Victoria Falls Victoria Falls Victoria Falls (Lozi: "Mosi-oa-Tunya", "The Smoke that Thunders") is a waterfall in southern Africa on the Zambezi River at the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. David Livingstone, the Scottish missionary and explorer, is believed to have been the first European to view Victoria Falls on 16 November 1855, from what is now known as Livingstone Island, one of two land masses in the middle of the river, immediately upstream from the falls near the Zambian shore. Livingstone named his discovery in honour of Queen Victoria of Britain, but the indigenous Lozi language name, "Mosi-oa-Tunya"—"The Smoke That Thunders"—continues in
Victoria Falls crest. It is also possible to walk to the bottom of the First Gorge at the Zimbabwean side. The minimum flow, which occurs in November, is around a tenth of the April figure; this variation in flow is greater than that of other major falls, and causes Victoria Falls' annual average flow rate to be lower than might be expected based on the maximum flow. The entire volume of the Zambezi River pours through the First Gorge's wide exit for a distance of about , then enters a zigzagging series of gorges designated by the order in which the river