Chitapo (Lake Spirit)
Chitapo (also spelled Kitapo) is a female lake spirit from the mythology of the Lamba and Bemba people of Zambia. She resides at the bottom of lakes, where she hoards vast treasures of diamonds and emeralds. Chitapo is a malicious spirit who lures people to a watery grave, not unlike sirens and mermaids in European legends. She is sometimes described as a mermaid, with the upper body of an attractive woman and the lower body of a fish. However, this mermaid-like imagery may have resulted from conflation with the Funkwe, a giant water snake with the tail of a fish that is said to inhabit the sa