. Most of the products here are iron products and wood products. The dominant and big companies here are Tour Operators who run the small town. Their service in recent years in running activities and tours has also improved to meet World-class expectations. Long-serving companies here include Wild Horizon, Shearwaters, Bushtracks Africa, and a few more.
Popular Activities in Victoria Falls
Popular on the scene of adventure activities is the whitewater rafting in the Zambezi river and the bungee jumping on the bridge. A few adrenaline activities like the zipline, flying fox, bridge swing and more are on offer by experts’ tour guides. Two national parks around the town, the Zambezi National Park and the Victoria Falls National Park, give the visitors a good value for their money for the Game-drives.
The activity center is big business here as every day of the year people are doing activities here. Two most prominent companies here www.wildhorizons.co.za and Shearwater www.shearwatervictoriafalls.com provide most of the services. There is no weekend or holiday in this small town. Every day is a working day. Much busier on holidays and weekends as well.
Scenic Flights
Four companies run helicopter flights in the small town. We hear the buzzing sound of these machines every other hour during the day. The notable ones are www.bonisair.com and also www.zambezihelicopters.com. At a fair price of US$160, you get to fly across Victoria Falls town in 13 mins. But those 13 mins are just as outstanding. The feeling is beyond measure. Aerial sight of the town from the skies surrounded by vast forests here is just as impressive. The snake-like passage of the Zambezi river as it flows and plunges down the 107 m deep gorge leaves one with tears in the eyes. Mist and spray that rise from within the gorge going up forms showers that water the rainforest nearby. The agitation of being completely soaked with this rainfall on a sunny, hot day is just unexplained. And that is the dominant theme that has attracted the growth of Victoria Falls town. The formation of the Falls is because of the full width of the river as it plummets into a single vertical drop over 1,708 meters wide along a fracture zone in the basalt plateau.