Kuomboka Ceremony, Zambia

This famous spectacle takes place annually on the Barotse Floodplains at the end of March.

The name Ku-omboka means "to get out of the water onto dry ground". Every year towards the end of the rainy season as the flood plain of the upper Zambezi valley rises, the Lozi King makes a ceremonial move to higher ground. The drums reverberate as a signal to his people who pack their belongings into Mokoro’s and canoes and the whole tribe leaves their "dry season" home en mass.

The chief in his barge with his family and a hundred strong troop of traditionally dressed, hand picked paddlers take the lead. It takes about six hours to cover the distance between the dry season capital Lealui, and the wet season capital Limulunga. There the successful move is celebrated with traditional singing and dancing.

This ceremony dates back more than 300 years when the Lozi people broke away from the great Lunda Empire to settle in the upper regions of the Zambezi. The vast plains with abundant fish were ideal for settlement but the annual floods could not be checked, so each year they move to higher ground until the rainy season passes.