The Kongamato, “overwhelmer of boats”, is a river-shutter of Kasempa District in northern Zambia. It is known from Kaonde folklore, and the Jiundu Swamp is one of its favorite haunts. The fact that the Jiundu has historically been a haven for thieves, murderers, and assorted lowlifes is probably relevant.
A kongamato is a kind of bird, or rather a lizard with the membranous wings of a bat. It has a wingspan of 4 to 7 feet across and lacks feathers, its body covered in skin. It is mostly red in color. The beak is armed with sharp teeth. Claims that the kongamato is a surviving pterosaur are best forgotten.
Kongamatos live downstream of river fords. There they cause the river to stop flowing and the water level to rise, overwhelming and tipping over canoes. Sometimes a canoe will slow down and come to a dead stop despite the paddler’s best efforts; this is because a kongamato has seized the boat from underneath the water.
Few people see a kongamato and live, and the kongamato itself is invulnerable and immortal, eating any projectile thrown at it and leaving no physical trace of itself behind. When it kills people it devours only the two little fingers, the two little toes, the earlobes, and the nostrils. That said, four deaths attributed to the kongamato in 1911 did not record any such mutilation; more likely, then, that a kongamato caused their deaths by the flooding of the Mutanda River near Lufumatunga.
To ward off kongamato attack, the charm known as muchi wa kongamato is used. This consists of mulendi tree root ground and mixed with water. The resulting paste is placed in a bark cup. When crossing a dangerous ford, the mixture is sprinkled onto the water using a bundle of mulendi bark strips. This wards off the kongamato and its floods.
References
Melland, F. H. (1923) In Witch-bound Africa. J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia.
A Book of Creatures 
This is by far the best interpretation i’ve ever seen. It manages to be both magnificent and bizzare. Well done!
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It looks like a Sc-Fi monster of the 60’s
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Far out, dude.
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I just really like today’s drawing. I don’t have anything sparkling to add; this picture is just so much fun and I wanted to say that out loud.
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Aaa thank you! I thought I’d take the opposite tack from the boring “outdated 50s grey flying umbrella” that pterosaur cryptids seem to be saddled with.
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not my earlobes
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Je connaissais le Kongamato (et la plupart des “dinosaure vivants” d’Afrique) mais j’ignorait qu’il était invulnérable et immortel !
Je le voyait comme un petit ptérosaure, destructeur de bateaux et je me rend compte que j’ai encore beaucoup a apprendre de ce que je crois connaître.
Et je voulais aussi vous dire à tel point je trouve votre illustration magnifique ! 🙂
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Aah merci! C’est plutot un dragon-poisson qui représente les dangers du fleuve. Avec un peu de pastenague ou d’uranoscope dans l’image, j’adore ces poissons bizarroïdes!
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If all the creatures in this blog existed, no one would ever have to worry about human overpopulation.
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I love your illustration — what a wacky, wonderful creature! I’m a bit puzzled, though, that an underwater creature would have bat wings. I guess it’s no odder than eating nostrils, though. =)
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It’s like a ray!
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Looks kind of like a more aquatic Ridley.
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