The Kabompo Ferry is a

vehicle A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), ...

pontoon ferry at the Kabompo River near the village of Watopa, approx. 60 km east of the river mouth to

Zambezi River The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...

. The Kabompo River is dividing the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

North-Western Provinces The North-Western Provinces was an administrative region in British India. The North-Western Provinces were established in 1836, through merging the administrative divisions of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces. In 1858, the nawab-ruled kingdo ...

of Zambia. The ferry with a 25-tonne capacity serves the D557 road, a main north-south gravel road connection in western Zambia, from

Lukulu Lukulu is a market town in the Western Province of Zambia, on the Zambezi River, and headquarters of a district of the same name. Access to the town is limited to only a few graded roads with traffic running through it from Kaoma town to Watopa ...

Kaoma Kaoma was a French-Brazilian band formed in 1988 by Loalwa Braz (lead vocals), Chyco Dru (bass), Jacky Arconte (guitar), Jean-Claude Bonaventure (keyboard), Michel Abihssira (drums and percussion) and Fania (backing vocals). Dru is from Martini ...

and

Mongu Mongu is the capital of Western Province in Zambia and was the capital of the formerly-named province and historic state of Barotseland. Its population is 179,585 (2010 census), and it is also the headquarters of Mongu District. History Mongu ...

in Western Province to

Kabompo Kabompo is a town in north-western Zambia, lying on the Kabompo River with a population over 88,000 people. It is surrounded by teak forest and is home to a Roman Catholic mission. Its most significant activity is the production of honey. You als ...

, Zambezi town and

Mwinilunga Mwinilunga is a town in the North-Western Province of Zambia. It is the headquarters of Mwinilunga District, one of the province's eleven districts. Location The town lies on the west bank of the ''West Lunga River'', along the Chingola–Solw ...

in North-Western Province. If the ferry is not operating, the only alternative to reach the other bank is a detour of about 900 km via

Kasempa Kasempa Town is a developing small town located in North-Western Province, Zambia. It is approximately by road northwest of Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in souther ...

in the east. It is a manually powered

cable ferry A cable ferry (including the terms chain ferry, swing ferry, floating bridge, or punt) is a ferry that is guided (and in many cases propelled) across a river or large body of water by cables connected to both shores. Early cable ferries often ...

, propelled by pulling on the steel cables which anchor it to each bank of the 100 m wide river. The workers stand on the ferry and use wooden clubs to grasp the cable — each club has a groove cut in it which attaches to the cable and by moving the club like a paddle, half a dozen men can pull the pontoon across the river, This system is used on other pontoon ferries in Zambia such as the

Kafue Ferry Kafue is a town in the Lusaka Province of Zambia and it lies on the north bank of the Kafue River, after which it is named. It is the southern gateway to the central Zambian plateau on which Lusaka and the mining towns of Kabwe and the Copperbe ...

north of Chirundu and the

Chambeshi Ferry The Chambeshi (or Chambezi) River of northeastern Zambia is the most remote headstream of the Congo River (in length) and therefore it is considered the source of the Congo River. (However, by volume of water, the Lualaba River provides a greater ...

at Mbesuma. {{coord, 14.038409, S, 23.629588, E, region:ZM-01_type:city(14000), display=title

References

Denis Tweddle: "Surveys of the Upper Zambezi River system"
in ''Ichthos'', Newsletter of the Friends of the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Issue Number 74, June 2004. Kabompo River Ferries of Zambia