Mythical Creatures: Zambian Kongamato

Visitors to the wilds of Africa, beware! Lions and leopards are not the only large predators that may be prowling in the night. The kongamato is a large, pterosaur-like mythical winged creature said to live in semi-tropical regions of Africa, namely the Congo, Zambia, and Angola. The beast’s name, “kongamato,” is an indigenous term that translates roughly to “breaker of boats” or “overturner of boats” African tribal stories told tales of the creature attacking people on rivers and overturning their canoes, hence the name. Stories of the kongamato have traveled far beyond Africa, as some early European explorers to the region insisted they had been attacked by large winged beasts (though such explorers were never able to capture one of the beasts or obtain proof of their existence). Excited about the possibility of a dinosaur-like winged reptile flying along riverbanks in African jungles, Anderson Design Group poster artists hand-rendered a vintage-styled poster of what we think the kongamato might have looked like. This classic monster design and vintage poster art is available as a poster print, canvas, metal sign, mini-canvas, or as a notecard or postcard. To read a collection of kongamato sightings, check out the website Recount & Reveal.

Our gorgeous art prints are made-to-order on high-fidelity 9-color presses. Printed on gallery-grade archival paper, each work of art is hand-trimmed, rolled, and shipped in a protective tube. Each print features an original illustration by the talented, award-winning artists of Anderson Design Group.