#mbala

Mbala Tomb of Annihilation

Mbala's Pterafolk Nest

Tomb of Annihilation

zambia's most northerly city: mbala sits at approximately 1,700 metres above sea level on a plateau overlooking lake tanganyika — zambia's most northerly large town, 1,071km by road from lusaka. mbala district is the oldest district in zambia, first established as the tanganyika district in 1890.

the name: abercorn during colonial rule — named after the duke of abercorn, first chairman of the british south africa company. renamed mbala in 1968, derived from the imbala — a spotted bushbuck commonly found around lake chila. abercorn was a company chairman's title. mbala is the animal that lived here.

the founding and the slave routes: the original boma was established on the banks of the lucheche river specifically for its suitability for checking slave routes to the east. the slave trade had ravaged the region throughout the 19th century. the stevenson road (1883) — linking lake tanganyika to lake nyasa — was built as a porterage route for anti-slavery patrols. mbala sat at its northern terminus.

the first airport in central africa: the airfield at mbala — now samora machel international airport — was originally built by the african lakes company, opened in 1885. believed to be the first airport in central africa.

the golf course with the slave holding room: the golf course adjacent to lake chila is built on a site that, during the slave trade, functioned as an underground holding room for slaves being transported to the east coast through lake tanganyika.

the WWI connection: von lettow-vorbeck formally surrendered at mbala on 25 november 1918 — nine days after the ceasefire at the chambeshi river. the formal surrender at abercorn/mbala was the final act of the last campaign of the first world war.

kalambo falls: 25km from mbala, the second highest uninterrupted waterfall in africa at 221 metres. in 2023, excavations produced the world's oldest known wooden structure — a log platform dated to at least 476,000 years ago, predating the emergence of homo sapiens.

mbala is small, quiet, and extraordinarily old.

It is worth remembering that the 2 minutes silence acknowledged around the world was in fact begun in Africa. The practice of the Remembrance Sunday silence originates in Cape Town, South Africa, where there was a two-minute silence initiated by the daily firing of the noon day gun on Signal Hill for a full year from 14 May 1918 to 14 May 1919, known as the Two Minute Silent Pause of…

By Yohane Mbeeya Moono Mbala is located in the North-East of Modern day Zambia. The town which is about 167 Kilometers North of the Provincial Capital Kasama will forever be etched in the history of Zambia and the World at large in the context of the 20th Century global catastrophe the First World War. From an African historical perspective, the town is home to the Kalambo Falls. This is the…