---
title: "The Smoke That Thunders."  
description: "One of the largest waterfalls, known as “The Smoke That Thunders.”"  
author: "Yogendra  Mohan"  
published: 2026-05-06  
canonical: https://yourviews.mindstick.com/story/5170/the-smoke-that-thunders  
category: "nature"  
tags: ["The Smoke That Thunders."]  
reading_time: 2 minutes  

---

# The Smoke That Thunders.

![The Smoke That Thunders](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/97128849-66b0-4bac-b8b5-dfc67e76bce8/images/36a7d5bc-f7d6-4dcb-9620-bca14cc7d71d.jpeg) ![The Smoke That Thunders](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/97128849-66b0-4bac-b8b5-dfc67e76bce8/images/dd94a9be-f1a0-4853-b4b9-04d1bad84cc3.jpeg) Victoria Falls spans 1,708 meters (5,604 ft) wide and drops 108 meters (354 ft) high, creating the largest continuous curtain of falling water on Eart ![The Smoke That Thunders](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/97128849-66b0-4bac-b8b5-dfc67e76bce8/images/616297df-a554-43f0-b28f-6db40685a9bc.jpeg) The indigenous Lozi and Kololo people named it for the thunderous roar and massive spray plume that rises hundreds of meters and can be seen from 30–5 ![The Smoke That Thunders](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/97128849-66b0-4bac-b8b5-dfc67e76bce8/images/98c2b947-bcd0-4db7-866b-208d8f80a70d.jpeg) The Zambezi, Africa’s fourth-longest river (about 2,700 km), flows over the falls roughly halfway along its course before continuing to the Indian Oce ![The Smoke That Thunders](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/97128849-66b0-4bac-b8b5-dfc67e76bce8/images/665fa35a-726b-4e4b-9ec4-0742a208c76b.jpeg) Scottish explorer David Livingstone was the first European to see the falls on 16 November 1855 and named them after Queen Victoria. ![The Smoke That Thunders](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/97128849-66b0-4bac-b8b5-dfc67e76bce8/images/0c8dda3c-d8c5-46cb-9054-075daa381893.jpeg) it spans two national parks (Mosi-oa-Tunya in Zambia and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe) and is celebrated for its geological features, biodiversity, and ![The Smoke That Thunders](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/97128849-66b0-4bac-b8b5-dfc67e76bce8/images/1ff3fd05-44ff-49c2-93db-8e93b3fc26e1.jpeg) During the rainy season (February–May), up to 500 million liters of water plunge over the edge per minute—equivalent to hundreds of Olympic swimming p ![The Smoke That Thunders](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/97128849-66b0-4bac-b8b5-dfc67e76bce8/images/f8279d88-5639-42d0-84d5-ea553b1e6f86.jpeg) Constant mist supports a lush riverine rainforest in the splash zone with high humidity, different from the surrounding drier savanna. ![The Smoke That Thunders](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/stories/97128849-66b0-4bac-b8b5-dfc67e76bce8/images/8b17a334-cf0b-4895-9414-1e4a502a73ad.jpeg) The mist produces frequent bright rainbows during the day; at full moon in high water, rare lunar rainbows (moonbows) can appear.

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Original Source: https://yourviews.mindstick.com/story/5170/the-smoke-that-thunders

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