The Sleeping Pool of Chinhoyi
In Zimbabwe, a cave holds a pool of impossibly blue water. People say that if you throw a stone at it from the rim, you can't hit the water.
What was reported
The Chinhoyi Caves are a system of limestone caverns in northern Zimbabwe. At their heart is the Sleeping Pool, a deep, clear pool of cobalt-blue water at the bottom of a collapsed cave, open to the sky. Its Shona name is often translated as 'Pool of the Fallen'.
A local saying claims that a stone thrown from the top will never reach the water, and the pool was long thought bottomless. Its blue never changes, and divers have found passages running off into the dark.
Explanations offered
The stone story comes from an illusion: the clear water and steep walls make it very hard to judge the distance, so the water looks closer than it is. Divers have found it to be more than 80 metres deep. The colour comes from the clarity of the water and the light falling into it.
- When
- Told for generations
- Where
- Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe
- Witnesses
- Local people and visitors
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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