The Victoria Falls is the biggest curtain of falling water in the world and one the seven natural wonders of the world. 500 million litres of water cascade over the two kilometre wide falls every minute, causing a deafening rumble and a spectacular explosion of spray which can be seen 50 kilometres away, giving the falls the name of The Smoke That Thunders.
The Victoria Falls was originally known by the Koloko tribe as Mosi-oa-Tunya, meaning The Smoke That Thunders. In 1841 David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary and one of the greatest European explorers of Africa, was posted to the edge of the Kalahari Desert. He became convinced of his mission to reach new peoples in the interior of Africa and to convert them to Christianity, as well as freeing them from slavery. In 1849 he first traveled across the Kalahari Desert and in 1852 he began a four year expedition to find a route from the upper Zambezi to the coast. It was during this expedition, in 1855, that he discovered the spectacular waterfall which he named the Victoria Falls, in honour of Queen Victoria.
