Ntumbachushi Falls (also spelled ''Ntumbacusi'' and ''Ntumbacushi'') are situated on the Ngona River in

Luapula Province Luapula Province is one of Zambia's ten provinces located in the northern part of the country. Luapula Province is named after the Luapula River and its capital is Mansa. As per the 2010 Zambian census, the Province had a population of 991,92 ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

where it runs over the edge of the northern Zambian plateau into the valley of the

Luapula River The Luapula River is a section of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. It is a transnational river forming for nearly all its length part of the border between Zambia and the DR Congo. It joins Lake Bangweulu (wholly in Zambia) to Lake Mwe ...

. The main falls occur where the river splits into two channels to form two parallel waterfalls each about 10 m wide with a drop of about 30 m, and separated by a distance of 50 m. A small patch of relict rainforest grows in the spray from the falls. During and immediately after the rainy season, November to April, the water coming over the edge may have a depth of up to 1 m, but in the later dry season the flow may reduce to a produce a 'bridalveil' effect. Ntumbachushi is notable not just for the main falls, however, but for a series of smaller falls and pools stretching for a distance of more than 2 km above the main falls, in a landscape described by many as among the most beautiful in central Africa, with unusual vegetation, rocky outcrops and views over the Luapula valley. The water of the Ngona is filtered by the

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

(locally called dambos) out of which it drains and is exceptionally clear, affording safe river swimming considered by many visitors to be the best in Zambia. The falls are 22 km from

Mbereshi Mbereshi (also spelled and pronounced Mbeleshi) is a village in the Luapula Province of Zambia, named after the Mbereshi River on its north side. It is the site of a large mission founded in 1900 by the London Missionary Society. In 1915 the missio ...

on the tarred

Kawambwa Kawambwa is a town in the Zambian province of Luapula located on thedge of the northern Zambian plateau above the Luapula valley at an altitude of 1300 m. It was chosen as an administrative district of the same name by the British colonial author ...

road and are reached via a 1 km spur which turns off at the bottom of the

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

and approaches the bottom of the main falls. A steep path 20 m on the north side of the main falls leads up and over the rocky cliff and continues for 0.5 km to a place nicknamed 'the beauty spot' consisting of two pools below a falls of about 6 m high and 25 m wide in two sections. Above the main falls there are two further falls with a drop exceeding 5 m. There are two shrines close to the main falls where local traditional leaders and healers perform rituals.

References

#Zambia National Tourist Board http://www.zambiatourism.com/ #"Zambia: Push - Making Tourism Work for Local Communities in Northern Circuit" ''The Times of Zambia'' (Ndola) January 16, 2007 {{coord, 9, 51, 14, S, 28, 56, 39, E, region:ZM_type:waterbody_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Waterfalls of Zambia Segmented waterfalls Geography of Luapula Province Tourist attractions in Luapula Province