Victoria Falls

As the beginning of Waterfalls Week here at the blog I would like to start with a great waterfall! These falls are formed by the Zambezi river and are on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The falls are also known as Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means "the mist that thunders."

This is one of the largest waterfalls in the world by a number of measures. Here are some statistics and a comparison with a couple of other great falls:

Victoria Falls is over a mile wide (5600 feet) and is 360 feet high.

Iguazu Falls is nearly 9000 feet wide and is 210-270 feet high.

Niagara Falls is 3900 feet wide and 167 feet high.

Here is a little about the pictures. In the top picture, I took this from a small helicoptor flight I took over the falls. This is less than a third of the width of the falls in the picture and is where the river leaves the first gorge. In the center left portion of the picture you can see a precipice and that is called Danger Point. There are no railings or barriers here just a sign that says the rocks are slippery!!!
In the second picture the falls are seen from the Zambian side and on the left of the picture you can see Danger Point, which is on the Zimbabwean side of the falls.

In this third picture, from the Zimbabwean side of the falls you can see the top of the falls as they cascade into the gorge. The rock outcrop in the picture at the end of the path is Danger Point.

This final picture is something I really want to do, it is called Devil's Pool and is a natural safe swimming area only a couple of feet from the 360 foot plunge. There are AWESOME pictures and videos at this site and you can see more about the Devil's Pool here: http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/devilspool.asp