RSS Feeds
File Under :
During rainy season, some are swept instantly over the falls — including the occasional hippo and foolish humans — to their death and oftentimes found swirling about and washed up at the north-east end of the Second Gorge, about 820 feet (250 meters) south of the falls.
But generally from September through December when water levels are lower, daring individuals can jump in to be carried away within inches of the chasm without continuing over the edge and falling into the gorge.
A natural but slippery rock wall just below the water’s surface at the very edge of the falls forms a barrier that stops them from crashing over despite the current, with thrill-seekers exhilarated from the dangers nearby as the swimmers get within inches of their deaths.
Devil’s Pool is definitely one of the most surreal locations on Earth.
Forming the largest single sheet of falling water in the world, the Victoria Falls — originally called Mosi-oa-Tunya, or Smoke That Thunders by locals — are situated on the Zambezi River, on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe in southern Africa, accessed via Livingstone Island.
The falls are by some measures, the largest waterfall in the world, as well as being among the most unusual in form, and having arguably the most diverse and easily seen wildlife of any major waterfall.
Up to 500 million liters (132,275 gallons) of water cascade per minute over the mile-wide (1.7 kilometer) falls, creating a spectacular explosion of rainbow colored spray that rises over 1,300 feet (400 meters) — and sometimes even twice as high — which can be seen as far as 30 miles (50 kilometers) away.
At full moon, a ‘moonbow’ can be seen in the spray instead of the usual daylight rainbow.
During the flood season from February to May, it’s impossible to see the foot of the falls and most of its face, and the walks along the cliff opposite it are in a constant shower and shrouded in mist. Close to the edge of the cliff, spray shoots upward like inverted rain, especially at Zambia’s Knife-Edge Bridge.
Victoria Falls — later named as such by Europeans — are one of Africa’s major tourist attractions, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where many of Africa’s animals and birds can be seen in the immediate vicinity.
Thousands of thrill-seekers descend on the falls annually, scuttling across rocks and wading through shallows across the precipice to reach the pool from the town of Victoria Falls in Nature’s most exhilarating theme park.
The unusual form of Victoria Falls virtually enables the entire width of the falls to be viewed face-on at the same level as the top, from as close as 200 feet (60 meters). Few other waterfalls allow such a close approach on foot.
The whole Zambezi River drops into a deep, narrow slot-like chasm, connected to a long series of gorges.
For a long distance leading to the falls, the Zambezi river flows over a level sheet of basalt, in a shallow valley bounded by low and distant sandstone hills. The river’s course is speckled with numerous tree covered islands, increasing in number as it approaches the falls.
The unusual form of Victoria Falls virtually enables the entire width of the falls to be viewed face-on at the same level as the top, from as close as 200 feet (60 meters). Few other waterfalls allow such a close approach on foot.
The whole Zambezi River drops into a deep, narrow slot-like chasm, connected to a long series of gorges.
For a long distance leading to the falls, the Zambezi river flows over a level sheet of basalt, in a shallow valley bounded by low and distant sandstone hills. The river’s course is speckled with numerous tree covered islands, increasing in number as it approaches the falls.
No mountains, escarpments, or deep valleys are present which might be expected to create a waterfall — only a flat plateau extending hundreds of miles in all directions.
The falls are formed as the full width of the river plummets in a single vertical drop into a chasm 200 to 400 feet (60 to120 meters) wide, carved by its waters along a fracture zone in the basalt plateau.
The depth of the chasm — called the First Gorge — varies from 262 feet (80 meters) on the western end to 360 feet (108 meters) in the center. The only outlet to the First Gorge is a 360 foot (110 meter) wide gap about two-thirds of the way across the width of the falls from the western end, through which the entire river pours into the Victoria Falls gorges.
Two islands on the crest of the falls — Boaruka Island (or Cataract Island) near the western bank, and Livingstone Island near the middle — are large enough to divide the curtain of water even at full flood. At less than full flood, additional islets divide the curtain of water into separate parallel streams.
The main streams are named Leaping Water — called Devil’s Cataract by some — Main Falls, Rainbow Falls (the highest) and the Eastern Cataract.
The gorge below the Songwe called the Batoka Gorge — also used as an umbrella name for all the gorges — is about 75 miles (120 kilometers) long. The straight line distance to its end is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of the falls and takes the river through the basalt plateau to the valley in which Lake Kariba now lies.
For more than 100,000 years, the falls have been receding upstream through the Batoka Gorges, eroding the sandstone-filled cracks to form the gorges. The river has fallen in different eras into different chasms which now form a series of sharply zig-zagging gorges downstream from the falls.
Zambia and Zimbabwe each share the falls, and both have national parks to protect them and towns serving as tourism centers — Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park and Livingstone in Zambia, and Victoria Falls National Park and the town of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
In 2006, hotel occupancy on the Zimbabwean side was about 30%, while the Zambian side was at near-capacity, with rates reaching $630 US per night. The rapid development has prompted the United Nations to consider revoking the fall’s status as a World Heritage Site. Problems of waste disposal and a lack of effective management of the falls’ environment are also a concern.
0 comments:
Post a Comment