The Zambezi  is one of  the  the least explored and inhabited rivers in the world,  passing through some beautiful scenery  including the majestic  Victoria Falls,  with  interesting features of unknown plant life, bringing water to the people living along the river banks, crop growing, fish in abundance, Tourism, Wildlife  and  the   Hydro-electric Power of Kariba  &  Cabora Bassa.

Nyaminyami (also known as the Zambezi River God, or Zambezi River Spirit) is believed by the river Tonga (or Batonga) to control life on the Zambezi.The Tonga themselves have inhabited both banks of the Zambezi River in what was known as the Gwembe Trough (from Kariba Gorge upstream to Devil's Gorge) for centuries and in themselves have an interesting history.

Prior to David Livingstone's work in the area around 1855/7 the Tonga were at the constant mercy of slaving parties and wild animals. Between then and the mid 1950's they lived in relative peace with very little outside influence - their contact with the "outside world" limited to prospectors, hunters, surveyors and the local District Commissioners. 

In the mid 1950's life changed with the decision to proceed with the construction of the Kariba dam wall. Another chapter in the Tonga history was started. Nyaminyami has supposedly been seen on occasion by locals - much like the Lochness Monster however, hard evidence is elusive. He is described by some as looking like a whirlwind - the majority say he's dragon-like with a snake's torso and a fish's head.

The legend of Nyaminyami has several tales.

    * According to local folklore, during hard times, the Tonga had free access to his flesh and were thus sustained by removing strips of meat.
    * The story of the dam wall construction and the floods in 1957 and 1958 are well documented. The local story goes as follows:
    * Whilst the waters of Lake Kariba were only just rising and the Tonga were being relocated they invoked Nyaminyami in a spirit of resistance. Although he was never used as a political symbol it was generally agreed that he disapproved of the white man's plans to build the dam. In 1957 when a 1000 year flood was recorded on the Zambezi, construction was halted and set back by flood damage. The locals nodded knowingly and waited for the final destruction during the next rainy season. This of course nearly happened with the 1958 flood which was only slightly less violent than the previous year. Elders today claim that it was only their intervention which placated Nyaminyami.   

    * Kariba still has occasional earth tremors from the load of the lake on the earth's surface. Locals claim that this is Nyaminyami who at the time of the sealing of the dam wall was philandering down stream towards Mana Pools. He's now very lonely and only the destruction of the dam will reunite him with his wife.

The Zambezi is about 2,700 kilometers from source to mouth. It is the fourth longest river in Africa, after the Nile, Congo  and  Niger rivers, and the largest flowing river into the Indian Ocean. The Zambezi passes through  Zambia, Angola,  Namibia,  Botswana, Zimbabwe  to Mozambique where it flows  into the Indian Ocean. 

The Arabs,  Portuguese and then finally David Livingstone the Scottish Doctor tried to use this river as a trade route into the interior.   Vasco de Gama  in  1498 stopped at the mouth on his way to the East Indies. He christened it  Rios dos bons sinais, the river of good omens,  thinking it would be a great passage for the Gold trade.  It was not until David Livingstone  explored the river  around 1853 -56  bringing  the Victoria Falls to the attention of the world, that he returned to the river a few years later  with a steamboat and was halted at the impassable Cabora Bassa rapids, putting an end to his plan to use the Zambezi as God’s Highway to the interior. 

Other falls  include the Chavuma Falls at the border  between Angola and Zambia, the Ngonje Falls near Sioma in Western Zambia approx 150 km from Katima Mulilo in Namibia.  Over its entire course the Zambezi River is spanned by 5 bridges. The Chinyingi, Katima Mulilo, Victoria Falls, Chirundu & Tete. In a year or so another bridge will link Zambia, Botswana & Zimbabwe at Kazangula bringing the total to 6.

The source of the Zambezi River rises in a black marshy bog in North Western Zambia  near  the borders of DRC (formerly Zaire) congo river,  in undulating forested hills approx  1,600 metres above sea level It is not know if these river  two  systems connect.

  In 1886 A missionary Frank Stanley Arnott discovered and mapped the headquarters of the Zambezi. The  Zambezi goes under ground for some km and then comes out  flowing  between  a maize of  moss covered  tree roots,  into a sparkling water stream, only  to disappear  underground  again until it oozes out of the black  quagmire to become the fountain- head of the river and thus begins its journey  to the Indian Ocean.

It is interesting to note that the Zambezi  flows South west then turnes south from its headquarters and is joined by many tributaries before being joined by the first large tributary the  Kabompo River in Northern Zambia and a much larger  Lungue-Bungo River in central Angola, and then again changes course until it finally turns east.  It is said that huge inland seas, one of which is present day Botswana to which the Zambezi flowed. When the supercontinent broke up, these inland seas drained and the course of the lower reaches of the Zambezi river was created.
After  flowing through the centre of  Angola  the Zambezi enters again into Zambia, passing many small towns.

 At the Kalene Hills there are many small villages. It is here where the late Dr Walter Fisher started the first mission in that region around 1906. Once the trust was gained of this gentle miracle white man, many people moved to be nearer the hospital. As the river meanders along it enters Angola approximately 90km from the source..just  below Kakengi there are a number of rapids ending in the Chavuma Falls.

The savanna, through which the river has flowed, gives way to open bush valley, with lots of Borassus palm trees.   1500 metres from the source, the river drops to about 1100 metres downstream at Kakengi,  downstream from here to the Victoria Falls the level of the basin is very uniform, dropping only another 180 metres.

Elephant herds gather at the shoreline to drink and bathe, while enormous males wade to small islands mid-river to graze on lush vegetation. Fishing eagles soar overhead, and busybody baboons scamper along the river’s edge. Hundreds of noisy, sociable hippopotamuses pepper the waterway and command the narrow channels.

The cartoonish-looking hippopotamuses often depicted in children’s stories as harmless ballerinas are realistically one of Africa’s most fearsome beasts. Their roly-poly 3,300-to-7,000-pound (1,500-3,175 kg) bodies emit loud, comical, whoopee-cushion choruses, but entering their territory is no laughing matter.  Hippos reportedly kill more people than lions, and safari guides are chock-full of gory stories about the territorial river tyrants. Of course, the guides are always quick to emphasize that neither they nor their groups have ever been harmed.

Menacing, prehistoric-looking Nile crocodiles fill the river in incalculable numbers, slicing through the darkness, unnoticed, beneath boats. Bearing a reputation as vicious man-eaters, the quiet and agile reptiles can reach lengths of 16 feet (5 m) and weigh up to 1,100 pounds (500 kg).

The Lunda people an offshoot from the Mwantiyanvwa empire of the then Zaire, remain the dominant  people of the area.  Many of the tributaries dry up in the winter months, but once the  rains begin around early November the feeder streams come alive again feeding the Zambezi.  Here the river re-enters Zambia at the town of Chavuma. The town is situated on a hill overlooking the Zambezi and Kashyi plains, where another mission station was started. 

For many many years, these areas were teeming with herds of Wildebeest and Lechwe, but due to uncontrolled hunting the grasslands have been left barren.  There were no roads in these areas until around 1939.   Below the town of Chavuma the river is forced through a small gap of hard volcanic rock and tumbles over a four metre – high waterfall, here the water sounds as if it is blowing through a hole  which sounds like  “chaa-Vum-aah” hence the name of the village and waterfall. At this point the river flows south. 

At Chitokiloki is another mission station, from whence you look down and can see the scars of deforestation and erosion, all stemming from the locals debarking the trees to make ropes andblankets, and from overploughing and  uncontrolled bush fires.

Further down near Kabompo  are the Nyamboma rapids  which marks the beginning of the Barotse Floodplains. Mongu  is   the commercial centre of Barotsland  and where the famous Lozi Kuomboka ceremony starts.  A yearly migration to the eastern escarpment is a major event  on the Lozi calendar. Led by the Litunga, the ceremony is known as Kuomboka, meaning “ to get out of  water”  Once a year the king and his household move from Lealui to the palace  of Limilunga on the eastern escarpment, but is only done when the floods nears its peak. A date is then  set to coincide with the rising moon and good omens. It is the largest tribal ceremony held in Africa, and something out of this world to see.

After Mongu is Senanga where one has to cross  a ferry, if it is working, from here the Zambezi heads for Katima Mulilo, passing many rapids and palm trees, with some areas as wide as 2 kilometres. At Katima Mulilo the variation in the height of the water is from low water up to 7 metres.  The water flow at flood time varies between 2500 – 4500 cubic metres per second flowing at 7-8 km per hour.

In 2004 the flow was recorded at 6000 cubic metre per second and approx 10km per hour. The flood plains below Katima on the Namibian side where Kalizo Lodge is situated, are home to a great variety of birds with over 430 species recorded.  There is also a great variety of fish in this area with 93 species recorded. 

A number of fish species found above the falls are not present below the falls and visa versa.Many local people earn a living by fishing and edivence of this can be seen at the newly constructed Katima market.The flood plains are also home to a very interesting and diverse amount of trees and vegetation.Approximately 100km down river is the  Ngonye falls, once known as the Sioma Falls which are about 25 metre high, at the bottom you will find white sand that squeakes when you walk on it.

The Zambezi continues from here for some 80km until it turns east and enters Namibia with Katima Mulilo on its right and the Zambia town of Sesheke on the left. This finger of land   called the Caprivi is 300km long and 50km wide,  was given to the Germans by the British in 1890 in exchange for Zanzibar, with the idea that it would allow the Germans access to the Zambezi and give them a trade route across Africa.

Schuckmannsburg 80km further down river was the capital of the Caprivi until 1939 when it was moved to Katima Mulilo. Opposite Schuckmannsburg on the Zambia side is a quaint town called Mwandi, this also was moved  back to the town now called Sesheke.

The Zambezi continues winding its way eastwards with many small tributaries  until it reaches  the Mombova rapids. To the right one can go down the Kasi channel where it enters into  the Chobe.

Amongst the rapids are many small islands, one called Konkumba, where the four countries meet – Zambia – Zimbabwe – Namibia & Botswana.  Stories have it that there was a old trader who lived on the island many years ago and was always been asked to pay taxes and licence fees.  His answer to these governments was  “Prove the island is yours and I will pay immediately”  The question of ownership remains I believe unsettled  till today.

Kazungula  a small border town in Botswana on the Zambezi,  marks the official boundry between the four countries.  About 20km from Kazungula the swamplands end, from here the Zambezi encounters the Katambora rapids with  swirling white waters for a few  km, then again entering calm waters and so the river goes on  passing rapids and calm waters until it reaches the famous Victoria falls.

After thundering over the falls, a 250 metre drop the river meanders making a zig-zagging path through many gorges  made millions of years ago, then enters into Kariba Dam and below that into narrow gorges until reaching the Cabora Bassa Dam, Once it leaves the dam, the river meanders through  Mozambique,until, at last, it spills into the Indian Ocean.