Legends of the Victoria Falls (Part 1): Spirits of the Falls

Legends of the Victoria Falls (Part 1): Spirits of the Falls

By Peter Roberts

This short feature looks at the local cultural traditions and beliefs recorded by Dr David Livingstone and other early travellers to the Victoria Falls - although the records of outsiders to the region, they are the earliest written records which we have of these 'Spirits of the Falls' and important insights into the sacred island shrines on the lip of the Falls - cultural sites which are today largely forgotten.

Part Two now online: 

Legends of the Victoria Falls (Part 2): Place of the Rainbow.

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A Journey Downstream

On 16th November 1855 David Livingstone was being escorted down the Zambezi River by Chief Sekeletu, accompanied by some 200 Makalolo assistants, on his way to the east coast of Africa and the completion of his epic transverse of the continent from west to east coast.

Travelling downstream, Livingstone was told of local belief in a river spirit-serpent (widespread across central Africa):

“The Barotse believe that at a certain part of the river a tremendous monster lies hid, that will catch a canoe and hold it motionless in spite of the efforts of the paddlers. They believe that some of them possess the knowledge of the proper prayer to lay the monster.” (Livingstone, 1857, p.517)

Livingstone described the journey in detail, made both by boat and also walking along the north bank in sections to avoid the rapids, downstream to Kalai Island, about 10 kilometres above the Falls.

“Having descended about ten miles [16 km], we came to the island of Nampene, at the beginning of the [Katambora] rapids, where we were obliged to leave the canoes and proceed along the banks on foot. The next evening we slept opposite the island of Chondo, and... early the following morning were at the island of Sekote, called Kalai. This Sekote was the last of the Batoka chiefs whom Sebituane rooted out... Most of his people were slain or taken captive, and the island has ever since been under the Makololo. It is large enough to contain a considerable town.

“On the northern side I found the kotla [fortress/palace] of the elder Sekote, garnished with numbers of human skulls mounted on poles: a large heap of the crania of hippopotami, the tusks untouched except by time, stood on one side. At a short distance, under some trees, we saw the grave of Sekote, ornamented with seventy large elephants’ tusks planted round it with the points turned inward, and there were thirty more placed over the resting-places of his relatives.” (Livingstone, 1857, p.517-8)

Mosi-oa-Tunya

Livingstone had little idea of what lay ahead, other than a note on a rough map he had prepared on his first visit to the Zambezi in 1851: “Waterfall of Sikota - called Mosi-ia-thunya or smoke sounds (spray can be seen 10 miles distance).”

In mid-1851 Livingstone and his travelling companion William Oswell had explored north into the unmapped interior, eventually reaching a large river which Livingstone correctly identified as the Zambezi, and previously known only to Europeans by its lower stretches and great delta on the east coast.

Befriending the Makalolo Chief, Sebetwane, who held power in the region, they were told of a great waterfall some distance downstream, although they did not travel to visit them on this occasion. Livingstone later recorded:

“Of these we had often heard since we came into the country; indeed, one of the questions asked by Sebituane [in 1851] was, ‘Have you smoke that sounds in your country?’ They [the Makalolo] did not go near enough to examine them, but, viewing them with awe at a distance, said, in reference to the vapour and noise, ‘Mosi oa Tunya’ (smoke does sound there). It was previously called Shongwe, the meaning of which I could not ascertain. The word for a 'pot' resembles this, and it may mean a seething caldron; but I am not certain of it.” (Livingstone, 1857, p.518)

In fact Livingstone had spent the following years exploring in every other direction, before eventually, in late 1855 he set off downstream with Sekeletu (Sebetwane's successor) and his Makalolo companions for the east coast.

The rising spray at dawn (Photo Credit: Peter Roberts)

Scenes so Lovely

Guided to the Falls by a local Leya boatman, Livingstone was enchanted by the beauty of the wide, island studded Zambezi River, its forested fringes and exotic wildlife

"After twenty minutes' sail from Kalai we came in sight, for the first time, of the columns of vapor appropriately called 'smoke,' rising at a distance of five or six miles, exactly as when large tracts of grass are burned in Africa. Five columns now arose, and, bending in the direction of the wind, they seemed placed against a low ridge covered with trees; the tops of the columns at this distance appeared to mingle with the clouds. They were white below, and higher up became dark, so as to simulate smoke very closely. The whole scene was extremely beautiful. The banks and islands dotted over the river are adorned with sylvan vegetation of great variety of color and form. At the period of our visit several trees were spangled over with blossoms. Trees have each their own physiognomy. There, towering over all, stands the great burly baobab, each of whose enormous arms would form the trunk of a large tree, besides groups of graceful palms, which, with their feathery-shaped leaves depicted on the sky, lend their beauty to the scene...; but no one can imagine the beauty of the view from any thing witnessed in England. It had never been seen before by European eyes; but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight.” (Livingstone, 1857, p.519)

This last passage has often been misquoted in reference to the  Falls themselves, but it was the stretches of the river upstream which first captured Livingstone’s imagination.

Livingstone was guided to a small island on the very lip of the Falls. Scrambling through vegetation to the sudden edge Livingstone struggled to understand the scene which lay before him:

“I did not comprehend it until, creeping with awe to the verge, I peered down into a large rent which had been made from bank to bank of the broad Zambesi, and saw that a stream of a thousand yards [915 m] broad leaped down a hundred feet [30.5 m], and then became suddenly compressed into a space of fifteen or twenty yards. The entire Falls are simply a crack made in a hard basaltic rock from the right to the left bank of the Zambesi, and then prolonged from the left bank away through thirty or forty miles of hills... the most wonderful sight I had witnessed in Africa.” (Livingstone, 1857, p.520)

Livingstone was perhaps deliberately cautious in his estimates, adding: “Whoever may come after me will not, I trust, have reason to say I have indulged in exaggeration.” He seriously underestimated the scale of the Falls, which span 1,708 metres (5,604 feet or 1,868 yards) and drop up to 108 metres (355 feet).

Of the Falls he would later write that it “is a rather hopeless task to endeavour to convey an idea of it in words” (Livingstone and Livingstone, 1865, p.252).

Above the Falls, seen from Livingstone Island (Photo Credit: Peter Roberts)

Sacred Island Shrines

On this first visit Livingstone recorded that three sites at the Falls were used by the three local Leya chiefs for offerings to the ‘Barimo,’ but identifies only one of these sites - now known as Livingstone Island, recording the following in his 'Missionary Travels' on his first arrival and sight of the Falls from this island on its very edge.

“At three spots near these Falls, one of them the island in the middle, on which we were, three Batoka chiefs offered up prayers and sacrifices to the Barimo. They chose their places of prayer within the sound of the roar of the cataract, and in sight of the bright bows in the cloud.

“They must have looked upon the scene with awe. Fear may have induced the selection. The river itself is to them mysterious.

“The words of the canoe-song are,

    "The Leeambye! Nobody knows

    Whence it comes and whither it goes..."

“The play of colors of the double iris on the cloud, seen by them elsewhere only as the rainbow, may have led them to the idea that this was the abode of Deity. Some of the Makololo... looked upon the same sign with awe. When seen in the heavens it is named 'motse oa barimo' - the pestle of the gods.

“Here they could approach the emblem, and see it stand steadily above the blustering uproar below - a type of Him who sits supreme - alone unchangeable, though ruling over all changing things. But, not aware of His true character, they had no admiration of the beautiful and good in their bosoms. They did not imitate His benevolence, for they were a bloody, imperious crew, and Sebituane performed a noble service in the expulsion from their fastnesses of these cruel 'Lords of the Isles' [Sekute and the other Leya chiefs]

“Having feasted my eyes long on the beautiful sight, I returned to my friends at Kalai, and saying to Sekeletu that he had nothing else worth showing in his country, his curiosity was excited to visit it the next day." (Livingstone, 1857, p.523-4)

To the local Leya this island was known as Kazeruka, whilst the first Conservator of the Falls, F W Sykes, later recorded that it was also known as Kempongo, meaning 'Goat' Island (Sykes, 1905).

View from the Western or Devil's Cataract (Photo Credit: Peter Roberts)

Guiding Spirits

Livingstone had earlier expanded on the concept of the Barimo, which he interpreted as the 'gods or departed spirits' and its relationship to the rainbow, as recorded when witnessing a solar halo.

“Another incident, which occurred at the confluence of the Leeba and Leeambye, may be mentioned here, as showing a more vivid perception of the existence of spiritual beings, and greater proneness to worship, than among the Bechuanas. Having taken lunar observations in the morning, I was waiting for a meridian altitude of the sun for the latitude; my chief boatman was sitting by, in order to pack up the instruments as soon as I had finished; there was a large halo, about 20° in diameter, round the sun; thinking that the humidity of the atmosphere, which this indicated, might betoken rain, I asked him if his experience did not lead him to the same view. ‘Oh, no,’ replied he; ‘it is the Barimo (gods or departed spirits), who have called a picho [meeting]; don’t you see they have the Lord (sun) in the centre?’” (Livingstone, 1857, p.121)

Livingstone documented many references to the Barimo during his travels, identifying a common tradition widespread across the regions north of the Zambezi.

“The same superstitious ideas being prevalent through the whole of the country north of the Zambesi, seems to indicate that the people must originally have been one. All believe that the souls of the departed still mingle among the living, and partake in some way of the food they consume. In sickness, sacrifices of fowls and goats are made to appease the spirits. It is imagined that they wish to take the living away from earth and all its enjoyments. When one man has killed another, a sacrifice is made, as if to lay the spirit of the victim. A sect is reported to exist, who kill men in order to take their hearts and offer them to the Barimo." (Livingstone, 1857, p.434)

When he finally reached the east coast in April 1856, Livingstone met a Portuguese official who appears to expand on various native names for Livingstone's Barimo and the traditional beliefs of the Zambezi Valley - but reminding us of several centuries of Christian Portuguese influence from both east and west coasts of the continent.

“As Senhor Candido holds the office of judge in all the disputes of the natives and knows their language perfectly, his statement may be relied on that all the natives of this region have a clear idea of a Supreme Being, the maker and governor of all things. He is named 'Morimo,' 'Molungo,' 'Keza,' 'Mpambe,' in the different dialects spoken. The Barotse name him 'Nyampi,' and the Balonda 'Zambi.' All promptly acknowledge him as the ruler over all. They also fully believe in the soul's continued existence apart from the body, and visit the graves of relatives, making offerings of food, beer, &c When undergoing the ordeal, they hold up their hands to the Ruler of Heaven, as if appealing to him to assert their innocence. When they escape, or recover from sickness, or are delivered from any danger, they offer a sacrifice of a fowl or a sheep, pouring out the blood as a libation to the soul of some departed relative. They believe in the transmigration of souls; and also that while persons are still living they may enter into lions and alligators, and then return again to their own bodies." (Livingstone, 1857, p.641-2)

Nature's Nursery

Livingstone returned to the island the following day in the company of Sekeletu and several Makalolo.

"Sekeletu acknowledged to feeling a little nervous at the probability of being sucked into the gulf before reaching the island. His companions amused themselves by throwing stones down, and wondered to see them diminishing in size, and even disappearing, before they reached the water at the bottom." (Livingstone, 1857, p.524)

Livingstone spent most of this second day planting and garden of coffee and fruit trees which he hoped would grow under the spray of the Falls.

"I had another object in view in my return to the island. I observed that it was covered with trees, the seeds of which had probably come down with the stream from the distant north, and several of which I had seen nowhere else, and every now and then the wind wafted a little of the condensed vapor over it, and kept the soil in a state of moisture, which caused a sward of grass, growing as green as on an English lawn. I selected a spot - not too near the chasm... but somewhat back, and made a little garden. I there planted about a hundred peach and apricot stones, and a quantity of coffee-seeds. I had attempted fruit-trees before, but... they were always allowed, to wither, after having vegetated, by being forgotten. I bargained for a hedge with one of the Makololo, and if he is faithful, I have great hopes of Mosi-oa-tunya’s abilities as a nurseryman. My only source of fear is the hippopotami. When the garden was prepared, I cut my initials on a tree, and the date 1855. This was the only instance in which I indulged in this piece of vanity. The garden stands in front, and were there no hippopotami, I have no doubt but this will be the parent of all the gardens, which may yet be in this new country.” (Livingstone, 1857, p.524-5)

Fortunately Livingstone's garden of non-native trees did not grow, the hippopotami doing their job as nature's caretakers made sure of that - although one can only wonder what the Leya thought of his 'cultivation' of their sacred island shrine. It is interesting to note that Livingstone specifically mentions hiring a Makalolo 'gardener' to tend the island, rather than one of the local Leya - his Leya boatmen presumably having nothing to do with this enterprise.

Today conservationists and ecologists would also frown at the thought of planting non native species in such a pristine natural wilderness (and indeed great amounts of effort every year go into controlling 'alien' invasive species such as Lantana) - and ugly the carving of initials into the bark of trees is also rightly to be discouraged.

View from Western End showing glimpse of Main Falls (Photo Credit: Peter Roberts)

Return to the Falls

Livingstone returned to the Falls in 1860, revising his translation of the traditional name:

"Mosi-oa-tunya is the Makololo name, and means smoke sounding; Seongo or Chongwe, meaning the Rainbow, or the place of the Rainbow, was the more ancient term they bore." (Livingstone and Livingstone, 1865, p.250)

On this visit he recorded that both the islands along the edge of the Falls were used for traditional ceremonies and as a place of spiritual offering and respect. Cataract Island, also known by its traditional name of Boaruka (or Boruka) Island, signifying 'divider of the waters,' is the second and larger of the two islands which line the Falls, and is located at the western end of the Falls, dividing the Devil's Cataract from the Main Falls.

"The sunshine, elsewhere in this land so overpowering, never penetrates the deep gloom of that shade [in the rainforest].  In the presence of the strange Mosi-oa-tunya, we can sympathize with those who, when the world was young, peopled earth, air, and river, with beings not of mortal form. Sacred to what deity would be this awful chasm and that dark grove, over which hovers an ever-abiding 'pillar of cloud'?

“The ancient Batoka chieftains used Kazeruka, now Garden Island, and Boaruka, the island further west, also on the lip of the Falls, as sacred spots for worshipping the Deity. It is no wonder that under the cloudy columns, and near the brilliant rainbows, with the ceaseless roar of the cataract, with the perpetual flow, as if pouring forth from the hand of the Almighty, their souls should be filled with reverential awe. It inspired wonder in the native mind throughout the interior.” (Livingstone and Livingstone, 1865, p.258)

Livingstone again planted out a garden on the island, noting that the care of trees was a 'civilizing influence.'

“The hippopotami had destroyed the trees which were then planted; and, though a strong stockaded hedge was made again, and living orange-trees, cashew-nuts, and coffee seeds put in afresh, we fear that the perseverance of the hippopotami will overcome the obstacle of the hedge.  It would require a resident missionary to rear European fruit-trees.  The period at which the peach and apricot come into blossom is about the end of the dry season, and artificial irrigation is necessary... When a tribe takes an interest in trees, it becomes more attached to the spot on which they are planted, and they prove one of the civilizing influences.” (Livingstone and Livingstone, 1865. p.259-60)

Despite the failure of these attempts, the island became widely known as Garden Island and a popular destination for early European visitors to the Falls, with several of those that followed in Livingstone's footsteps visiting the island and adding their initials to the 'Livingstone Tree.'

Livingstone again later repeated the cultural association between the rainbow and departed spirits.

“The rainbow, in some parts, is called the 'pestle of the Barimo.'” (Livingstone and Livingstone, 1865, p.542)

It is clear Livingstone identified a widespread cultural belief across the region associating the rainbow with the spirits of the departed ancestors (a variation of a common theme in many cultures), and no doubt the Falls, where the rainbows daily play across the mists of the spray, thus held special significance for the local Leya. It is also evident, from the writings of Livingstone and others, that the islands along the line of the Falls, played a central role in this cultural reverence.

The French Christian missionary François Coillard, who visited the Falls in 1878, recorded:

“One can scarcely gaze into these depths for a moment, or follow for an instant the tortuous and restricted current of this river, without turning giddy. The beholder's first impression is one of terror. The natives believe it is haunted by a malevolent and cruel divinity, and they make it offerings to conciliate its favour, a bead necklace, a bracelet, or some other object, which they fling into the abyss, bursting into lugubrious incantations, quite in harmony with their dread and horror.” (Coillard, 1897 p.55)

Catherine Winkworth Mackintosh, Coillard's niece, travelled to the Falls in late August 1903 and recorded:

“At the edge of the cliff... the long grass was knotted into bunches, an act of prayer or thanksgiving for a safe journey on the part of numerous natives towards the Spirit of the Falls.” (Mackintosh, 1922, p.71)

References

Coillard, F. (1897) On the threshold of Africa - A Record of Twenty Years Pioneering among the Barotse of the Upper Zambezi. Hodder and Stoughton, London.  Download pdf (opens in new window)

Livingstone, D. (1857) Missionary travels and researches in South Africa. London.  Download pdf.

Livingstone, D. and Livingstone, C. (1865) Narrative of an expedition to the Zambesi and its tributaries and of the discovery of the lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864. John Murray, London. Download pdf.

Mackintosh, C. W. (1922) The New Zambesi Trail ; a record of two journeys to North-Western Rhodesia (1903 and 1920). Unwin, London. Download pdf.

Sykes, F. W. (1905) Official Guide to the Victoria Falls. Argus Co., Bulawayo.

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Peter Roberts is an ecologist, conservationist and freelance researcher and writer with a special focus on the Victoria Falls region. He is author of several books on the history of the Falls, including 'Footsteps Through Time - a history of Travel and Tourism to the Victoria Falls' [First published in July 2017, revised third edition April 2021]. See the Zambezi Book Company website for more information.

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Cataract Island Under Threat of Tourism Development

The sacred island sanctuary and protected wildlife refuge of Cataract Island is threatened by the recent launch of tourism tours and activities to the island, endangering not only its fragile ecology but also the wider status of the Falls as a World Heritage Site.

Read more: Fears Grow Over Falls World Heritage Status

UPDATE: Online petition launched: Keep Victoria Falls Wild - Stop commercialization of Cataract Island and Surrounding majestic wild areas (Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe). Please sign and share... 

New book on the history of the Victoria Falls

Life and Death at the Old Drift, Victoria Falls, 1898-1905, by Peter Roberts

The Old Drift holds a unique place within the story of the modern development of the region, established in 1898 and marking the main crossing point on the Zambezi River above the Victoria Falls for European travellers and traders heading north into the Kingdom of Barotseland (Western Zambia). Below the Falls the river, trapped within the deep gorges, presents a natural barrier to travellers for hundreds of kilometres.

A small settlement of evolved on the north bank and from 1898 to 1905 the crossing was a focal point in the transport of goods and people across the river, despite earning notoriety for the high mortality rate, with many settlers dying of malarial complications known as blackwater fever.

The arrival of the railway from the southern Cape to the banks of the Zambezi in mid-1904, and the construction of the Victoria Falls Bridge - crossing the river just below the great waterfall and opened in 1905 - shifted the axis of activity away from the Old Drift, and the ramshackle gathering of huts was abandoned to the bush in favour of the new town of Livingstone. After only a short number of years the days of the Drift were over, leaving only the graves of those who died and the memories of those lucky enough to have survived. Close by a stone cairn, erected by the Zambian National Monuments Commission in 1952, marks where the ferry pontoons arrived and the wagons once came ashore.

'Life and Death at the Old Drift' presents a detailed history of this brief but pivotal period in the recent human history of the Falls. Quoting extensively from contemporary references and sources, the story follows the growth of this small European community and some of the colourful characters drawn to life on the banks of the Zambezi - despite the risks.

Fully illustrated with over 90 archive images and photographs. [60,000 words, 189 pages]

First published in March 2018, copies of 'Life and Death at the Old Drift, Victoria Falls (1898-1905)' are available to order online through either amazon.com (US site) or amazon.co.uk (UK site) for payment in US Dollars or UK Pounds.

Zambezi River flowed before the dinosaurs roamed

The Zambezi River has recently been declared the oldest river in the world, celebrating its 280 millionth birthday, so was flowing 30 million years before the Triassic, when the first dinosaurs appeared. How can we say that?

A small caveat…

Geology is one of the most fascinating subjects in the world. To a layman it can seem like an incredibly complicated subject — and it is! — but there is much of value in understanding some basics relating to the stone and dirt beneath our feet.

Understanding the evolution and development of the Zambezi river system is deeply complicated and new research constantly changes what we know.

What is presented here is an amalgamation of the latest findings, simplified with as little of the inevitable jargon as possible.

Tell us a little about the Zambezi.

Today it is Africa’s fourth-largest river and remains one of the finest and least spoilt rivers in the world. Its source rises from a tiny spring in north-western Zambia and flows for 2,700 kms into the Indian Ocean at its delta on the Mozambique coast.

Its basin, if you include all the river’s tributaries, covers most of central and southern Africa; an area of some 1.3 million square kilometres — larger than the Sahara Desert.

Eight countries in the region are directly linked into this vast river system: Zambia, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique.

Within its catchment, the geological and palaeontological heritage of this part of the planet is almost without comparison.

Current biodiversity — the species of birds, plants, animals, insects, fish, birds, etc — within this area is ancient and deserves much more protection, research and appreciation than is currently the case.

How old is the river?

Newly published research has dated the beginnings of the river to 280 million years ago!

What is particularly fascinating about this latest research is geological study now establishes the ancient Proto-Zambezi (i.e. the river in its earliest phase) as the Earth’s oldest-known river and, perhaps confusingly to us today, that this ancient Proto-Zambezi ran in exactly the opposite direction, west across Africa into the Karoo, compared to what it does today, flowing east into the Indian Ocean.

The Proto-Zambezi was formed as Gondwana’s ice sheets begin to melt as the super-continent drifted northwards.

Water flowing downhill formed part of the river we would now call the Middle Zambezi and the Luangwa. The river flowed west at this time because of the huge mountains — bigger than the Himalayas — in the centre-east portion of the super-continent (see Figure A).

What’s the evidence for this?

There is geological, hydrological, landscape formation studies, as well as a study of the distribution of various lifeforms, especially fish, living in the river (see below). One can date the spread of such species via cutting edge genetic studies.

The Proto-Zambezi river originated in the drainage system that was established as vast Dwyka ice-sheets were melting and becoming smaller across the super-continent of Gondwana (see Figure A).

Gondwana was formed when the cratons that now form the continents of Africa, South America, Antarctica, India and Australia were welded together thanks to plate tectonics.

As Figure B shows, at this time the immense highlands of the Trans-Gondwana mountains directed the westerly flow of glacial meltwaters into the interior of Gondwana.

With its catchment entirely contained within Gondwana, this massive river sustained a vast, inland sea centred on modern‑day Botswana.

So how did the geology affect the rivers?

This geological record of the ancestral Proto‑Zambezi follows much of the same route as the modern river.

In particular, the evidence reveals that precursors of the modern Luangwa and Middle Zambezi already existed in the early Permian, some 300 million years ago.

This geological record in the Luangwa and Middle Zambezi valleys has survived despite the complete reversal of the Zambezi’s flow caused by Gondwana’s breakup, which forged the African continent.

Around 200 million years ago, for a period of 100 million years, a flowing mass of lava began to emerge from within the earth — the Stormberg lavas.

Fluid enough to flow over the land and fill hollows, troughs and valleys, it left behind an almost horizontal aspect, trapping sandstones beneath.

Eventually an area of at least 2,000,000 square kilometres were covered by these various lava sheets to a depth of perhaps nearly 1000 metres deep at Victoria Falls and up to 9000 metres elsewhere!

This basalt was subjected to great stress due to cooling and regional tectonic activity.

This stress caused deep fracturing and lines of weakness, and it is these that the growing Zambezi river would come to exploit in its course via river capture.

Explain river capture.

When a river is extending its channel upstream by headward erosion ( the lengthening of a river’s course by erosion backwards from its source), it may come into contact with the headwaters of a river which is less vigorous.

The headwaters from the minor river may be diverted into the more rapidly eroding channel. This is more or less how the Zambezi has grown into the massive river we know today.

At one time, most of the tributaries of the Zambezi river flowed south into the Limpopo River, but have all been captured.

As Gondwana broke up and as the continents drifted, river by river, flow in the Proto‑Zambezi’s catchment was redirected eastwards into the Indian Ocean, away from the previous lake inland where Botswana lies today.

The Zambezi captured rivers arising to the north – the Kafue, then the upper Zambezi and lower Kwando.

This capture resulted in the loss of water to the palaeo-lake Makgadikgadi and it shrank in size.

And the evidence from fish?

Something quite fun to consider is the fact that we can also trace the changing river systems in this area thanks to the spread of a rather important creature to Zimbabwe’s tourism industry.

The first known ancestors of the tigerfishes, Hydrocynus, are known in North Africa dated to between 35-21 million years ago.

The evidence from DNA studies reveals our local tigerfish, the Zambezi tigerfish, H. vittatus evolved within the confines of the Zambezi River where it became isolated from neighbouring populations in central Africa within the past 2-3 million years.

The species is believed to have originated in the Congo Basin; and thereafter it dispersed through south- central Africa southwards as far as southern Mozambique, and Mpumalanga and Kwa-Zulu-Natal in South Africa. T

he Kasai, a north-flowing Congo tributary, captured an easterly flowing headwater of the Upper Zambezi. Thereafter tigerfish dispersed far and wide south of the Southern Equatorial Divide.

It only colonised the Middle Zambezi below the Batoka Gorges within the past 200,000 years.

What next?

The next river to be captured is the Okavango which will see the eventual end of the magnificent Delta.

Once the Okavango River is captured an entire drainage network that once formed part of the Limpopo Rover system will have shifted to the Zambezi.

Geologically recent captures of the Chobe, Kafue and Upper Zambezi testify to the relative youth of the (modern) river’s shape.

The Great Equatorial Divide on Africa’s high plateaux comprises the Zambezi’s modern watershed, and its present position testifies to repeated re-shuffles of links between long lived rivers. To summarise, scientists now estimate the modern Zambezi basin to be barely 250 thousand years old.

This article is based on the work published by: Cotterill, F.P.D., A.E. Moore & R.M. Key. 2016. On the Antiquity of the Zambezi River, its Rifts, and its Wilderness. African Fisherman 172, 31-35.

Source: Zambezi River flowed before the dinosaurs roamed (02/02/18)

Read/Download the original article here 

See also: Victoria Falls Bits and Blogs (27th March 2017) Ancient Origins - Evolution of the Zambezi.

Livingstone golf club in ruins

THE Livingstone Golf Club is in utter ruin, forcing some dedicated golfers to maintain the course only up to eight instead of 18 holes, reveals club trustee Modern Silunyange.

In an interview, Silunyange said the 1908 Golf Club is however a matter before the courts.

“We are before courts of law with regards an investor who only paid six months out of the 20-year contract. The club house and course is in ruins and we have managed to try and maintain the grass with the assistance of four Zambians of Asian origin and now we can only play eight holes instead of 18,” Silunyange said.

He added that the saddest part of it all was the usage of the golf course for church crusades and musical concerts.

“Churches are good, but I have never seen a golf course being used for a church service,” he said.

“The investor has run away and we hear that he is now a game scout at some game park in Sudan. However, the issue is before the courts of law and we can’t do anything until a ruling is made. But it is sad in that all the clubhouse equipment has been sold.”

Asked to give an estimate of how much is needed to renovate the golf course and clubhouse, Silunyange said he could not give any at the moment but added that the place was in utter ruin.

Source: Livingstone golf club in ruins (06/01/18)

Why don't many British tourists visit Victoria Falls?

In August 1934, a memorial statue to one of Britain's greatest national heroes, David Livingstone, was unveiled alongside his beloved Victoria Falls.

A thousand people attended the grand ceremony, including British government dignitaries and hundreds of Africans, some of whom had travelled for days to honour him.

Fully 60 years after the explorer's death, Livingstone's almost mythical status was undiminished.

A Christian missionary who risked his life many times to expose - and ultimately end - the evils of the East African slave trade, he introduced the world to one of its natural wonders, and was the first person ever to walk across Africa from coast to coast, exploring and mapping the geography of the "dark continent".

Images of the life-sized bronze on the banks of the Zambezi were broadcast across the British Empire, countless school children thrilling to the stories of Livingstone's adventures and achievements.

Today, visitors still file past the statue on their way to experience the humbling majesty of the Zambezi as it plunges over the towering First Gorge.

But the British are notable by their absence.

Profound irony

Official figures from the Zimbabwe Tourism Ministry show that, since the turn of the millennium, the statue has rarely heard an accent from the United Kingdom, never mind voices from Livingstone's native Scotland.

In 2015, there were more Italian visitors than Britons, about twice as many Australians and French, three times as many Germans and seven times the number of Americans.

The irony is profound.

It was Livingstone's dream to turn Victoria Falls into a tourist attraction, his journals imagining paddle-steamers bringing visitors from the mouth of the Zambezi to witness their splendour.

There is a similar Britain-shaped hole at the quintessentially English Victoria Falls Hotel, where the flying boat from Southampton once stopped on its way to the Cape.

Pink gins are sipped on the lawns overlooking the Darlington-built steel bridge that has spanned the Zambezi gorge since 1905.

Pictures of British kings and queens adorn the walls, alongside animal heads and zebra skins.

The current Queen stayed at the hotel in 1947.

Uncomfortable relationship

A framed photograph shows the then-Princess Elizabeth with her father, George VI, watching the mighty Zambezi tumble over the precipice, an image that inspired huge numbers of British tourists to follow the Royals to the falls.

But in recent years, that flood has become a trickle.

Why? Robert Mugabe. Livingstone's statue stands on what is now Zimbabwean soil, and Britain has an uncomfortable relationship with its former colony.

Most UK tourists visit what locals call Mosi-oa-Tunya (The Smoke That Thunders) from the Zambian side, north of the river, where consciences may feel less troubled.

Limited sanctions remain in place against Zimbabwe, although these are mostly to do with arms dealing and individuals, including Robert and Grace Mugabe. Tourists can travel to the country.

And this corner of Zimbabwe is making a plan to woo the British back.

The border town of Victoria Falls exists only for tourism.

Emergency session

But after President Mugabe began forcibly confiscating land from white farmers in 2000, the country's status as an international pariah saw the number of foreign visitors there dwindle almost to nothing.

A decade later and facing ruin, business leaders in the town met in emergency session.

It was clear the Mugabe government was not in a position to help them.

The economy was in tatters, ravaged by hyperinflation, the national bank had to issue trillion-dollar notes.

Shops were empty and the people haunted by desperate poverty and fear.

The roads had not been maintained, anti-malaria measures had all but been abandoned, the international press painted a picture of a country where white Westerners were treated as the enemy.

What hope of attracting foreign tourists to that?

"If you have a pothole outside your house, there is no point in moaning about it if no-one is going to fix it," says Ross Kennedy, the hotelier behind the crisis meeting.

"We got together and agreed there are times when it is necessary to fix the pothole yourself."

So that's what they did, both metaphorically and literally.

"The town council said it could provide the labour and the trucks. We all chipped in to buy gravel and tar. It was a real town effort - hotel operators, transport operators, activity operators all helped fix the roads," Mr Kennedy says.

Innovative solutions

It was the same strategy with the fight against malaria. The council didn't have the foreign currency to buy the necessary chemicals to spray, so local businesses funded what was required, offsetting the cost against their rates.

They also tackled the security issue. As the owner of a number of local resorts, Mr Kennedy knew his business could never thrive if guests felt unsafe.

"Myself and three other guys in Vic Falls funded around 10 or 12 people to act as tourist police," he says.

Initially sceptical, the government's tourism authority soon decided the friendly uniformed teams were a great way to reassure potential visitors.

"There are many more tourist police now," Mr Kennedy says.

"We pay half, and the tourism authority pays half.

"The local police have become more supportive, and now train the recruits in basic police work and public relations."

The latest plan is for private business to buy new software that would speed up the issuing of visas at the border, reducing the process from three minutes to 30 seconds, ending the long queues that are many tourists' dreary introduction to Zimbabwe.

As a result of these innovative joint ventures, Victoria Falls has managed to insulate itself from many of Zimbabwe's problems.

"We are in a bubble here," says Africa Albida Tourism's Michele Vickery.

"When the state could not be relied upon, the people of this community just looked out for each other. The result is that tourism is picking up again."

The Americans are coming back, both young backpackers and wealthy baby-boomers. Australians, Germans, French and Italians are beginning to arrive again too. The town is much busier. But where are the British?

"Britain is still a bit behind," Mr Kennedy says.

"I think the main reason is the colonial past. There is an element who say, 'There is no way I am spending a dollar in a country that behaves like that, where X, Y or Z is in power,' to which I say, 'I am not your moral compass.'"

Scramble for Africa

The British Embassy has been lobbied by town businesses to push for the inclusion of a paragraph in the UK's official Zimbabwe travel advice, saying that warnings of violence, assaults by security forces, shortages of fuel and water do not apply to Victoria Falls.

But the advice has not changed.

The UK's relationship with Zimbabwe was formalised following the Congress of Berlin in 1885, part of the so-called scramble for Africa.

Western powers sat around a table carving up the continent and claiming territorial rights.

Britain walked away with the keys to exploiting the area it would later call Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.

The man granted the honour of unveiling David Livingstone's statue on the banks of the Zambezi in 1934 was the explorer's nephew, Howard Moffatt.

A very different personality to his liberal and reforming uncle, Moffatt had just stepped down as prime minister of Southern Rhodesia, having pushed through the Land Apportionment Act of 1930.

Moral ambiguity

The legislation barred African landownership in the British Crown colony, outside special reserves.

The best land was allocated exclusively to white people, farms where the seeds of black grievance and bitterness were sown.

Mr Mugabe's violent seizure of white-owned property 70 years later might be seen by some as the bloody consequence of that colonial arrogance.

The moral ambiguity that lies behind Britain's relationship with Zimbabwe surely helps explain the persistent reluctance of many in this country to risk association with it.

Since 2015, Victoria Falls has had its own international airport with a runway capable of taking the largest passenger aircraft.

The townsfolk have pressed airlines to begin direct flights from Europe, but British carriers have so far not expressed much interest.

Political instability

UK airlines say there are commercial and logistical reasons for not flying directly to the resort at the moment.

It is easy to find reasons not to step upon the troubled lands of Zimbabwe.

At the moment, the country faces an acute cash shortage. cash machines are usually empty, and American dollars - now the legal currency - are so scarce, hawkers beg tourists for their shoes and clothes.

There are concerns that dreaded inflation is returning.

People worry about social and political instability, with elections next year and, at some point, transition to a post-Mugabe Zimbabwe.

But the fundamentals of this beautiful and enchanting country are pretty solid.

The landscape and wildlife are stunning. The climate is benign and the soil fertile. Communities have become resilient and practical.

There are a few straws in the savannah wind. Some British tour operators have recently returned to Zimbabwe, and hoteliers report UK bookings are creeping up, although there is still a long way to go.

Zimbabwe's Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi points out that visitors to Niagara Falls in North America bring in income double that of the whole of Zimbabwe's economy.

"They are spending $30bn [£23bn] whilst Victoria Falls, a natural wonder of a higher magnitude, receives just $1bn," he told the Zimbabwe parliament.

Victoria Falls can shield itself from some of Zimbabwe's contemporary woes.

But the grim countenance of Livingstone's statue, staring resolutely at the great falls, reminds us of the struggle to navigate a path through the thorny undergrowth of African history.

Source: Why don't many British tourists visit Victoria Falls? (BBC News, 02/09/17)

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