| Home | > | List of locations | > | Shiwa Ng'andu |
Quarter degree square: 1032C1 Country: Zambia Habitat: There are numerous broad and very wet dambos, some riparian forest and thickets, bracken-briar and several patches of tall mushitu. There are also some small patches of Afromontane forest. Altitude range: 1460-1760m Annual rainfall: 951-1150 mm Location (short): Northern Province Location (detailed): National Park No. I9, 2020 sq km., situated in Kaputa and Mbala Districts. An unusual but well known private estate with its roots in Zambia's colonial past. At its heart is an enormous manor house around which has grown a thriving community with its own school, post office and clinic. There is also a sizeable lake and a dramatic mountainous backdrop. |
The name of the estate derives from the lake, known as Ishiba Ng'andu, which translates as 'lake of the royal crocodile'. It is a natural waterbody and thus a somewhat rare plateau habitat with fringing reedbeds and papyrus swamp. Elsewhere the terrain is dominated by miombo of various formations. On the rocky hills it It lies at submontane levels and as a result the climate is relatively cool and the rainfall high. On the rocky hills it is somewhat stunted and in other areas it has been invaded by exotic species and Eucalyptus in particular. There are numerous broad and very wet dambos, some riparian forest and thickets, bracken-briar and several patches of tall mushitu, Interestingly, there are also some small patches of Afromontane forest comprising trees such as Croton macrostachyus, Ficalhoa laurifolia, Olea capensis, Podocarpus latifolius and Polyscias fulva (Dowsett-Lemaire in Dowsett et al.). The soils are poor. There are rich wetland, hill and gorge floras. The cycad Encephalartos schmitzii occurs in the hills and it is one of the few localities in Zambia from which the montane Ocotea usumbariensis is known.
View a list of records for Shiwa Ng'andu
View a list of recorders who have visited this location
| Home | > | List of locations | > | Shiwa Ng'andu |