Livingstone's crossing of Africa (Luanda to Quelimane)
Travesía de África de Livingstone (de Luanda a Quelimane)
- Date
- 1853-1856 · confidence high
- Place
- Quelimane, Zambezia, Mozambique
- Credited to
- David Livingstone and the Makololo
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
A journey from the upper Zambezi to Luanda and then down the river's course to its mouth on the Indian Ocean, which mapped the Zambezi and found Victoria Falls. He crossed Africa from coast to coast, west to east.
The pombeiros Pedro João Baptista and Amaro José had crossed Africa between Angola and Mozambique in 1802-1811, so Livingstone is the first European to describe it scientifically, not the first to cross it. He was helped by Makololo guides.
What it led to
- map of the Zambezi's course and the southern interior
- campaigns for missions and commerce, and against the slave trade