Old Drift

The Old Drift was the first European settlement near Victoria Falls, established on the north bank of the Zambezi as a crossing point before the railway bridge was built. Beset by malaria, the settlement was abandoned when the town of Livingstone was founded on higher ground, and today only a small pioneer cemetery marks the site within the national park. The graves of early traders and settlers, shaded by riverside trees, record the harsh conditions of the frontier era. It is a quiet historical footnote reached near the falls.