North-West Region
Lake Kashiba
LAKE KASHIBA, Mpongwe District Also known as “Kashiba Kebena Mbushi” (Lake of the goat clan), this site is located near St Anthony’s Mission in Mpongwe District. It is a natural sunken lake approximately 800m in diameter and over 100 meters deep. The site is reached by turning east at St Anthony’s Mission and following a poor but motorable side road that leads after less than 5km, directly to the Site. According to local tradition there once lived in the area a clan known as ‘Benambushi’ or the goat clan. Owing to an argument where the Bena-mbushi were insulted, they decided to hold a protest. They made a long rope measuring over 400m in length and all the people tied themselves to the it. They then marched around the village singing songs, and later went to the lake where one by one like a chain of caterpillars, they drowned themselves. The last person was a pregnant woman who was saved at the eleventh-hour, and who then became the ancestor of the people today. The lake is of tremendous natural wilderness beauty and is popular for fishing with rod, swimming and camping. The Site was declared a National Natural Monument under Statutory Instrument No. 68 of 1976. The lake has camping facilities, latrines, and a Council Rest House big enough to accommodate a maximum of eight people on a non-catering basis. Additionally, swimming and fishing (with rod) are popular, and the nearby Mushitu forest is a bird watcher’s paradise.
The Dag Hammarskjold Memorial Crash Site
The site is about 13Km from Ndola City. It situated in the Ndola West Forest Reserve and can be reached by turning south-west from the Ndola – Kitwe dual carriageway at a point about 10Km from Ndola. The memorial signifies the site of the aeroplane accident in which Dag Hammarskjöld, former Secretary General to the United Nations Organisation, was killed on 18th September, 1961 while on a mission attempting to broker peace between the warring parties in the now Democratic Republic of Congo.
The anthill, the exact spot where the late UN Secretary General’s body was found in a sitting position has been left in its natural state as a poignant reminder of the fatal accident . The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation has established a memorial garden and at its centre is a small cairn to which it is hoped many countries of the world will add a specimen of their national stones. Since 1970 the government of Zambia has paid tribute to the late Dag Hammarskjöld who died in pursuing peace in the Belgian Congo, a country that still faces conflict today. The legacy of the Swedish diplomat has been honoured through the redevelopment of the plane crash site into a national monument. A museum depicting the work of the United Nations in general and Dag Hammarskjöld in particular has been constructed at the site. Adjacent to the crash site is a new Girls Boarding School and the site will soon have an Institute built within the site in his honor.
Mutanda Falls
MUTANDA FALLS, Solwezi District KAMUSONGOLWA KOPJE, Kasempa District
This site is situated about 35Km south-west of Solwezi town centre. The Mutanda Falls are a series of three successive waterfalls with the smaller two located upstream and downstream of the main falls respectively. The falls are of considerable scenic beauty with a tremendous tourism potential. The area surrounding the water falls has largely retained its natural beauty. At the foot of the main falls is a deep natural pool which is popular with swimmers. The falls are located a few hundred meters downstream of the Mutanda River after the Solwezi – Kasempa Road Bridge. The site can be accessed by a marked all weather gravel road off the Solwezi – Kasempa Road. The site also attracts a variety of bird species and is thus ideal for bird watching.
Zambezi Source
ZAMBEZI SOURCE, Zambezi Ditrict
This monument, known as the independence monument by the local people, was th unveiled on 24 October 1964 to signify the birth of a new nation, Zambia, which derived its name from the Zambezi River whose local Lunda name ‘Yambezhi’, means the ‘heart of everything’. The Site situated about 54Km Northwest of Mwinilunga boma harbours the cold water spring that marks the source of the mighty Zambezi River.
This attracted archaeologists, and in 1929 an Italian Scientific Expedition led by Professor Raymond Dart excavated the site and “found some 5ft of sterile deposit covering the lower half of the engraved rock surface, under which was a single occupation layer full of crystalline quartz tools of L.S.A type”. In May 1961, Dr. J. Desmond Clark carried out excavations at the site and traced all the engravings on behalf of the Rhodes-Livingstome Museum and the National Monuments Commission (now National Heritage Conservation Commission) Under the thick lower level of the sand contained scattered pieces of charcoal which have been dated by the radiocarbon method to between 6,500 and 6,000 years ago. This site thus provides some evidence for the possible association of schematic engravings with the L.S.A inhabitants of Zambia. Rock engravings were executed by pecking or rubbing the comparatively soft granite schist with a pointed quartz ‘engraving tool’ until grooves or pits of the country. This is the only known site where painted engravings occur in Zambia. It is also unique as it provides evidence for the possible association of schematic engravings with a Stone Age Culture. The site is also one of the prime tourism destinations in Solwezi due to its proximity with the Central Business District (CBD). The Department of Arts and Culture has since built a Cultural Centre within the Site to add value to the engravings as this will attract visitors that will come to watch cultural performances at the centre.
The site’s infrastructure are the Visitor Information Centre, Picnic shelters, Camping areas and adventurous boardwalks and suspended bridges over the tiny stream of the Zambezi River. A visit to the Source of the Zambezi River will be a memorable one and compelling to make a repeat visit because of the wilderness value and pristine forest cover the site has, gives soothing to the visitor.
