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Guide To Little-Known Waterfalls Of Zambia
It has been said that if Zambia did not have the Victoria Falls, it
would be known for its other waterfalls – over 100 of them that I
know of.
Over the last few years, I have been visiting as many of these
waterfalls as possible, not for any other reason than to see them.
However, at some stage, this developed, together with Ilse and
Quentin, into research for a book which we were to publish. I am not
sure how or when this happened, but it did.
Visiting the various waterfalls entailed many hours of driving, and
this, more often than not, along some pretty awful roads. It also
entailed camping in some questionable places and it certainly
entailed walking vast distances over some difficult terrain (why
couldn’t they make waterfalls on level ground, with no rocks?) But
it also meant that we met lots of very interesting characters along
the way and it reinforced my belief that Zambians are the nicest and
most helpful people on this planet. We also got to see some of the
most beautiful parts of this country. we had lots of laughs along
the way – others slipping and sliding down rock faces, myself
slipping off a rock in the middle of the river at Chimpempe Rapids
and as my head disappeared under the water, Quentin only being
concerned about ‘save the cameras’ (would make a nice story
entitled ‘the falls of the north’, perhaps); the antics of the
younger people accompanying us jumping off the falls into the water,
6 or 7 metres below, Ilse again asking “how far is ‘not far’? One
hour? Two hours?” and Quentin’s silly song about Kabweluma Falls.
 The
three of us would go off, either singly or together or as part of
another group, visit the falls, take down all the information, take
photographs, Quentin would do his sketches. Ilse, in her usual
efficient way, took all the information off us and collated it and
got it into some sort of order. She would also come into my office
from time to time to collect copies of photographs or to have one of
Quentin’s sketches or maps scanned.
Earlier this year, she told us ‘June, that’s the date’. We all
agreed. During May, Ilse gave us all that she had done. In fact,
she had done it all – all that needed doing was checking the text, a
few photos or filler pictures to be scanned and inserted and then
conversion from Word to the appropriate format for the printers.
Here we called in Paul Golson who did all the conversions and all
the time Ilse was pulling her hair out at us telling her ‘don’t
worry, it’s easy’. And then it was handed to the printers and we
awaited the final outcome as many things could still go wrong..
Finally, it was ready and we all scanned the book to see what it
looked like.
Then came the problem of who was going to review it. I obviously
couldn’t do it but time was not with us – the deadline for putting
The Lowdown to bed was in less than 48 hours, so I decided on no
review, but rather an explanation of what is contains.
It is not a coffee table book but what we hope will be a 'working'
book that gives details of how to get to the different waterfalls,
what river they are on, what facilities (if any) are there, a brief
description of the waterfalls and the GPS reading. There are also a
few short trip reports, some maps to give the general area and
information on waterfall types, waterfall terms and waterfall
definitions. There are also sketches by Quentin Allen of many of the
falls. Most waterfalls described are accompanied by full colour
photographs although some of the photographs are old and taken in
the days prior to digital cameras.
Printed in A5 size (180 pages), so that it is easy to carry in your
pocket or in the cubbyhole of the car and covering over 140
waterfalls, we hope that it will become an essential travel
companion for those who want to get out and see the rest of Zambia’s
waterfalls.
The book will be available in major bookshops throughout the country
at a cost of K100,000. If your favourite bookshop does not have it
available, then do contact The Lowdown and we will ensure that they
get some in stock.
Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of the Miombo Woodlands
By Paul Smith and Quentin Allen
Review by Paul Golson
 The
Horrific Prolific Quentin Allen has been at it again; this time, in
conjunction with Paul Smith and Kew Gardens.
This is a very comprehensive, easy to read, well presented field
guide to the significant trees and shrubs in Zambia and the
surrounding countries. It is a clever combination of many of the
usual books that provide information on trees throughout the whole
of Southern Africa but concentrates on miombo woodland which covers
most of Zambia and Malawi. It provides vernacular names in the index
and lots of pictures of ground hornbills, which are not necessarily
fond of these particular shrubs and trees but are cleverly used for
scale.
Professionals, teachers and tree-huggers will definitely appreciate
this excellent field guide. However, if school children are to use
the book, there is no room for scribbles.
Each description contains ecology and uses, which may be of use to
witchdoctors and homeopaths
An excellent guide. |
August 2005