Victoria Falls from Above
December 07, 2010
Photographer: Ray Boren
Summary Author: Ray Boren
As viewed from a helicopter, Africa’s iconic Victoria Falls is seen here plunging off a precipice into a gorge on the Zambezi River, demarking the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. This spectacular waterfall, named for Queen Victoria by 19th-century British explorer and missionary David Livingstone, is also known locally as Mosi-oa-Tunya ("The Smoke that Thunders"). It is recognized as a World Heritage Site and is considered one of the seven natural wonders of the world. The Zambezi River is about a mile (1.6 km) wide at the point where the river cascades off a basalt plateau into a traverse chasm. This sudden plunge, with a maximum drop of about 355 ft (c 108 m), tosses a cloud of spray into the sky that can rise as high as 1,300 ft (400 m), providing a canvas for jaw-dropping rainbows. Photo taken on March 30, 2008.
Photo Details: Camera: NIKON D70; Focal Length: 24.0mm; Aperture: f/9.0; Exposure Time: 0.0080 s (1/125); ISO equiv: 200.
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