Looking up Itimbwe Gorge. Reading this week:

• Ringworld by Larry Niven
• Zambia: The First 50 Years by Andrew Sardanis
• The Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven
• The Ringworld Throne by Larry Niven
• Ringworld’s Children by Larry Niven

This week I went to go check out Itimbwe Gorge. Itimbwe Gorge is a bit outside Mbala, down a dirt road that is about 6-7km down the Nakonde road past the turnoff. The gorge is the site of several caves that were used by early man. I found out about Itimbwe Gorge via the very useful site Abercornucopia, and specifically this pdf here. This being Zambia, the caves and the gorge itself is unmarked, but by googling some coordinates and asking around for Itimbwe I was able to find it and bike there. The caves as viewed from the road. Once I made it to the gorge, I found the caves really quickly on the right side as you’re facing downhill, about halfway down the gorge. I actually initially decided these weren’t the caves I was looking for because they didn’t look exactly like the pictures in this pdf. I decided to keep exploring and kept going down the gorge. Abondoned farm buildings. The pool referenced in the first pdf, and the current residents of the valley. At the bottom of the hill I found some of the landmarks referenced in the first pdf (“Notes on Archeological Indications in Abercorn Township and Vicinity”):

The stream formerly running down this gorge now runs underground, surfacing at a small pool near Itimbwe farm house, but water was formerly easily available here and in living European memory the gorge was a favorite haunt of klipspringer and similar small game

The farm buildings were long abandoned, and I figure they must have belonged to white settlers that left sometime after independance in 1965. Continuing my exploration, I went up a path that traverssed the pass between the two points I identified as Malawe Ridge and Kazawa Hill. I turned left and hiked up Malawe Ridge, giving some stunning views of the valley and cliffs. Itimbwe Gorge is on the other side of that ridge. After walking along Malawe Ridge for a bit I descended back into the valley to start heading back up Itimbwe Gorge. The coolest part about living in Mbala is all the history that has happened like right here. Up at Kalambo Falls there is evidence of occupation from 100,000-200,000 years ago, meaning that this region is one of the longest continually inhabited regions on Earth. As I descended into the valley and looked around with little evidence of human habitation (well, minus the trails and evidence of annual burning to keep the vegetation down), I tried to imagine the landscape 1000 millenia ago, teeming with wildlife and inhabited by literal cavemen. This area would have provided everything they needed, from water to game to shelter. It’s worth pausing to realize that agriculture is a realtive newcomer to the region, having been introduced by the Bantu people only 1000-2000 years ago. Pulled from my reveries by the realization I had better find these caves and then start heading home, I went back up Itimbwe Gorge to explore the caves. The first two caves described in the pdf wre the ones I eventually explored, but they only mention occasional habitation. The pdf mentions a third cave “at the foot of a high vertical face nearby” in which there are abundant signs of permanent occupation. I never found that cave, but hiking up to one pot that wasn’t cave did give yet another pretty view. The cave I did find is described as:

In another rather spectacular cavity in which the strata has weathered away horizontally leaving a long, deep cave in the cliffe face (Its floor some ten feet above gound level) quartz chips are present in the earth filled crevices of the floor but the floor is broken and sliping and thus not very suitable for any but occasional occupation.

They of course mean human occupation, because I can confirm the cave is currently occupied by several bats and one large hawk. Judging by the cup I found in there, it still receives occasional human occupation as well. Still, despite it being kinda hard to scramble up the 10 feet, it is easy to imagine taking refuge in the cave, cooking a meal and watching the klipspringer run by. It is pretty amazing to me that all this is within biking distance of Mbala and there’s not even an informational marker saying what this site is. There is so much tourism possibility in Mbala, not to mention the cultural importance of these sites, that just a little development I think could go a long way. In a way that makes it cooler to be able to go out and explore these things, but you wish there were more resources to take care of them properly. After leaving the caves I biked home, running into a rain storm on the way, but overall it was a pretty awesome day.

Reading this week:

• A Matter of Time by Alex Capus (a fictionalized account of the Battle for Lake Tanganyika which, although it isn’t perfectly historically accurate, I highly recommend it because more people should care about central African naval engagements)
• Congo Diary by Che Guevara (I was very sympathetic with the difficulties he faced)

On the Mbala / Abercorn facebook page, people there have been trying to determine the former site of Chief Zombe’s village (the site is run by the same guy who runs Abercornucopia, which is the premier site for Mbala history in the colonial area). The impetus for this is to identify the spot visited by David Livingstone when he was travelling in the area. The primary clues they’re going off of are an excerpt from The Last Journals of David Livingstone, Volume II (available on Project Gutenberg). In Chapter 10, one of the journal entries reads:

Their journey of the 12th and 13th [of November 1872] led them over low ranges of sandstone and hæmatite, and past several strongly stockaded villages. The weather was cloudy and showery – a relief, no doubt, after the burning heat of the last few weeks. They struck the Halochéché [Lucheche] River, a rapid stream fifteen yards wide and thigh deep, on its way to the Lake, and arrived at Zombé’s town, which is built in such a manner that the river runs through it, whilst a stiff palisade surrounds it. He says: It was entirely surrounded by M’toka’s camp, and a constant fight maintained at the point where the ine of stakes was weakened by the river running through. He killed four of the enemy, and then Chitimbwa and Kasonso coming to help him, the siege was raised.

Based on that excerpt, and by looking over Google Maps, the Mbala/Abercorn guys concluded that this spot was the most likely location, but were looking for someone to ground-truth it:

So, since I live in the area, last Sunday I set out on a hike to see if I could find the old site of Chief Zombe’s village. I set out at about 0700 on foot from my hut with water bottles and some bagels in my bag. Having looked over Google Maps myself, the easiest way to get to the spot was first to walk around the coffee plantation in the area, Isanya Estates.

I hiked around the back of the plantation and found a road leading through some small villages and through a valley and over another ridge. After about three hours of walking I reached the end of the road and listened for the river. Heading in that direction, I soon came to the spot identified as the possible location of Zombe’s village. The first picture at the top of the article is the spot identified by the Mbala/Abercorn guys. Although gorgeous, I don’t think it is the spot for the village. The river for this section runs through a rather deep and rather steep gorge that I think probably continues all the way to its eventual outlet at Kituta Bay, site of my SS Good News adventure. I spotted a maize field at the bottom of the gorge, along with some people preparing a pile of logs to make charcoal. However, I don’t think there is enough room for a whole village, and I don’t think it would be a strategic location. At the time, the people were under occasional attack by Arab slave traders (hence the stockade). The Arabs had guns, making the bottom of a poor location strategically.

The area was too steep on my side of the river to descend at that point, so I followed the ridge up-river towards Lake Chila and Mbala. The river continues to run through a series of picturesque valleys like the one above. Although I don’t think any of the valleys would support a village, people are still farming in the area. That added a difficulty to my expedition, because current farming and charcoal making covers up previous signs of habitation indicating the location of a century-and-a-half-old village.

Speaking of maize though, it absolutely stuns me where people will grow maize. Of the above two pictures, the first one is maize growing on a hill that is a lot steeper than the picture makes it look. There is no home nearby, it is at the bottom of a deep gorge, and that steep hill couldn’t be easy to navigate, and yet there is maize there! The second picture depicts maize being grown where someone had previousely made charcoal. I guess that’s a good spot, but so many random spots get maize grown in them. Highway medians, old foundations, random forest clearings, they all have maize.

I continued down the gorge, following for a bit the path of a dry furrow. It’s rainy season, so the furrow isn’t too necessary (hence it being dry), but I like the engineering that goes into these things. The one above was pretty long and would have required a lot of digging to build.

I eventually reached a spot where I couldn’t really continue along the river, so I climbed up the wall of the gorge to find a hut perched right on the edge. The owner was home, so I said hello and asked the way to Mbala. He pointed me to the path, along which I accidentally found his chim. Unlike most, he doesn’t have a hut over it, giving the dude really great views of the valley when he poops. Continuing along the river, first on top of the ridge and then closer to it, I eventually came back to Isanya Estates. The above picture is a furrow the plantation has dug running off the river, but it looks sorta tropical-y and jungle-y, so I took a picture. With the hike over, I hadn’t really identified any likely locations for the village. I do think it is probably closer to modern-day Mbala than they think, but I don’t have an exact spot. The best part of the hike for me was discovering that these were these deep, beautiful valleys near me. My own valley is less steep (probably why they put a village here), so that is how I think of the surrounding landscape, but I am right on the cusp of the Great Rift Valley. The scenery and geography around here is pretty breathtaking and it is good to get out and take a look.

For Christmas, Lily came up to visit my site in the Mbala area. While she was up here, we went to go visit Kalambo Falls. We stayed at the Kalambo Falls Lodge, which is right next to the falls. Getting to the falls is a 40ish km ride from Mbala over a pretty terrible road, but at least it is a very scenic drive so it’s got that going for it. Kalambo Falls Lodge is pretty new and when we stayed there we were the only two people, so that was neat. After arriving at the lodge and unpacking, we walked down to the path to start checking out the falls. We were the only visitors at the time. There is a well-maintained concrete path that takes you to various viewing areas and to the top of the falls. Kalambo Falls is notable for being the highest waterfall in Zambia at about 222m. This is far taller than Victoria Falls, but of course far less wide. Kalambo Falls is also the second highest waterfall in all of Africa, and the 12th highest in the world, so, you know, quite an attraction. Kalambo Falls is on the Kalambo river, and forms the border between Zambia and Tanzania. Lily, overlooking the falls and wondering when I’ll be done. Besides its physical characteristics, Kalambo Falls is known for being an extensive archealogical site, with evidence for habitation at least 200,000 years old. I’ve read on other sites that you can walk to some of these sites, but the guide when I was there didn’t seem to think it was possible. Maybe he was just keeping me away. He did point to a cave at the bottom of the gorge where he said they found artifacts. Even without seeing the ancient man sorta stuff, the site is fantastically beautiful. Most people visit the lodge by hiking up from one of the lodges on the shore of Lake Tang, but since we were staying at the lodge we got to see the site in both the evening and the morning. The falls plunge into a deep gorge lined with mysterious-looking jungle. At the bottom, the Kalambo river winds the last 6km to Lake Tang. Standing on the edge looking down at the birds swooping around gives a massive sense of vertigo. There are some baboons in the area (thankfully a lot more scared of people than the Victoria Falls brand) which we managed to catch a glimpse of. Kalambo Falls is gorgeous and I recommend anyone in the Mbala area do their best to go take a look. There can’t be many more places in the world like it.

One of my sunflower beds, yes I am aware they’re probably too close.

Reading this week:

• Baltasar and Blimunda by José Saramago

Besides fish farming, I have also taken up gardening. The only real reason for me to garden is to get some street cred. Everyone farms so if you don’t farm it is kinda weird. When I say everybody I mean everybody. You bike through Mbala and people got maize growing in their front yards, and in Lusaka I see it growing in the median in the roads downtown. Everybody farms.

My project started with a permagarden by the side of my house. Permagardens are designed to be high-output and to retain water well. This lets you keep a small, easy to maintain garden next to your house to ensure both food security and a variety of foods to ensure good nutrition. The above picture is with the garden finished but before I planted. The beds are dug extra deep and have a good amount of manure (as fertilizer), ash (for minerals and to balance pH), and charcoal dust (to help the soil retain moisture).

This is the garden a few weeks after I finally planted it. Its contents are a pretty random assortment of whatever seeds I happened to have. In the lower right is velvet bean, and in the lower left I tried to grow peppers, thusfar with no success. The middle has watermelon and then onions & carrots (apparently these are better as companion plantings). The upper left has pigeon pea and the upper right has green ram. The garden is in desperate need of weeding, but I am writing blog posts to procrastinate doing that.

My farm.

The next project was to plant some sunflowers. Sunflowers are good for fish farming because after you press the seeds for oil, you can use the oilcake for fish feed. I had what I thought was a small amount of sunflower seeds, but man a small amount goes a long way. My house is on a little plot of land my host family used the previous year for maize. I started digging sunflower beds and then wouldn’t stop until I was finished with all my seeds. For every two beds of sunflowers, I planted one bed of either green gram or velvet bean to put nitrogen in the soil. This was a lot of work and I insisted on doing it all myself.

I finished the sunflower seeds with a bit of room to spare, so I made six ridges and planted those with orange-fleshed sweet potatoes. After the workshop we planted the roots we received and my host dad did some rapid vine multiplication so we had plenty of vines. I am pretty amazed when seeds work, so this whole vegetative multiplication thing I was wary of. It seems, however, to be working. My only regret now is that I don’t have more room; I managed to get some seeds for orange maize and that would have been cool to have.

Reading this week:

• Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck

No big adventures this week, so I thought I would give an update on the fish ponds; they’re doing well! My host dad has constructed a total of four ponds; three are in the above picture with another one in a higher tier on the left. He’s in the process of building two more, but construction has stopped due to the rainy season. That’ll make a total of six ponds for him, which is a convenient number as you can theoretically harvest every month with a six-month growth cycle. Next to his ponds are two more ponds owned by another farmer. All the ponds have been stocked. The photo above is my host dad stocking one of the ponds. He got involved in an experiment on supplemental feeds. He has been supplied with commercial feed, and also makes his own feed. One pond he’ll provide commercial feed, and the other pond he’ll give the feed he makes. When we harvest we’ll see which fish grew the best. My host dad feeding fish. If I had one criticism of the ponds, it is that they don’t have a very good bloom. With rainy season we are getting more mud and run-off into the ponds, which makes it harder to tell if we have a good bloom and is also not great for the fish. The fish don’t seem to be suffering too much for it so I am not worried, and he’s been good about providing feed so the fish are growing no matter what. My host dad has been doing a lot of work to improve the ponds. He’s in the process of building a fence around the ponds to keep out predators. He always refers to it as “preventing THE predator,” like there is a particular lizard that is his nemesis or as if there is an alien hunter eating his fish. He also invented the above contraption. My host dad fertilizes his ponds with manure, and the usual RAP suggestion is to put the manure in a sack to place in the pond. He has instead made a basket out of mealie meal sacks and suspended it on four sticks. This has the same effect of holding the manure in a certain location, but makes it a lot easier to add manure just by dumping it in the top. I’m looking forward to harvesting these ponds in February or March and seeing how the fish have grown. At that point we’ll have completed all parts of the fish farming cycle, and both my farmers and I will have had hands-on experience with all portions of it. My big hope is that once people see my host dad make money after the fish harvest, everyone will be exited about fish farming and come to me wanting to stake ponds.

The cultivation center of a model mushroom farmer. Reading this week:

• Star.Ships: A Prehistory of the Spirits by Gordon White
• Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie

This week I attended the mushroom workshop. This took place in Lusaka and is another thing I’m pretty excited about implementing in the village. Although the workshop itself was a Peace Corps event, the training was conducted by China Aid, the PRC’s international development agency. This marks a new stage in my historically tumultuous relationship with the PRC. But anyways. They have a big research center on the outskirts of Lusaka, and from the looks of it focus on agricultural techniques (and the growing of Chinese vegetables, from the looks of their garden; I spent some time thinking about stereotypical things to focus on, development-wise *cough* JICA and rice *cough,* but that’s probably a topic best left to scholars or whatever). One of their big specialties is mushroom growing, and that’s of course why we were there. Mushrooms can be a pretty excellent crop for a farmer. They grow on agricultural waste products, like corn cobs or elephant grass, are easy to grow, are rich in vitamins and stuff, and sell pretty well. China Aid will sell, at a low price, bags of cultivated mushroom mycelium. All the farmer does with these is cut a few holes and wait for mushrooms to grow. This isn’t really very sustainable, because the farmer would have to keep buying these cultivated mycelium all the way from Lusaka (and transport them to their farm, like I did; they’re basically bags of mold and it was a little weird to carry around). So the workshop focused on mushroom spawning. My biggest criticism of the workshop is that it wasn’t very village-based. They did talk about the technologies you would use in the village, but it was mostly along the lines of “…and if you don’t happen to have an autoclave, you can use an old oil drum!” However, with work, it does seem very possible in the village to grow mushrooms all the way from scratch, eliminating the need to buy cultivated products from China. I am excited to give it a whirl. Maybe once I am back in the States I can use my skills to sell like artisan mushrooms and the local farmer’s market. Hand crafted! On a final note, the other awesome part of the China Aid research complex is a sweet basketball court. We had driven by the place many times but never seen anyone play, until now. Between sessions there was a pickup game or two, which for any passerbys must have been kinda confusing. But there we go.

The exact spot David Livingstone died. There used to be a hut here.

Reading this week:

• Congo Journey by Redmond O’Hanlon
• The Lost City of Z by David Grann
• Vacationland by John Hodgman

So I went to the David Livingstone Memorial, which was a really amazing adventure as far as I am concerned and it was awesome. I woke up in Samfya after my hunt for the elusive Kongamato and boarded a bus heading south. This didn’t go so smooth at first because it was raining some and I managed to drop my bus ticket in a puddle, and then subsequently drop my wallet and glasses trying to get the bus ticket, and then the parking lot bus wrangler begged me for money (“cheap change” was his phrase) and there weren’t any yamayos selling fritters so I was hungry but eventually off we went.

With some help from the guy sitting in front of me, I managed to communicate that I wanted to get dropped off in Chalilo, which is a small village (really a stretch of shops) along the rode heading south from Samfya, and about 10km north of Kasanka National Park. I was worried because we were driving through some rain, but the bus was playing Drunken Master on their television which was a nice change from the gospel songs you usually get. I got dropped off in Chalilo eventually, bought a fritter and some bananas, and set off.

I was a little unsure of where to go at first because I was expecting a sign for the memorial, but there was none. There was a sign, however, for Chief Chitambo’s Palace, so I followed that. Eventually down that road there were signs for the monument so I knew I was going in the right direction. It is 26km from the roadside to the monument, and I was hoping that I would be able to hitch a ride with a car going my way. I quickly saw two vans going the opposite direction, which gave me hope there would be vehicular traffic, but alas, there was none. After walking for an hour, however, I got the bright idea to ask someone to rent their bike. So I walked into the next hut and spoke with the man there and we agreed on a price and off I went.

I should have been far more picky about the bike I chose. The one I got was really terrible. I didn’t realize how terrible until about 10-15km further on, when it broke. Since I was close (so I thought) to the memorial, I kept going on foot, after asking a dude to watch the bike for me. I think I walked for maybe two more hours. I got to the monument a little before 1400 after having set off at 0930 from the roadside.

The monument area is really well kept, and has a sign and a fence so it is easy to find. I wandered in and started looking around. The area has two markers. The first marks the actual spot Livingstone died. The second spot, where the large pyramid is erected, marks the spot where his heart and entrails were buried. To be able to carry his body back home, Livingstone’s porters removed his heart and guts and buried them under a tree before drying and salting his body. The original tree was cut down during a later expedition and is now in London, but the tree next to the monument is an offshoot of that original tree.

Also, in what I am sure is a comment on the current geopolitical landscape, on the site of the monument there’s a borehole sponsored by China Geo. I kinda wonder what Livingstone would think of that.

About the time I got to the pyramid the caretaker, Barbara, showed up. Barbara is a Zambian woman and is extremely friendly and has worked there since 2012 along with her assistant, Chabi. She collected my entry fee (8 ZMW) and had me sign the guestbook (I was the first guest in a week) and then we chit-chatted. I told her how I had gotten there (she hadn’t spotted a bike or car and was curious) and she was pretty astonished. She insisted on feeding me nshima and some local beer and that was pretty amazing. We talked about how she liked the job and about fish farming and it was all pretty awesome.

Since it was getting late in the day (1500), she tried to arrange a ride for me. The only car she knew of was broken, so instead she called over a dude with a bike. This was my only chance to get out of there, so I took it. I wound up riding most of the way back out sitting on this dude’s luggage rack as he pedaled us out of there. I think other people have had worse times travelling in Zambia, but there are also many people who have been more comfortable.

The view from the luggage rack.

Eventually I made it back to the roadside, bought some water, and then started walking south out of town. Barbara had warned me to not try to sleep by the roadside in Chalilo, and it was getting dark and a massive lightening storm was up ahead. Thankfully, probably right in time, I managed to flag down a truck and hop onboard.

That was a great end to an amazing adventure. It might sound a little unexciting, but I was so happy to have been able to traverse the African bush, talking to strangers to get where I needed to go and see a historic site not many get to see. As I was rocketing along in the truck towards a massive storm lighting up the sky, it is pretty amazing to reflect both how much has changed since Livingstone was there, and then again how little. On the journey there you still see women cutting leaves to make dinner and men thatching huts and the landscape has to look about the way it did to Livingstone. And to have been aided by the hospitality of the descendants of the same people that helped Livingstone in his final days is poignant, I think.

Following the rice workshop, I went down to Samfya to hunt the elusive Kongamato. Although its usual haunt is up in Northwest province, there have been sightings near Lake Bangwelu and the surrounding wetlands so I decided to come to Samfya to take a look.

Checking into the lodge, I surveyed the scene. There were sandy beaches and a huge expanse of water but no signs of prehistoric pterodactyls. Ever intrepid, I reasoned that maybe the mighty cryptid wasn’t a fan of surf and sun, and instead I found a patch of jungle and marched right into that. It was quite jungle-y, and full of bugs and trees and some lily pads, but unfortunately there were no flying reptiles. Stumbling out of the mighty jungle, however, and conveniently close to a rather nice beach bar, I did run across this canoe. Given the large gash in the side, I reasoned it could possibly have been the victim of a Kongamato attack, given their penchant for flipping over canoes.

Since the beach bar was so close to the potential evidence of the Kongamato attack, I reasoned it was probably a good place to sit and wait for the mighty aviator to return. Patiently I waited long enough to drink three beers, my responsible drinking limit. No Kongamato was sighted. I did, however, spot some birds. Given the elusive nature of the Kongamato, despite my utmost efforts in finding it, we must conclude that it is very endangered and has possibly suffered habitat loss. I therefore recommend the Kongamato be immediately added to the endangered species list. Thank you.

This week I went over to Luapula Province to participate in a rice workshop. This workshop was put on in conjuction with JICA, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency. Among other things, JICA promotes rice growing, so is delighted to come out and demonstrate rice techniques to Peace Corps volunteers and their Zambian counterparts. Travelling to Luapula was fun and it was my first time in the province. It looks a lot like Northern Province, but it is still cool to be able to look out across a river and see the DRC. The DRC looked a lot like Zambia. My part of the workshop was to teach techniques for integrating rice and fish. Unfortunately, my knowledg was all theoretical, but people seemed to enjoy it and I had done a good chunk of reading on the subject. Real-life examples are scarce because it is easier and usually more efficient to grow rice and fish seperately, but there are some advantages to growing them together. I am personally motivated to go try a test plot to see if I can make it work. The JICA rice demonstration was pretty interesting and it seems fairly simple to grow rice. JICA recommends the use of NERICA rice, which stands for “New Rice for Africa.” It is a hybrid of Asian varieties, which produce large yields, and African varieties, which are acclimated to the climate and diseases of Africa. Together, they produce a hardy rice suited for growing in areas where the land isn’t constantly inundated. In addition to rice, we learned about a variety of other topics, such as making charcoal from corn husks. Since maize is such a large crop, there are a large number of husks come harvest season. These are usually wasted, but can be converted into charcoal relatively. This requires a longer process than using charcoal made from wood (the corn husks are less dense than wood, and therefore need to be pounded and shaped into briquets to match the characteristics of wood charcoal), but are more environmentally friendly because they don’t require chopping down trees. Overall it was a really great workshop and I learned a lot along with the counterparts and other volunteers. I’m excited to get back up to Luapula to see more of the sights and learn more about rice.

Reading this week:

• Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut

This weekend I took a trip to Mpulungu. Mostly I just wanted to see it, because it is relatively near me, and also I was looking for the SS Good News. I decided to bike to Mpulungu and that wasn’t too bad. From Mbala it is downhill and I managed to get to Mpulungu in a little over two hours.

Upon arriving the first thing I did was bike around to get the lay of the land. I very quickly ran into Niamkolo Church. I guess it is pretty obvious what it is, being the only real tourist attraction of Mpulungu and looking pretty church-like, but there wasn’t even a sign. A small, nearby pillar has a plaque describing it, and that’s it. Niamkolo Church, by the way, was built by the London Missionary Society in 1895-6, and it was used until 1908 when the amount of sleeping sickness in the area prompted the society to move further inland. The church’s current claim to fame is that it is the oldest still standing stone structure in Zambia. It is cool to see and it doesn’t really take long to take it all in; there are some walls and a belltower but no roof. Some thorny branches in the doorways made it clear people would rather you didn’t go in there.

After checking the church out I went to take a look at the harbor. Mostly, I like looking at harbors, but also my dream here was to find a sailboat and then I would make friends with the owners. Alas, no sailboat, which wasn’t really a surprise. I was kinda surprised by the overall dearth of boats, but maybe the fishing fleet was out on the lake. The lake is pretty beautiful. It quickly disappears over the horizon, which isn’t surprising, because it is the longest lake in the world. Second oldest and second deepest, too. In the evening, I did eventually stumble across two small fishing boats that had a mast and sails made of mealie meal sacks. I’m not sure what kind of performance they get out of those sails.

After getting some nshima for lunch, I head out for the real object of my quest: to find the SS Good News. This boat was the first steamship launched on Lake Tanganyika and was built by the London Missionary Society, of Niamkolo Church fame like I just mentioned. This boat is apparently up on blocks now as a monument, but the location is hard to pin down for lack of good information. A few different websites said it was at a particular GPS coordinate in the vicinity of Mpulugu, so I spent some time trying to get to the spot and find it. I was very nearly overcome with heat exhaustion and dehydration getting there and back, but I got to the spot. There was no boat. Wherever the SS Good News is, it is not at 8°46’0.01″S 31°7’59.98E. I did see some pretty views though.

After the SS Good News adventure, I found a lodge and settled in for the night. Having been here, I have to agree with what most of the tourist books say, that Mpulungu is only really worth visiting if you’re passing through. It’s nice, but unless you really want to see Niamkolo Church, there’s not much else to do.