adminSome of you have been to the Victoria Falls. Others are still to go. So what is the big deal? Here are a few strange facts that you may not have ever come across before. It rains 24 /7 – Because of the spray from the falls, the rain forest at Victoria Falls is the only place on earth that rains 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Have you ever seen a moon bow? During a full moon you can see a moon bow also known as a lunar rainbow at Victoria Falls. This can been seen through the spray at night instead of during the day as a solar rainbow. The day light rainbow is exactly the same as the full moonlight rainbow: the colour scheme and the shape of the curvature are the same.
Did you know that people hang over the edge of the Victoria Falls – It is true, when the river flow is at a safe level during the months of September to December, you can swim in a naturally formed pool known as the Devil’s Swimming Pool right on the edge of the falls.
This pool is accessed from Livingstone Island, the very island that David Livingstone first saw the falls from. The natural rock wall just below the water stops you from being washed over the edge despite the current.
Victoria Falls is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World – do you know them all?
The others are the Grand Canyon, Great Barrier Reef, Harbour of Rio de Janeiro, Mount Everest, Polar Aurora, Paricutin volcano.
Victoria Falls is the world’s largest curtain of falling water.
The 1 700-metre wide water cataract drops through 110 metres only to escape through a series of zigzagging gorges a mere 100 metres wide and 122 metre deep.
The Victoria Falls Bridge was the dream and brainchild of Cecil John Rhodes but he died before the bridge was completed.
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen of England visited the Victoria Falls in 1947 and stayed at the famous Victoria Falls Hotel in the royal suite.
The falling water crashing into the bottom of the falls is eroding the stones all the time. So the falls height is more than the reported 110 metres.
In 1910 the bodies of two people named Mrs Moss and Mr Orchard were found in the second gorge of Victoria Falls.
They had been swept over the falls after their two canoes were capsized by a hippo at Long Island above the falls
During the high water level in April one year four elephants trying to swim across the Zambezi River were swept by the currents down the river and over the falls.
It has been reported that a tourist had an encounter with a hippo on one of the roads in the Victoria Falls town – the funny thing was it was at least 2km from the river – not your normal road user.
• Some enthusiastic marketers installed electric lighting at the Falls for “nocturnal” viewing of the Victoria Falls.
The National Heritage Conservation Commission were not happy and they had to be removed. – victoriafalls-guide.net
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