Devil’s Cataract

Location:
Victoria Falls, Matabeleland North Province

Description:
A waterfall on the western most and lowest section of the Victoria Falls. This is a 30 meter wide channel which carriers lots of water around the year and is one of the many attractions of the falls to visitors.

Devil’s Cataract is the lowest of the five Falls, with a drop of 60m. It is separated from the rest of the Falls by Boaruka Island, also known as Cataract Island.

Boaruka is the Tonga word for “divider of waters“. The Devil’s Cataract is the weakest point in the geological composition of this waterfall system. Here, the Zambezi has cut a 10-metre-deep nick in the hard basalt and, as the nick is eroded away, more and more water will be channeled through it away from the rest of the Falls. At some point in the future – it could be sometime in the next 20 000 years – Devil’s Cataract will cut back into one of the east-west joints that are filled with softer material. This may happen slowly over time, or could happen catastrophically if part or all of Boaruka Island should collapse into the gorge below