Nsongwe Point Camp

Nsongwe Point Camp

The Victoria Falls mark the border between the upper and middle reaches of the Zambezi. Beneath them, the river flows eastwards for approximately 200 kilometers, carving through 200-250 meters high mountains, with basalt walls 20-60 meters apart. This is where Nsongwe Point Camp was built. Downstream, the river runs rapidly across the Batoka Gorge, and its flow is constantly disrupted by reefs. The river is considered to be one of the world's most scenic whitewater rafting trips, providing a huge challenge for both kayakers and rafters. Just past the gorge, 240 kilometers below the Victoria Falls, there is a series of rapids that end below the Victoria Falls, along which the river falls 250 meters. The area surrounding the waterfall was once coated with a thick lava layer, which formed wide cracks, or gaps, filled with softer sediments as it cooled. When the Zambezi cut its current valley, it met one of these gaps, eroding the sediment and creating a ditch that eventually formed a gap at the lower end of the ditch, which rapidly expanded into a gorge.