Zambezi the overflow of the Zambezi in the rainy season. The delta of the Zambezi is today about half as broad as it was before the construction of the Kariba and Cahora Bassa dams controlled the seasonal variations in the flow rate of the river. Before the dams were built seasonal flooding of the Zambezi had quite a different impact on the ecosystems of the delta from today as it brought nutritious fresh water down to the Indian Ocean coastal wetlands. The lower Zambezi experienced a small flood surge early in the dry season as rain in the Gwembe catchment and
Zambezi Zambezi river proper as the "Cuama River". Nonetheless, already in 1552, Portuguese chronicler João de Barros notes that the same Cuama river was called "Zembere" by the inland people of Monomatapa. The Portuguese Dominican friar João dos Santos, visiting Monomatapa in 1597, reported it as "Zambeze" (Bantu languages frequently shifts between z and r) and inquired into the origins of the name; he was told it was named after a people. Thus the term "Zambezi" is after a people who live by a great lake to the north. The most likely candidates are the "M'biza", or Bisa people (in older