Lake Kashiba

Copperbelt · Zambia · Natural site

The sacred 'sunken lake' of Kashiba is said never to give back its drowned – the ichitapa spirit seizes their shadows and drags them into the deep.

Lake Kashiba near Mpongwe is a so-called sunken lake, a sheer-sided hole in the limestone filled with mirror-still water. To the Lima and Lamba people the lake is sacred, and by tradition no one may fish in it. Legend holds that whoever drowns here never surfaces – in the depths lurks the ichitapa spirit, which seizes people's shadows so that they are paralysed and pulled under. It was also once said that objects thrown into the water would be found the next morning laid out on the rocks of the eastern shore, returned by the spirits.

FAQ

Where is Lake Kashiba located?

Lake Kashiba is in Copperbelt, Zambia.