HISTORY 16 NOVEMBER 1855, the Scottish Missionary and explorer Dr David Livingstone became the first white man to see , Mosi-oa-Tunya ‘The Smoke Which Thunders

HISTORY 16 NOVEMBER 1855, the Scottish Missionary and explorer Dr David Livingstone became the first white man to see , Mosi-oa-Tunya ‘The Smoke Which Thunders now a UNESCO World Heritage site — known worldwide as Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River, the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, so the falls are shared by the two countries.

Victoria Falls is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Statistically speaking, it is the largest waterfall in the world. These wonders of the world can be found on five different continents.These wonders of the world can be found on five different continents This recognition comes from combining the height and width together to create the largest single sheet of flowing water.

The Victoria Falls is is a massive body of water falling from the Zambian side so, Zimbabwe see the falls while Zambia need to cross the border a few metres away on foot to be on the Zimbabwean side to view the Victoria Falls. David Livingstone named the Victoria falls in 1855 after Britain’s Queen Victoria. In 1964, Zambia gained independence from Great Britain. Several streets and cities in Africa kept names of Victoria and across the Victoria Falls, the city of Livingstone in Zambia is also still called Livingstone because they loved Dr. Livingstone.

The name Mosi-oa-Tunya ‘The Smoke Which Thunders came from the fact that, one can see a massive white cloud of ‘smoke’ rising from the ground while still far then the closer one gets, they suddenly hear massive roaring from the falling water, and then realise its not something to fear, but just falling water and spray from the massive body of falling water rising up as they see the beauty of the falls and enjoy the rain forest effect from the spray, hence the name Mosi-oa-Tunya ‘The Smoke.

To fully enjoy the experience, if one has the time, they can simply walk across the bridge over the falls from the Zimbabwe end to the Zambia side, drive across, use a train or cycle but whatever one does, they really get to enjoy the Victoria Falls.

The Zambezi is a 1,599-mile long river located in Africa, which begins in the Republic of Zambia, in the eastern region of the continent. The river’s headwaters emerge from a special environmental biome, classified by the World Wildlife Fund as tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands.

Within this habitat, the Zambezi River is formed from a wetland area known as a dambo, which is characterized by numerous grass and rush plant species.

The dambo is surrounded by an environment known as a miombo forest, which refers to the dominant type of tree. Dambos are important ecosystems and water sources that cover approximately 12.5% of the area of Zambia.

In fact, the Zambezi River’s headwaters are located within a reserve that is both a national monument and an Important Bird Area.

The origin of the Zambezi River is located at the top of a plateau area that measures between 2,952 and 3,937 feet above sea level. These headwaters begin just east of the division between the Zambezi and Congo watersheds. The origin marks the point where the Lualaba River flows into the Congo rather than the Zambezi, completely dividing these two major rivers.
COURSE of the Zambezi River

The Zambezi River flows through 6 countries, at some points entering a country and at other points forming only part of a border between two countries. From its headwaters in Zambia, near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Zambezi flows in a southwestern direction into the eastern peninsula region of Angola.

The river then turns south enters Zambia once again. It then forms part of the border between Zambia and Namibia, before entering Namibia for a short distance.

The river crosses the most eastern tip of Namibia to Botswana, where it forms a tiny section of border between Botswana and Namibia.

From here, the Zambezi flows in a more eastern and northeastern direction, along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Along this border, the river forms Lake Kariba, which straddles the two countries.

The river continues to the corner where Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique meet, and then flows into Lake Cahora Bassa, in Mozambique. The river then turns southeast and empties into the Indian Ocean.

MAJOR FEATURES of the Zambezi River
The Zambezi River has a number of notable features along its course, although the most well-known are Victoria Falls and the Zambezi Delta. Victoria Falls is located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, where the central plateau geological feature abruptly ends. The Zambezi River flows over the plateau and is extremely wide and slow-moving before it cascades over the edge of the plateau, forming Victoria Falls. This waterfall is 355 feet tall at its center and 5,604 feet wide, giving it the largest surface area of any waterfall in the world.
The Zambezi Delta is formed where the Zambezi River flows into the Indian Ocean. Depending on the season, the delta ranges from 35,000 to 140,000 cubic feet in volume. It is home to a diverse range of plant and animal species. Today, the habitat is threatened by development and farming practices
SEVEN WONDERS of the world are pictured in order of discussion in the last 7 photos here.
VICTORIA FALLS
In Southern Africa, the Zambezi River flows across a flat plateau that extends hundreds of kilometres in all directions. It is here that one will find the largest waterfall in the world.Victoria Falls is one of the wonders of the world, stretching 1.7 kilometres wide and shared by the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The falls are formed as the full width of the Zambezi River plummets into a 108 metre high cleft. During the wet season, the spray from the falls can be seen nearly 50 kilometres away, hence the local name Mosi-oa-Tunya (the ‘Smoke that Thunders’).The falls drop into a deep, narrow chasm, which is connected to a long series of gorges. This unique form allows the falls to be viewed face-on 60 metres away from the opposite side of the gorge.
NORTHERN LIGHTS – AURORA BOREALIS (another one of the natural wonders of the world) appears in the North sky and is visible only from the Northern Hemisphere. These northern polar lights appear inadvertently from September to October and March to April. The Aurora Borealis is named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora and the Greek name for the north wind, Boreas. Often seen as a greenish glow or occasionally a faint red, the lights consist of solar wind and particles that appear as “curtains” or streamers extending in an east-west direction across the sky. Shaped by the earth’s magnetic field, the lights are constantly changing and evolving. The Cree call this phenomenon the “Dance of the Spirits.”
GRAND CANYON Located in North America is the Grand Canyon, extending 400 kilometres through the Colorado Plateau in northwest Arizona. The canyon is 6 to 30 kilometres wide and 1.6 kilometres deep. The canyon is an erosion formed by water, ice and wind and is considered one of the 7 wonders of the world. The layers of sedimentary rock were formed over millions of years ago and provide significant insight into the earth’s geologic timescale.
PARICUTIN VOLCANOIn 1943 the Parícutin Volcano erupted in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. The first man to witness the eruption was a Tarascan Indian farmer, named Dominic Pulido. The Parícutin is a Monogenetic cone, which means it stems from a single point of eruption. The volcano now stands at 410 metres above ground. Its hardened lava covers 16 square kilometres and its volcanic sand covers 32 square kilometres. Named after a small Tarascan Indian village, Parícutin is now counted as one of the seven wonders of the world.
HARBOUR OF RIO DE JANEIRO The Harbour of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil is one of the 7 wonders of the world because it holds many illusions. The Harbour can be viewed in so many ways that it appears differently and can be deceptive. For example, the mountains create an entrance into the bay and can make it appear to be a lake. However, when the Portugese explorers arrived in 1502, they believed the bay was a large river and named it Rio de Janeiro, the “River of January,” in honour of the month they arrived.
MOUNT EVEREST On the edge of the Tibetan Plateau stands one of the most impressive of the 7 world wonders, Mount Everest. Like the rest of the Himalayas, Mount Everest rose from the floor of the ancient Tethys Sea. It is considered to be the highest mountain in the world and continues to grow today at the rate of a few millimetres each year. Mount Everest and the Himalayas were traditionally revered by the local people as the homes of the gods and were considered sacred.
GREAT BARRIER REEFThe last of the 7 wonders of the world is the Great Barrier Reef along the northeast coast of Queensland, Australia. The Great Barrier Reef stretches 2,600 kilometres and is the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem composed of 2,900 individual reefs. It supports a variety of vulnerable and endangered species. The Great Barrier Reef covers an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres and is the only living organism on earth that is visible from space.Sibusiso Ngwenya, World Atlas, Victoria Falls guide Wikipedia

Mzilikazi Khumalo ( 1790 – 9 September 1868) was a Southern African king who founded the Mthwakazi Kingdom now known as Matabeleland, in what became British South Africa Company-ruled Rhodesia and is now Zimbabwe. His name means “the great road”. He was born the son of Mashobane kaMangethe near Mkuze, Zululand (now known as KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa), and died at Ingama, Matabeleland (near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe). Many consider him to be the greatest Southern African military leader after the Zulu king Shaka. In his autobiography, David Livingstone referred to Mzilikazi as the second most impressive leader he encountered on the African continent. Victoria Falls is the greatest feature of Matebeleland North province.
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