‘Nanyuma’

The Mother of Nyuma Baobab

 

‘Nanyuma’, (the mother of Nyuma) is the name given to this unhappy-looking baobab near the beautifully named village of Dungulungu.  This village is located at the foot of the remote Makutu Mountains in NE Zambia, in the shadow of a dramatic and windswept mountain called Mpala Usenga (‘The Tallest One’).   The story is that Lumpa Church followers rampaged through the area trying to force villagers to join their sect, killing the village headman in the process.   Some villagers fled and hid inside this baobab. Whilst they were in hiding, one of the young women gave birth to a child called Nyuma.   Ever since, the tree has been ‘The Mother of Nyuma’.