the zambian rivers series, part twelve: the kabompo river
the kabompo river rises in the high plateau country of mwinilunga district in northwestern province — the same district that contains the ikelenge heritage site, the nationally protected source of the zambezi itself. the kabompo's source is within a few tens of kilometres of the zambezi's source — both rivers beginning in the same broad, flat, poorly drained plateau at approximately 1,400 metres above sea level.
from its source, the kabompo flows generally south and east through northwestern province, through the miombo woodland and the dambos of the plateau country, collecting drainage from a large catchment area that includes the mwinilunga highlands — one of the wettest parts of zambia, consistently exceeding 1,200 millimetres of annual rainfall — before joining the zambezi river north of lukulu in western province. approximately 550 kilometres in length.
the kabompo flows through the territory of the luvale people — whose likumbi lya mize ceremony and makishi masquerade traditions the kingdoms series described. the upper kabompo is luvale country. the lower kabompo is the borderland between the luvale and the lozi whose relationship to the upper zambezi has shaped their political and cultural life for centuries.
the west lunga national park — at the confluence of the west lunga and kabompo rivers in northwestern province — is one of zambia's most remote protected areas. home to a population of chimpanzees, one of the few areas in zambia where chimpanzees occur, as well as forest wildlife associated with the gallery forest along the river courses. the park's inaccessibility has protected its wildlife from hunting pressure that has affected more accessible areas.
the kabompo is not famous. it does not appear in most travel itineraries. it does not have a waterfall in international wildlife documentaries or a national park in safari brochures. what it has is something the rivers series has been arguing is itself extraordinary — a major zambian river flowing largely free, largely undammed, largely unmodified through some of the most remote and most botanically rich landscape in the country.
kabompo town sits on the river's banks. a small town in a remote province, connected to lusaka by a road that is passable in the dry season and challenging in the wet. the kabompo river flows past it on its way to the zambezi, carrying the water of the northwestern plateau toward the south and west, toward the barotse floodplain, toward kariba, toward the sea.
in zambia, everything connects through the river. 🌊