"The Lost Forbidden Pit of Africa" Monster

Here's a story I just found today about a dinosaur type monster that lived near a swamp in Africa. An explorer in the early 20th century claimed the natives believed that it lived in a giant sinkhole and they were forbidden to visit it. It lived in a pit but would come out to the swampland near by as well. With all the clues offered in a story that I can actually believe, I think I know just about where this "lost" pit actually was.

Here is a quote form the website . . .

In the early 1920s, several news publications of the time shed light on a curious location in Africa, . . . It was reported that in what was referred to as North Rhodesia, there was a mysterious pit in the ground measuring at least a hundred feet wide that the native Mashona and Matabele people of the area shunned, a place only known as The Forbidden Pit.

It was said that the pit was home to some horrific, reptilian beast that would emerge to terrify the local tribes. Apparently somewhat like a dinosaur in appearance, the creature’s appetite was said to be ravenous, and that it would ferociously hunt and kill whatever it could catch, including human beings.

mysteriousuniverse.org...

The story was covered by a newspaper called the "New Zealand Guardian" in their October 17, 1925, issue. You can find the original source article called, "Mystery of Big Hole" "Pit in Darkest Africa" at this link.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz...


Now where is this mysterious place in Africa with the forbidden pit? Here are all the clues I have found.

Firstly, the country said to have this pit was referred to as North Rhodesia, now present day Zambia.

The tribes in the area stated in the article were, The Mashona or Shona of Zimbabwe and Matabele of Rhodesia, and the Ila, who seemed to live the closest to this pit and the monster that lived there.

One tribe, the Ila, had allegedly become so distressed by the horror from the pit that a group of tribesmen were tied together and flung into the craggy black hole as a sacrifice in an attempt to appease the monster that lurked within.

The Ba-Ila tribe, inhabited the Kafue river valley in Zambia during the 1920s. The Kafue river is feed by the huge Lukanga Swamp, a primordial area indeed.

The following quote is from wikipedia . . .

The Lukanga Swamp . . . It then again develops intricate meanders and a maze of channels in a swampy floodplain, with oxbow lakes and lagoons. It flows 20 km west of the permanent part of the Lukanga Swamp which fills a circular depression, and which drains through a channel into the Kafue.

Also, the upper reaches of the Kafure river is a limestone karst area with numerous caves, under ground rivers and sinkholes. So many sinkholes that to this day they have a big problem with them.

So if some cave divers in Zambia, diving a sinkhole near the Kafue, fed by an underground river, find the bound bodies of human sacrifice victims, then they had better keep an eye out for the monster they were meant to feed.

This all leaves one to wonder, just what in the world was the Forbidden Pit of Africa? If these reports are to be believed, then is it still out there hidden away from the world in some remote place in Africa? We may never know. It seems that whatever these reports were describing, this monster infested pit is a place that has faded into a mere forgotten historical news curiosity.

I think it is still there, I know where the area is, and this sinkhole is probably known by both tourists and guides who may have even heard the story. IMO, if the author of this article would have dug just a little harder he never would have made that final statement at the end.

google map it? Should show up somewhere unless its covered by something.

I love old legends and myths like this...

a reply to: rockpaperhammock

The article says its only 100 feet across, and it is a jungle with lots of sinkholes, so I doubt that Google earth would work. A tourist guide or geological survey report may have it though.

Wow, very interesting indeed. It sounds like this is different from the Mkolo Mbembe (hope that's right) the mythical sauropod of the Congo.

Pretty interesting thread. I wonder if the creature would still be alive. I am sure it would attract some big game hunters in the thirties, some with bazookas. There was no one to protect that creature, no laws against shooting an endangered species back then. I bet it was a great hunt for someone. It's head is probably hanging on some rich guys wall along with one of those ancient biped creatures from Tibet that the German high military put into extinction.

Looks like I might be getting closer with these links.

UPPER KAFUE RIVER SYSTEM North of Lusaka close to Mpongwe, the Kafue River flows past Lake Kashiba, in the Machiya-Fungulwe Game Management area, on its way south towards the Kafue National Park. This lake is an interesting sink hole and Imanda Mu#u is located a few kilometres away.

bedrockafrica.wordpress.com...

Here the Kafue River flows past Lake Kashiba, in the Machiya-Fungulwe Game Management area, on its way south towards the Kafue National Park. This lake is an interesting sink hole and Imanda Mu#u is located a few kilometres away.

www.tanzaniabirding.com...

Kafue River Generally speaking, Zambia was not on the typical tourist track, so there were not many traps to worry about. I never thought that Lusaka had much to offer - get out and see the rest of the country. There were some deep sinkholes near Luanshya that we used to go out to on the weekend and jump in for a good swim!

www.virtualtourist.com...

Similarly, Lake Kariba, the world's largest artificial lake, is on the Zambezi river along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Lake Kashiba is one of a number of small and deep lakes in the Ndola district, formed as limestone sinkholes. It is said to contain a monster called Ichitapa or Isoka Ikulu which catches the shadow of anyone careless enough to let their shadow fall on the water surface, causing them to fall into the water and drown.

www.funtrivia.com...

ETA: Here is the wikipedia link for a reference to the Ichitapa monster

en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Here's a possible explanation. The largest crocodile found in Lake Kariba



xtremesport4u.com...

It would certainly explain the danger of letting your shadow fall onto the water. This critter could probably feel the vibrations of footsteps and the change in light.

a reply to: stormcell

Bravo Stormcell!

I may have found the lost pit and you may have just found the actual monster itself!

This is how ATS is supposed to work. I'm glad I started this thread and got such good replies.

Thanks everyone.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

You'd think the locals would know if it was just an extremely large version of a reptile common to that part though.

Usually people will recognize something as a species already known such as describing a giant squid as a "giant" squid...etc.

From this it sounds like whatever it was seemed like a different and unique beast altogether instead of them just saying "giant" croc or whatever. Maybe not.

Either way this whole topic is interesting, thanks for sharing.

originally posted by: rockpaperhammock
google map it? Should show up somewhere unless its covered by something.

I love old legends and myths like this...

Here you go RockPaperHammock, the Google map of the Lost Forbidden Pit of Africa . . .

Crap, bad link. You'll just have to Google it yourself. Sorry.

Try this one - www.google.com...

a reply to: stormcell

I just noticed you have your monster croc in Lake Kariba, the largest man made lake, not from Lake Kashiba, a small swimming hole in comparison.

With its dimension of 800 metres in length it has a depth of 100 metres on the sides. However, the depth at the center of the lake is unknown. For this reason Lake Kashiba is the scuba diving ultimate challenge.

www.zambia-the-african-safari.com...

ancient biped creatures from Tibet that the German high military put into extinction

I must hear more about this!! Any links?

Here are some things directly from the articles that would help. Both articles were nearly identical by the way.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19151, 17 October 1925, Page 2 Mystery of Big Hole. Pit in Darkest Africa.

'. . . and peered into the depths in which water from some underground river has risen not to within forty feet of the top.'

'. . . an animal like a monstrous hippopotamus, but many times larger, which swirled away as he looked but left behind it the traces of its crawling limbs like ruts of wagon wheels.'

ETA: Judging by online pictures of the cliffs and tree line, it looks about a 40 foot drop.

Here is the link to the second paper's article.

paperspast.natlib.govt.nz...

a reply to: CB328

I might have a link for Nazi biped creatures from Tibet, if that is what I was actually talking about.

But, No I got pit monster from darkest Africa instead.

originally posted by: OrphanApology
a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

You'd think the locals would know if it was just an extremely large version of a reptile common to that part though.

Usually people will recognize something as a species already known such as describing a giant squid as a "giant" squid...etc.

From this it sounds like whatever it was seemed like a different and unique beast altogether instead of them just saying "giant" croc or whatever. Maybe not.

Either way this whole topic is interesting, thanks for sharing.

'. . . an animal like a monstrous hippopotamus, but many times larger, which swirled away as he looked but left behind it the traces of its crawling limbs like ruts of wagon wheels.

Yeah, that sure doesn't sound like a croc to me either.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

I thought, maybe a Prorastomus or derivative that survived somehow(since they were water bound)they were herbivores.

Hippos are also mostly herbivores so that eliminates a giant hippo.

Do you know of anything that looks like a hippo but eats meat like a fat man at a BBQ competition?

Mokele Mbembe???

That's a sauron type cryptid in Africa.

Got a few relevant bits and pieces for you here. Number one, a very similar story to yours, but located in Burkina Faso, not Zambia. Check it out here and here. If there's anywhere out there that might host something like this, it's Africa.

Two, there's another related story, but out of Arkansas of all places. They call it the "gow-row" of Devil's Hole, and most likely it's just a bit of colourful local folklore.

Three, I can think of two other mystery holes that are very interesting, albeit not very related to the African reptile monsters. The first is the saga of "Mel's Hole," which isn't nearly as filthy as it sounds. The short version is that in 1997, a man going by the name Mel Waters called in to Art Bell's Coast To Coast AM show, talking about a bottomless pit supposedly found on his property. The story goes on to talk about anomalous animals and objects showing up, as well as the requisite conspiracy allegations and black-suited men from the Government. You can read a horribly formatted write-up of it and the related calls here, or just run a quick Google for it.

The other is the well at Houska Castle, in the Czech Republic. Legend has it that the castle was built over a "hole to hell," from which strange beings and general unexplained phenomena would spew. One of the folk tales surrounding it says that a man sentenced to death was offered a pardon if he would agree to be lowered into the hole on a rope. He consented, and as soon as he was lowered out of sight, started screaming. They pulled him back up, to find his hair had turned white from shock and he'd apparently been aged enormously, as well as being completely mad. In all probability, it's just another story. But nobody disputes that Houska Castle is in a strategically useless location...and as the story goes, its defences were originally built facing inwards.

I just noticed another couple of interesting things about the original articles. There may be two monsters here.

Lewanki, the late chief of the Barotse, a very intelligent man, more than once thold Mr. Worthington that near marshes about the Forbidden Pit he had seen an animal like a monstrous hippopotamus, but many times larger.

Where are these marshes and how far are they from this pit?

Also, the following.

A visit has lately been made to the pit by a friend of Mr. Worthington, who was Native Commissioner there. He found the strange pit, though it was hard to get a native guide to take him there, and peered into the depths . . .

So the person who saw the pit was a friend of Mr. Worthington, not as it was stated in the first article I read that started this thing.

Note that this friend found it hard to get a native guide to take him there and once there he peered into the water, no monsters came and got him. It is probable that the guide took him far enough for this friend to get there by himself and when he got there he made sure to peer into the water and basically prove there was no monster in there. This may be the monster called Ichitapa or Isoka Ikulu that drowns you, not the one that stomps through the swamp somewhere else in the area.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

So if some cave divers in Zambia, diving a sinkhole near the Kafue, fed by an underground river, find the bound bodies of human sacrifice victims, then they had better keep an eye out for the monster they were meant to feed.

Interesting story, but the fact that bound bodies meant for sacrifice were indeed discovered, shows that the ravenous monster is not actually there, or is there no longer. If it were, they would not have found intact and bound bodies, only scraps and the odd gnawed bone or two.

I would imagine that the monster is a folk story, deliberately invented by the people of the area, as a kind of 'bodeyman' character to stop children and adventurer types from going too close to a dangerous area.

Perhaps the sinkholes open up and release dangerous or poisonous gases, or are just dangerous by their instability, but the myth was invented to keep local kids out of danger?