A BRIEF HISTORY
"Having been part of the Greater Zimbabwe, the history of Zambia goes back to -1000AD when the Shona people started their rule and built the city of Zimbabwe. Through the centuries various empires were established here. In this time powerful state formations and sophisticated socio-economic networks were developed. In the 16th century Portuguese explorers introduced Christianity into the region and in the early 19th century this empire is defeated by the Matabele people from the south. During this time the British South Africa Company obtained the mineral rights for this region, eventually occupying the territory named Rhodesia. This finally became Southern- (Zimbabwe) and Northern Rhodesia (Zambia). In 1964 Zambia became a state and Southern Rhodesia became Rhodesia. Since then Zambia has been a stable country showing reasonable economic growth and it is a wonderful tourism venue."
About Zambia
Zambia, similar to Zimbabwe, is a land-locked nation located in the centre of the Southern African region, bordered by Zimbabwe and Mozambique in the south, Angola in the west, Malawi in the east and DROC and Tanzania in the north. Zambia is famous for the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls, the later of which was named by David Livingstone, a Scottish explorer, and the first European to see the falls. Zambia's terrain consists of high plateau with some hills and mountains. The Zambezi is the main river. The country has a tropical climate with temperatures varying according to altitude. The rainy season is from October to April
National Parks in Zambia are Bangweulu Swamps, Kafue, Kasanka, Liuwa Plain, Lower Zambezi, Luambe, Lochinvar, Nyika, Sioma Ngwezi, North Luangwa, South Luangwa, Sumbu and Victoria Falls. The Victoria Falls, known locally as Mosi-O-Tunya, are on the Zambezi between the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Falls became a World Heritage site in 1989. In addition to the Victoria Falls, there are 17 other water falls in Zambia, mainly concentrated in the water rich Luapula and Northern Provinces.
At the end of the 1950s the Zambezi was dammed at Kariba to provide hydroelectric power to Zambia and Zimbabwe. Lake Kariba is one of the world's largest man-made lakes. WOther lakes in Zambia are Lake Bangweulu, Lake Mweru shared with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Lake Tanganyika, also shared with the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as Tanzania.
Wildlife found in Zambia includes baboons, antelopes, cheetahs, giraffes, elephants, hippopotamuses, crocodiles, cheetahs, leopards and lions.
Exciting places to visit in Zambia are:
- The Victoria Falls
- Kafue National Park
- Lake Kariba
In the local language, the Victoria Falls are known as Mosi-oa-tunya,
"the Smoke that thunders". Created by Volcanic activity, erosion and
the course of the mighty Zambezi River, the spectacular Victoria Falls
has captured the hearts, minds and spirits of people everywhere. It
wsas David Livingstone who named Victoria Falls after his Queen and
stated in his now famous diary entry - “On sights as beautiful as this,
Angels in their flight must have gazed” Zimbabwe’s national parks has
maintained the Victoria Falls and the surrounding rainforest virtually
as they were when Livingstone first saw them almost 140 years ago. The
Victoria Falls and the surrounding rainforest are persevered as a 23.4
kilometre National Park and form one of Zimbabwe’s four World Heritage
sites.
The Victoria Falls can be equally accessed from the Zambian side (Livingstone) and it is even possible to cross over the bridge to the Zimbabwean side of the falls.
The sight of millions of gallons of turbulent water
cascading over a sheer precipice into a narrow gorge, a hundred metres
below is something nobody can ever forget.
Considered the
largest curtain of falling water in the world, the magnificent Victoria
Falls draws visitors from all over the world. The total width of the
Victoria Falls is more than one and a half kilometres. The height of
the various falls ranges between 100 and 116 metres. The width of the
gorge at its narrowest point is sixty metres.
The volume of
water that flows over Victoria Falls varies considerably. At its
lowest, between late October and early November, as little as 20 000
cubic metres of water a minute flow into the gorge below. But when the
rains are heavy, the flow increases swiftly and dramatically. Between
February and May, when the Falls are at their most spectacular, more
than 500 000 cubic metres of water a minute cascade over the edge.
In
April and May, the peak of the flood season, the six falls - Devil’s
Cataract, Main Falls, Horseshoe Falls, Rainbow Falls, Armchair Falls
and the Eastern Cataract - form the largest curtain of falling water in
the world. But in the dry season, between September and November,
almost no water falls over some sections. T
he Falls have a continual
mist above the surrounding area, creating a rainforest ecosystem for 2
kms. This unique nature sanctuary is rich in fauna and flora. During the dry season (September to December) it is possible to swim in the Devils Pool, right on the edge of the falls. The pool can be accessed via the Livingstone Island.
There
are seven Gorges below the Victoria Falls. The first is the one into
which the river falls, followed by five others and finally to the
seventh (Batoko) Gorge which is about 80km away from the Falls and
120km in length.
Although tourism to this phenomenon has floundered in the past due to the political uncertainty and economic decline, the area is still accessible and fly-in tourism is again on the increase.
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Kafue National Park
Kafue is Zambia’s oldest park and by far the largest. It was proclaimed in 1950 and is spread over 22 400 square kilometres - the second largest national park in the world and about the size of Wales.
Despite the Park’s proximity to both
Lusaka and the Copperbelt, it has remained underdeveloped until the most recent years.
Despite the depravations of poaching and lack of management, the Park is still a raw and
diverse slice of African wilderness with excellent game viewing, birdwatching and fishing
opportunities.
The Kafue and Lunga Rivers offer superb fishing opportunities, especially good bream, barbel and fresh water pike. Most lodges have fishing tackle, rods, boats and bait available. Musungwa Lodge in the south, hosts an annual fishing competition in September on Lake Itezhi Tezhi.
The roads are not well graded and the Park is best visited by air charter or robust four wheel drives. There are light aircraft airstrips at Ngoma, Puku Pan, Chunga, Hippo, Moshi and Lunga camps.
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Lake Kariba
Kariba is unique
and a place of outstanding beauty, a great inland sea, nested in
mountains, guarded by enormous reserves of game and made beautiful and
savage by sun and storm, earth and water and by life and death.
It is here, from land or water that one encounters the rawness, the beauty and the savagery which is the real heart of darkness.
You will never forget
the electric thrill of a
racing reel as the line flies to the powerful pull of a fighting
tigerfish; perhaps most unforgettable of all, watching the red sun
sliding into dusky blackness as the earth turns beneath it into night
whilst the dead trees that fill the lake and the blue-black mountians
that slope down to its wooded shores, slowly merge with the blackness
and are gone. Most of all, of Kariba, you will remember the
smells of Africa. The dust of the day, the moisture of the lake and,
most evocative of all, the smell of advancing rain.
The Zimbabwe side of the lake has about 1 000
kilometres of shoreline, baked African fjords with placid backwaters
and numerous islands. Often elephants can be seen swimming between the
shore and islands, a sight perhaps unique to Lake Kariba. Along
the southern shore, the Matusadona Game Reserve must be one of the most
impressive in the world. It combines the beauty of a lake-setting and
its rich and fertile flood plains, with a rising wall of mountains
serving as a majestic backdrop. At any time of the year Lake
Kariba offers entertainment, relaxation, sport and adventure. There is
something at Kariba for everybody – and all of it unforgettable.
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For more information about fly-in or self drive packages to Zambia, please visit our Web Page or contact us by E-mail.
