Livingstone Island

So named because it was the site from which the Scottish explorer David Livingstone first viewed the Victoria Falls, Livingstone Island is a small island in the middle of the Zambezi River, negligibly upstream from the largest curtain of falling water in the world.

Livingstone reached the falls from upstream, and rowed to the island. There he voiced his famous assessment: "No one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England. It had never been seen before by European eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight."

You can take a boat trip to Livingstone Island, subject to water levels, between July and March, and have a gourmet meal and a cocktail there. In the dry season (around October and November) it's possible to walk along the rocky top of the falls to the island, though it's not strictly permitted.

You'll probably be turned back when you reach the island, and you run the additional risk of being stuck there if water levels rise. Nevertheless, Livingstone Island is probably among the most terrifying and spectacular places from which to view the falls. If you decide to walk, for goodness' sake, be careful.

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