It was just a Eurocentric perspective., as the site was already well-known to the local and Lozi people, who called it Mosi-oa-Tunya, meaning “The Smoke That Thunders.” These indigenous communities had lived in the region for centuries and revered the falls as a sacred site with cultural and spiritual significance.
Livingstone, a Scottish missionary and explorer, became the first European to document the falls and introduced them to the Western world. During his journey along the Zambezi River, local guides led him to the falls, where he marveled at their beauty and later renamed them “Victoria Falls” in honor of Queen Victoria. While his accounts brought global attention to the site, the term “discovery” is a Eurocentric perspective that overlooks the indigenous knowledge and cultural significance of the site.
