Zambezi. Journey of a river

Wonderfully written impressions and stories of a journey along the Zambezi River.
Main, Mike
zambezi-journey-of-a-river
978-1-86812-257-8
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24,00 € *

Title: Zambezi
Subtitle: Journey of a river
Author: Michael Main
Southern Book Publishers
Halfaway House, 1998
ISBN 1868122573 / ISBN 1-86812-257-3
ISBN 9781868122578 / ISBN 978-1-86812-257-8
Hardcover, dustjacket, 17 x 25 cm, 313 pages, many colour photos and maps

Description:

Zambezi: Journey of a River presents a fascinating potpourri of excitement and adventure, containing a wealth of carefully researched anecdotes and stories: stories of powerful African kingdoms and colourful tribal ceremonies, missionaries and martyrs, bloodshed and savagery, colonial disputes, staves, cannibals and concubines, crackpots and criminals, explores and pioneers: stories of the fabled gold mines of Mwene Mutapa, lost silver mines of great wealth, an iron god and strange two-toed people. But the story of the Zambezi is not only the story of man. The river is rich in natural history. It is home to such curiosities as the dugong, catfish that electrocute their prey, frog-eating bats, snakes with two heads, turtles whose sex is determined by temperature, and migratory eels that have mysteriously mastered the man-made obstacles of Kariba and Cahora Bassato colonise the river beyond. Michael Main follows the ancient course of the Zambezi from its quiet birthplace in north-western Zambia through shallow valleys and flood plains, wild and savage gorges, stupendous waterfalls and rapids, two major hydroelectric schemes, the spectacular Zambezi Valley and finally through the ancient Zambezi delta to the Indian Ocean. It is a journey of thousands of kilometres, through four countries. It is an odyssey that leaves one awe-struck, humbled and, above all, anxious for the future of the savage and beautiful river.

Content: Zambezi. Journey of a river

Preface
The Great African Divide
Where the Zambezi is born. Geology and geomorphology
A River Kingdom
The Lozi people and their Kuomboka ceremony
In the Name of the Father
David Livingstone: from missionary to explorer
Early Zambezi missionaries and the price they paid
Count Caprivi's Folly
Caprivi's place in the pages of romance and history
Where Angels Gaze
Victoria Falls and pioneer times in their vicinity
Stone and Iron
Early man on the Zambezi
Beads, Bangles and Barter
Early trade and its development
Kariba
The lake, 30 years on
Matters Aquatic
Aquatic weeds and fish
Gnat Chat
Insects, parasites and diseases that plague life on the river
A Bird in the Bush
Trees and birds of the Zambezi
The Zambezi Menagerie
Some mammals and reptiles of the Zambezi
Great Zambezi Myths
The Mwene Mutapa empire, the Zambezi's iron god and the two-toed people
Woollen Hats and Brass Potties
The first Portuguese centuries in Mozambique
Cannibals and Concubines
The Portuguese from the 17th century to recent times