Lake Bangweulu ('where the water sky meets the sky') is a freshwater lake in northern Zambia . Bangweulu is one of the world's great wetland systems , comprising Lake Bangweulu , the Bangweulu Wetlands and the Bangweulu flats or floodplain . Situated in the upper Congo River basin in Zambia, the Bangweulu system covers an almost completely flat area roughly the size of Connecticut or East Anglia , at an elevation of 1,140 m straddling Zambia's Luapula Province and Northern Province . It is crucial to the economy and biodiversity of northern Zambia, and to the birdlife of a much larger region, and faces environmental stress and conservation issues.
35-448: With a long axis of 75 km and a width of up to 40 km, Lake Bangweulu's permanent open water surface is about 3,000 km, which expands when its swamps and floodplains are in flood at the end of the rainy season in May. The combined area of the lake and wetlands reaches 15,000 km. The lake has an average depth of only 4 m, and a maximum depth of 10 m. The Bangweulu system
70-487: A humid subtropical climate ( Köppen : Cwa ). The Great North Road is in steady state of repair , still it take from Lusaka (ca. 640 km) around 8 hours, Kasama (ca. 210 km) is appr. 3 hours away and Nakonde (Zambian Border Post to Tanzania, 380 km) appr. 5 hours. Several bus operators offer coach services in all directions, but operate only over day (Lusaka to Mpika estm. US$ 20). In 2007, an extension of Malawi Railways From Mchinji and Chipata to Mpika
105-443: A 7 km channel. The 32 km long Kapata Peninsula lies between Lake Kampolombo and the swamps; at its tip on the eastern side is the 15 km long Lake Kangwena (11) . Only the western side of the lake and some of the islands have a well defined shore, with sandy beaches in places especially around Samfya, though even there, some of the bays and inlets are swampy. It was found that infection with Schistosoma haematobium on
140-501: A Provincial Administrator in Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service. One of his tasks was to arrange for the purchase and transport of dried fish and maize to Mpika to supply the construction workers. His letters from England came out by sea to Cape Town , by rail to Broken Hill (now Kabwe ), by lorry from Kapiri Mposhi to Mpika (280 miles) and Kasama (another 136 miles), and from Kasama by runner to Luwingu (124 miles). The mailman
175-489: A hot wet summer between November and March. These patches of wetland contain grassland and swamp vegetation which varies from area to area within this widely spread ecoregion. Even during the dry season, the floodplains sustain a great deal of wildlife including grazing African buffalo , wildebeest , and elephants , zebras , and giraffes , as well as hippopotamus and crocodiles in the waters. There are many antelopes such as waterbucks , pukus , elands , and lechwe ,
210-572: A land corridor reaching Bangweulu from Katanga . This resulted in the shape of the Congo Pedicle (34) which, as it turned out, does not penetrate the area enough to be of the desired value. The first Christian missions in Bangweulu were founded in the early 1900s under the authority of Bishop Joseph Dupont of the Catholic White Fathers who was based north of Kasama . The area of
245-410: A section called Lake Walilupe (4) , 30 km long by 13 km wide. The main, middle section of the lake between Ifunge and Mbabala is known only as Bangweulu. There are numerous bays, inlets, smaller lakes and lagoons around Lake Bangweulu, connected by open water, narrow channels or swamps. The largest is Lake Kampolombo (9) , 30 km by 5 km, south of Lake Walilupe and connected to it by
280-576: Is fed by about seventeen rivers of which the Chambeshi (the source of the Congo River) is the largest, and is drained by the Luapula River . The lake was known to Europeans from reports by chiefs such as Kazembe and from Swahili traders, and it was sometimes referred to as 'Lake Bemba' from the name of the dominant tribe. In 1868 explorer and missionary David Livingstone was the first European to see
315-643: Is marked by the Livingstone Memorial (see map). The lake was partially surveyed in 1883 by the French traveller, Victor Giraud, and first circumnavigated by Poulett Weatherley in 1896. It was a desire for the riches of Bangweulu's fisheries and game-rich floodplain which motivated King Leopold II of Belgium to insist, in border negotiations between his Congo Free State and the British in Northern Rhodesia , on
350-672: The Barotse water snake ( Crotaphopeltis barotseensis ). Despite the tsetse fly and the swampy water the floodplains have long been home to rural communities, such as the Lozi people in the Barotse Floodplain and the Tonga in the Kafue Flats, but are mostly unspoilt and large areas are protected. However, wildlife is still vulnerable to poaching and illegal farming or grazing of livestock. Meanwhile as
385-562: The Bangwelu Swamp in particular is home to black lechwe ( Kobus leche smithermani ), tsessebe , and sitatunga while the Kafue Flats have large groups of Kafue lechwe and Burchell's zebra . The large numbers of birds, especially waterbirds, in the floodplains include saddle-billed storks . There are two endemic reptiles; the Merara toad ( Amietophrynus reesi ) in the Kilombero valley, and
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#1732844682576420-535: The Kafue Flats and in addition Lake Chilwa is a Ramsar birding area. Of these Okavango is the largest and best-known, being mostly within the Moremi Game Reserve , having spectacular wildlife and a well-developed safari industry based in the town of Maun . In Zambia Lochinvar and Blue Lagoon National Parks are protected. Mpika Mpika is a town in the Muchinga Province of Zambia , lying at
455-559: The Luapula valley being flooded excessively in the rainy season. The Bangweulu swamps are fed mainly from the north-east by the Chambeshi River , and drain to the south into the Luapula River . The lake is connected to these rivers, and they to each other, by a complex mass of channels through the swamps that may become choked by vegetation and change their course; there is no easy navigation between them. Floating beds of papyrus may close up
490-523: The Lunga Bank (27) . Large grassy floodplains with an area of about 3,000 km lie mainly south of the swamps, but also in the north-north-east, acting as an extension of the region in the wet season. The southern floodplains are famous for large herds of the near-endemic black lechwe . Further information on wildlife of the wetlands is found on the Bangweulu Wetlands page. Water temperatures at
525-513: The basin of the Zambezi and neighboring river basins. These enclaves lie in the Zambezian region , a broad belt of seasonally-dry miombo and mopane savannas and woodlands that extend east and west across Africa, from northern Botswana , Namibia , and Angola in the west to Tanzania and Mozambique in the east. Large enclaves of flooded grassland include: The region has a tropical climate with
560-482: The bottom to be seen. There are numerous inhabited islands in the Bangweulu system. On the lake they are: In the swamps: Flood season islands: on the edge of the swamps, connected to the mainland in the dry season: Zambezian flooded grasslands The Zambezian flooded grasslands is an ecoregion of southern and eastern Africa that is rich in wildlife. The Zambezian flooded grasslands can be found on seasonally- or permanently-flooded lowlands in
595-400: The channels to a width allowing only dugout canoes to pass. Motorised vessels are hampered by their width as well as by vegetation clogging propellers. Since colonial times attempts have been made to improve navigation and alter drainage patterns by cutting channels through the swamp. In 1942, attempts were made, with limited success, to cut an outlet from Lake Walilupe to the Luapula's exit from
630-576: The confluence of the Chambeshi and Luansenshi (20) Rivers, and the Pook Lagoon (15) in the East near Nsalushi Island (25) . On the northern side there are several wide swampy estuaries where rivers enter the lake or swamps, going from north-west to north-east they are: Lupososhi Estuary (16) , Luena Estuary (17) , Lukuto Estuary (18) , Chambeshi Estuary (19) (and Luansenshi Estuary which feeds into it). On
665-460: The district population is estimated at 150,000 inhabitants. Since Mpika District was the biggest district in Zambia before its division in 2017, the population density was less than 4 people per square kilometre. In about 1930, Mpika was selected as a way-point on the air route from Europe to South Africa, and an airfield was built there. Gervas Clay, wife to Betty Clay , was posted to Luwingu in 1930 as
700-506: The eastern and south-eastern sides the swamps are fed by the Munikashi, Luitikila, Lumbatwa, Lukulu and Lulimala rivers. The estuaries of the last three are the main dry season grazing grounds of the Black Lechwe. In the main part of the swamps, just south of Chilubi Island, is a large area which is very shallow in the flood season and may become fairly dry at the end of the dry season, called
735-669: The junction of the M1 Road to Kasama and Mbala and the Tanzam Highway ( Great North Road ) to Dar es Salaam , Tanzania in the north-east and Lusaka in the south-west. It also has a railway station on the TAZARA Railway about 5 kilometres (3 mi) away. Mpika is situated between the Muchinga Escarpment to the east and vast miombo plains to the west. The town has an estimated population of 40,000 inhabitants (2008), while
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#1732844682576770-526: The lake at the north end of the Lake Chifunabuli section. He was taken by canoe as far as Mbabala Island. His last expedition a few years later foundered in the swamps and their maze of shifting channels as he struggled to discover the rivers draining in and out of the lake. He died in 1873 in Chief Chitambo's village on the edge of the southern flood plain, about 100 km from the lake itself. The spot
805-1001: The lake is inhabited by the Bisa in Chilubi and Mpika , the Bemba in Luwingu , the Unga in Lunga , the Kabende in Samfya , the Ngumbo in Lubwe, the BenaMukulu in Chungu and affiliated tribes who all speak Chibemba . The Bemba heartland of Paramount Chief Chitimukulu lies to the north-east, around Kasama . The lake supports a seasonal fishing industry and the population may increase markedly during
840-568: The north-western shore, the Lifunge Peninsula (2) , Mbalala Island (3) , Chilubi Island (6) , and the Kapata Peninsula (10) . They divide the lake into three sections parallel to its main axis. One divides off a section called Lake Chifunabuli (1) , 50 km long but only 5 km wide. Its entrance through a gap in the sand spits (at the end of Lifunge Peninsula) is only 250 m wide. Another sandy ridge, Mbabala Island, divides off
875-472: The northern end of the lake. Mpika and Kasama districts just touch the eastern and southern margins of the floodplain, and Serenje District and the Congo Pedicle just reach the southern margin of the floodplain. A notable feature of the Bangweulu system is a series of parallel sandy ridges running south-west to north-east. These are particularly striking in satellite photographs and are easily seen along
910-551: The population in this part of Africa is continually growing demand for water and farmland places the floodplains under constant threat as land is polluted or farmed, grassland set on fire and rivers are dammed or diverted. The Kafue Flats have been drastically changed by the damming of the river and similar projects are planned for the Okavango. Protected areas include the Okavango Delta, the Bangweulu, Moyowosi and Kilombero swamps and
945-513: The season. In 1989 the average annual catch was estimated at 11,900 tonnes, caught by 10,300 people using 5305 dugout canoes , 114 plank and fibreglass boats, and only 54 outboard motors . In 2000 the catch was 13,500 t. In early 2004 a private European natural gas company finished preliminary plans to lay a pipeline which would cut directly through the Southeast portion of the Lake. Part of this plan
980-420: The south western shore and is the principal base for road and boat transport and tourism, as well as being the administrative centre for Samfya District covering about three-quarters of the lake and swamps. Chilubi District covers most of the rest, its boma is on Chilubi Island (6) , which is bordered by the swamps to the east. Luwingu District just touches the lake at Nsombo , which is the principal town at
1015-560: The surface of the Bangweulu system ranged from 25.8 to 28.3 °C in November 1993 and from 23.7 to 27.1 °C in February 1994. The conductivity of the Bangweulu system is unusually low and varies between 20 and 40 μS/cm. Transparency of the water ranges from 0.35 to 0.60 m in most water bodies of the system, but in the Tuchingo lagoon the transparency is much larger (>1.70 m) allowing
1050-517: The swamps, to allow motor boats to transport cassava and other produce from the northern area of the lake to Kapalala Ferry on the Luapula and from there to the Copperbelt . There are numerous lagoons in the swamps, the more prominent ones are: Lake Chali (12) in the south-west, Lake Chaya (13) in the east at the mouth of the Lulingilla River in the east, Lake Wumba (14) in the north-east at
1085-454: The western shores of Lake Bangweulu, Zambia, is higher than previously reported. The Bangweulu Swamps, larger than the lake, extend from the north-west clockwise around to the south. The main part covers an area of roughly 120 km by 75 km and they are normally not less than 9,000 km. The swamps act as a check on annual flooding downstream in the Luapula by releasing water slowly through many lagoons and channels. They help prevent
Lake Bangweulu - Misplaced Pages Continue
1120-436: The whole region. North- and South Luangwa National Parks are just 5–8 hours away, but the roads are seasonal (please ask at info-centre). Touristic Highlights of the region are Shiwa Ng'andu (colonial style manor house), Kapishya Hotsprings, Mutinondo Wilderness Camp, Nachikufu caves (rock paintings). Many local schools are battling in bad infrastructure with overcrowded classrooms and teachers shortages. TAZARA workshops offers
1155-452: Was a proposed dam to allow for partial drainage of the required part of the lake. This plan was met with harsh opposition from the local people as well as environmental activists. After much court-wrangling and lengthy hearings on the project, the plan was disposed of by the European company as they built a detour for their pipeline in the surrounding province. The largest town, Samfya lies on
1190-607: Was clad in a red fez and scarlet tunic and shorts, and barefoot, and referred to as a "Scarlet Runner". Previously, the Great North Road (also known as the Great North Rut) was an earth road, marked by an incredible number of pot-holes. By 1939, his letters to and from home travelled by air – from "Scarlet runner" to airmail in only nine years which indicated the rapid pace of change in Central Africa at this time. Mpika has
1225-554: Was proposed, with a junction linking with the TAZARA Railway . The tourism sector is growing steadily in and around Mpika. Mpika Tourism Association is a newly founded non-profit organisation providing information and linkages to local accommodation and service providers; the information centre/office is situated at Bayama's Lodge behind Continental Filling Station. Mpika town offers a good market with local products, 5 filling stations, GM Trading supermarket, accommodation of all standards. Various piturescque waterfalls are situated in
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