Lake Tanganyika is one of the world’s most important lakes. 2nd largest in terms of age, depth and volume. The longest. Lake Tanganyika holds 16% of all the liquid fresh water in the world. It was discovered by Europeans in the 1860's, but was starting to be exploited 50 years earlier by Arabs. The area around the lake, particularly to the south, the Abercorn area, is origin to most of the English Language stories about deepest and darkest Africa.
Mbala and Mpulungu are known for its heritage and culture which are unique.
The History of these two places goes way beyond imagination
Lake Tanganyika is one of the world’s most important lakes. 2nd largest in terms of age, depth and volume. The longest . Lake Tanganyika holds 16% of all the liquid fresh water in the world. It was discovered by Europeans in the 1860's, but was starting to be exploited 50 years earlier by Arabs. The area around the lake, particularly to the south, the Abercorn area, is origin to most of the English Language stories about deepest and darkest Africa.
Mbala and Mpulungu are known for its heritage and culture which are unique. The History of these two places goes way beyond imagination
Rumours of an inland sea proved an attraction to the first European Explorers and Missionaries, and Lake Tanganyika has retained its mystique until today. Livingstone passed through the area in the 1860’s-70’s, and found the area full of Arabs and Swahili’s, undertaking ivory hunting and slave trading, as well as normal trade in salt, metal tools and agricultural and fish products. Missionaries came to Mpulungu in the early 1880’s, and stayed there for a while, and then moved up to the plateau around Mbala. The African Lakes Company arrived in the late 1880’s and set up trading posts at Chituta on Lake Tanganyika and at Mbala. Their major commodity was ivory. The plateau around the lake was the first part of Zambia to be settled and developed by the British, in the 1890’s. The slave trade was suppressed by 1895, and indiscriminate elephant hunting was controlled, also by 1895. All these events mean there are many historical sites in and around Mbala.
The stories include Stanley finding Livingstone “lost” in Ujiji; Giant man-eating apes known in Mpulungu as “soko” ( which gave rise to the Tarzan stories); Stories of wandering in the tropical forest for weeks going round and round in circles; Wounded buffaloes, which instead of running away, circle around and attack the hunters that are hunting them; The untameability of the African Elephant; All these accounts, and more, can be found in books and journals written by the early missionaries, and traders and administrators. around the end of the Victorian era There are many accounts of the ending of the slave trade in the region, which resulted in several major battles in the 1890’s.
The area in the Zambia portion of the lake which consists of about 8% of the lake, and the surrounding plateau, 2000-3000ft higher than the lake, is now reachable by plane within 24 hours from destinations in Europe and the UK.
The area is beautiful and unspoilt and underdeveloped. It has major scenic attractions and great opportunities for bush walking.
Tourism is new venture in the Mpulungu and Mbala areas. There is of course connection between the two, and visitors at one centre can spend a day or two at the other, making the journey by fast speed boat or leisurely village-hopping along the coast, or in the near future by driving along a new road between Nsumbu and Mbala.
