Lake Mai-Ndombe

Lake Mai-Ndombe is a large, shallow lake in the western Congo basin, lying in a country of low forest, channels and seasonal flooding. Villages stood on the higher ground along its shores, and their people fished with nets and traps, grew cassava and plantains on the drier ground, and used canoes to reach neighbouring settlements. Water levels rose and fell with the rains, changing the extent of the lake and the land that could be farmed around it.