Lake Mweru

Lake Mweru lies along Zambia's northern border, a shallow lake around a hundred and thirty kilometres long fed by the Luapula river and draining north, with fishing villages strung along the Zambian shore and Kilwa Island a short way offshore. The fishery is the economy: nets, dugouts and the drying and smoking racks that send fish south. Sunsets across the open water are the thing visitors remember, and the shore has stretches of sand.

The landscape

• The open water - a shallow lake around a hundred and thirty kilometres long.
• The fishing villages - dugouts, nets and drying racks along the shore.
• Kilwa Island - the inhabited island a short way offshore.
• The sunsets - the light across the water from the Zambian shore.

When to go

May to September is dry with calmer water. The rains bring storms and rough conditions. Fishing bans apply in some months.

Practical notes

Facilities on the Zambian shore are very basic. Bilharzia and crocodiles make swimming risky. The roads in Luapula are slow and rough.

Nearby

Ntumbachushi Falls is south, and Nsumbu is east on Lake Tanganyika.