Samfya

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Samfya is a town located in the Zambian province of Luapula, and an administrative district. The town is located on the south-western shore of Lake Bangweulu, on the longest stretch of well-defined shore of that lake (the northern, eastern and southern margins of which are marshy). Samfya has a few guesthouses and a number of white sandy beaches which are used for recreation, although the lake does have crocodiles.

In addition to local government offices and branches of national agencies, Samfya is a commercial and fishing centre, as well a centre for transport by boat to islands and other areas of the lake. Its hinterland includes farms and some timber plantations.

The Kwanga Festival of the Njumba people is held in Samfya in October.

[edit] Samfya District

Most of Samfya District is lake, swamp of floodplain. It covers Lake Bangweulu and the Bangweulu swamps, except for the north-east corner which lies in Chilubi District of Northern Province. The only extensive dry land is along its western edge where it borders Milenge and Mansa Districts. There are numerous inhabited islands in the lake and swamps, as well as peninsulas almost entirely surrounded by water, such as the Twingi peninsula.

[edit] Roads

Samfya is on a tarred road opened in 1983 to link the Luapula Province to the Great North Road at Serenje. This includes the longest bridge in Zambia, the Luapula Bridge in the far south-east corner of the district near where four districts meet: Samfya, Mpika, Serenje and the Congo Pedicle, part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Gravel roads also connect Samfya to Twingi, Kapalala, and Lubwe.