The Victoria Falls and the National Park with the same heading has been called something entirely different for thousands of years. The Kololo Tribe and locals call the Falls the Mosi-oa-Tunya or The Smoke That Thunders. The Falls didn’t take its present

The Zambezi River flows through ravines and lofty gorges before finally falling to create the great Victoria Falls, over twice as high as Niagara Falls. Victoria Falls, actually, lies between Zambia and Zimbabwe. By varying statistics, the falls are the largest in the world. The rainforest around the falls arguably grows more flora and attracts more fauna than any other waterfall in the world.

The reason there’s so much diversity is the over 1.5 kilometers long of falls and the rising mist from over 500 million liters of gushing water falling some 100 meters below per minute. Visitors can, as a matter of fact, see all the falls from the top. The water falls down into a chasm, allowing visitors to get very close. There are over 15 official viewpoints with some popular trails—such as the Chain Walk and Danger Point. The drier season is May to October, with less overspray from the falls for picture taking. The rainy season, conversely, starts in mid-November and finished sometime in April, displaying the true natural force that Victoria can release.

To put the record straight, Victoria Falls and the surrounding Mosi oa Tunya National Park (just south of Livingstone town in Zambia) is not a real rain forest. The area just looks and “acts” like a rain forest due to all that rising mist. The area riverine forest is as dense and as diverse as a real rainforest, however. The area terrain and vegetation is full of date palm groves, ivory palm groves, and ebony and mahogany trees. There is almost 25 square kilometers of this vegetation, including figs, liana vines and unique ferns. Further from the falls, you’ll find the ubiquitous acacia trees taking root in the drier plains.

The Zambezi National Park and Victoria Falls National Park house about 55,000 hectares of wild- and bird-life. In the Zambezi river itself, it becomes easy to spot the large hippos and crocs meandering in the water. More north, it’s possible to find zebras and buffaloes, giraffe and elephants, and antelope and some rhinos. The Park also keeps buffalo and lions, giraffe and kudu, monkeys and baboons, and waterbuck and all sorts of fishable fish (catch and release only), from tiger fish to tilapia, and catfish to smaller fish.

The avifauna flying around have the best view of Victoria Falls, bar none. There’s over 400 species of these budgies that call this place home. Birders will have no problem focusing on fish eagles, kingfishers, geese, bee-eaters, herons, egrets, storks, and ibis; and everything in between: Heuglin’s Robins, Trumpeter Hornbills and the Knysna Turacos, to name a few. If you’ve got the time to hunt them out, you’ll have rare encounters with African Skimmers, African finfoots, Taita Faloncs, Rock Pratincoles and all sorts of raptors and other protected birds, such as eagles and falcons. The never-ending list goes on and on.

Getting to Victoria Falls can be easy or can take some time. There is an international airport with air services from Harare and other regional cities. If you’ve pre-booked a driver and car through your tour operator, then you’ll have to travel over 430 kilometers from Bulawayo or by way of the Kazungula border. The road from Bulawayo won’t get you as dusty or as dirty as other African roads as all the roads here have been covered in tarmac. Whether you’ve booked a 4x4 or car, your driver can get you to here in one piece. Within the park, there are several walkable trails. You can book walking tours through your tour operator and even go bungee jumping off one of the bridges over the Zambezi.

The closest anyone can stay to the falls is about five to ten minutes walking distance. One hotel is The Royal Livingstone where you can stroll a private trail to the Zambian border of the falls. Animals often come romping through the private hotel grounds. Or, a stay at the aptly named Victoria Falls Hotel on the Zimbabwe side of the falls offers some luxury for the price. The Zambezi Sun on the Zambia side is one of the few places you can in sooth hear the roaring falls. This place gets booked up quickly by families, as there are several onsite restaurants and a very large swimming pool. Moreover, there are four camps within the park itself and some lodges a few kilometers up the Zambezi river; most are self-contained. A unique addition to this National Park is the fishing camps, offering very basic facilities and accommodation.