Case file · Sacred site
Mosi-oa-Tunya, the smoke that thunders
Long before David Livingstone saw the falls on 16 November 1855, local peoples called them Mosi-oa-Tunya, 'the smoke that thunders', and Shungu Namutitima, 'boiling water'.
1855 CE · -17.92, 25.86 · status: account
The account
Livingstone recorded older names, Seongo and Chongwe, meaning 'the place of the rainbow'. The Tonga and Leya held ceremonies at the falls, and the Zambezi river spirit Nyami Nyami is said to live downstream.