Crossing Africa
David Livingstone · 1853 CE – 1856 CE · Earth
Cross Africa from coast to coast.
Historical context
Central Africa remained a blank on European maps while its peoples suffered under the slave trade. Livingstone crossed the continent on foot, and his fame helped turn exploration into a moral crusade.
The voyage, step by step
From the Atlantic coast
1853 CE
Livingstone sets out east from Luanda to cross the continent.
Following the Zambezi
1854 CE
He follows the great river and its peoples toward the east.
Victoria Falls
1855 CE
He becomes the first European to see the falls he names for his queen.
The Indian Ocean
1856 CE
He reaches the east coast, completing a crossing of Africa on foot.
Outcome
Reached the Indian Ocean after following the Zambezi.
David Livingstone
Scottish missionary and explorer whose travels in central Africa mapped the Zambezi and searched for the Nile’s source.
Sources
Continue exploring
- Six years in the Sahara and the SudanHeinrich Barth · 1849 CE – 1855 CE
- Search for the Nile sourceRichard Francis Burton · 1857 CE – 1859 CE
- Victorian Exploring ExpeditionBurke and Wills · 1860 CE – 1861 CE
- The source of the Nile with GrantJohn Hanning Speke · 1860 CE – 1863 CE