S hiwa Ngandu
I
n the spring of 1914, a young British army officer gazed in awe upon one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen—a magnificent lake, inhabited by crocodiles and surrounded by field and forest where wildlife roamed wild and free. The Bemba name for the lake was Ishiba Ng’andu – The Lake of the Royal Crocodile. He decided there and then to return to build his dream home in this remote area of what was then Northern Rhodesia, a Brit-
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TRAVEL & LEISURE ZAMBIA
ish protectorate. And he did. His name was Stewart Gore-Browne and he called his mansion Shiwa Ng’andu.
Gore-Browne returned to Northern Rhodesia in 1920 after World War 1 and construction work began, funded largely by his aunt, Ethel Locke King, to whom he was devoted, and her husband Hugh. We learn of Gore-Browne’s plans and hopes through his frequent letters to Ethel, his muse and mainstay.
However, he was not to remain alone. He brought to Shiwa a young wife, Lorna, whom he had married in England in 1927, the daughter of the real love of his life, Lorna Bosworth Smith. Lorna the Second gave him two daughters, Lorna and Angela. Lorna married John Harvey and they had four children, one of whom, Charlie, together with his wife Jo, now own and run Shiwa. Sadly, the marriage between Charlie’s grandfather and Lorna did not last and they eventually
