A Brief History of Victoria Falls

History of Victoria Falls

The Bushman were undoubtedly the earliest settlers in the region, followed by the Tonga-Ila people from the south in 1500AD. These peaceful pastoralists were soon defeated by the Makokolo, who remained in the area and were amongst Dr. Livingstone’s party that first “discovered” the Falls.

The Zambezi River has been known outside of Africa for thousands of years. Certainly the Zambezi was a highway for Arab trade during the first millennium AD.

Dr David Livingstone was the first European to view the Falls on the 16 November 1855, who described it as “Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by Angels in Their Flight”. He named the Falls after his monarch, Queen Victoria.

Forty years after his discovery, coal deposits were found at Hwange (Zimbabwe) and copper in Zambia. The construction of the Cape to Cairo railway was diverted to cross the Zambezi River just below Victoria Falls in 1905. This opened up the region to an influx of tourists and to cater for them the Victoria Falls Hotel was opened in 1904 which has since been visited by royalty and stars alike.

In 1981 a group of intrepid adventurers did the first white river rafting expedition on the Zambezi River which marked the beginning of Victoria Falls’ rise as the adrenaline capital of Southern Africa.