Zambian Fast Facts
Zambia is a breathtaking country with many hidden gems and lots to discover as listed below.
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In 1921 in Kabwe (formally known as Broken hill) a skull of Homo rhodesiensis (Homo heidelbergensis) was unearthed. This skull commonly known as the Broken Hill skull or Kabwe skull belonged to an adult male of an extinct hominin species that lived in that area 200,000 to 300,000 years ago, it was the first early human fossil to be found in Africa and researchers believe that he could be a member of the African population from which all modern humans are descended. The skull is housed in the Natural History Museum in London.
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Home to one of the 7 wonders of the natural world, the Victoria Falls or as it’s known locally Mosi-oa-tunya or ‘the smoke that thunders’. It is one of the largest waterfalls in the world based on its width of 1,708 metres and height of 108 metres, resulting in the world's largest sheet of falling water.
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In the middle of the Zambezi River, you can find the only place in the world where four countries borders meet at one single point, those countries being Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
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The Luangwa Valley in the East of Zambia has the world's largest Hippo population.
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Home to the Kalambo Falls, the tallest waterfall in Zambia and the second tallest single drop waterfall in Africa, a single jet of water falls in an uninterrupted stream 221 metres into the gorge below.
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Lake Tanganyika is an African great lake, it is found in northern province and is the world’s longest freshwater lake. It is thought to be Africa's oldest lake and is regarded as one of the most biologically unique habitats on earth, the lake holds at least 250 species of cichlid fish and 150 non-cichlid species all endemic to the lake which makes it an important biological resource for the study of speciation in evolution.
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Lake Kashiba is a sunken lake south west of Luanshya, local legend says that the lake contains a monster called “Ichitapa” or “lsoka lkulu” and when a man stands on the rocks at the lake’s edge, with his shadow over the water, the monster comes up from the depths and catches the shadow, so that the victim becomes paralysed and falls in the water.
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Shiwa N’gandu Estate is an English country estate found in the Northern province near Lake Ishiba N’gandu (lake of the royal crocodile) and was made famous in Christina Lamb’s book The Africa House 1999, which documented how Sir Stewart Gore-Browne arrived in this remote part of Zambia and built this stately home to rival any found in England, in 1920 using local materials and labour.
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Niamkolo Church is the oldest surviving stone church in Zambia. It was built in 1895 by the London Missionary society.
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The Chirundu Fossil Forest is a UNESCO World Heritage site which contains fossilised or petrified tree trunks of the Karoo age dating back to 150 million years ago. The site has superb fossilised tree trunks measuring up to 1.2m in diameter assigned to Dadyoxlon sp. and Rhexoxylon africanum, which are types of coniferous tree.
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The Nsalu Cave in Serenje District features 12,000-year-old rock paintings. This semi-circular cave, cut into the Nsalu hills contains some of the best examples of Africa’s schematic rock paintings. Excavations showed that the site was first occupied by middle Stone Age people although the majority of remains discovered relate to the hunting people of the late Stone Age and date back from about 12000 years ago to 1000 AD. The significance of the schematic drawings at Nsalu remains a mystery although some archaeologists believe they were connected with initiation ceremonies.
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The worlds largest edible mushroom grows in Zambia. It's scientific name is Termitomyces titanicus and it is locally known as Chingulungulu, it is a species of fungi and it has a cap that can reach 1 metre in diameter.
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Zambia is the only country in the world to have started and finished an Olympic games as a different country. During the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, athletes competed for Northern Rhodesia at the start of the games on 10th October and by the close of the games on 24th October, which was also Zambia's Independence day the athletes returned home as citizens of Zambia.