Victoria Falls

http://www.we-are-wilderness.com/gallery/690-victoria-falls

 

first time since 1968 Vic Falls smokes again

In 1855, David Livingstone became the first European to lay eyes upon Mosi-oa-Tunya ("the smoke that thunders"), the astonishing waterfall on the border between present-day Zimbabwe and Zambia. He promptly renamed it Victoria Falls in honor of England’s queen. In 1862 British artist and explorer Thomas Baines visited the Falls and created lushly rendered paintings of the site. These works were exhibited, published as chromolithographs, and made into lantern slides. A proliferation of images spread the fame of the Falls throughout Britain.

The railway reached Victoria Falls in 1905, enabling Britain to impose imperial rule in the area and making the Falls a popular destination for British travelers. Advertising replaced ominous images of "Darkest Africa" with the attractions of "Brightest Africa." Victoria Falls was marketed as "the World’s Riviera," a destination for "tourists, sportsmen, invalids, and settlers."