Victoria Bridge, Livingstone

I visited to see the Victoria Falls last month. It is one of the best natural wonders I have ever seen. It presents a spectacular sight of awe-inspiring beauty and grandeur on the Zambezi River, forming the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. In old days it was called 'the Smoke that Thunders' and in modern day it is known as the greatest curtain of falling water in the world. The spray of water can be seen from the miles away during the rainy season and around five hundred million cubic meters of water per minute goes down from the waterfall.

Victoria Bridge is also one of the architectural wonders. It connects two countries Zambia and Zimbabwe. Originally it was referred as the Zambezi Bridge, the arch design of the Victoria Falls Bridge is credited to George Hobson. It was constructed in England and shipped to the Mozambique port of Beira, and then railed up to Victoria Falls.

In a feat of Victorian engineering, the Bridge took just 14 months to build. It was opened by Charles Darwin’s son, Professor George Darwin, on 12 September 1905. The American Society of Civil Engineers lists the Victoria Falls Bridge as a historic civil engineering landmark. For more than 50 years the bridge was the principal route for passengers from Europe and South Africa to the then Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia. Freight trains carried mainly coal into, and copper and timber out of Zambia.

Today one of the Victoria Falls Bridge’s main attractions are historical guided tours focusing on the construction of the Bridge, and which include a walking tour under the main deck. On the Zambian side there is a small museum about the Bridge which is free to enter and has a cafe selling refreshments.