The Kalambo River forms part of the border between Zambia and Tanzania. It is a comparatively small stream which rises in the highlands north-east of Mbala at an elevation of about 1800 m and descends into the Albertine Rift, entering the southeastern end of Lake Tanganyika at an elevation of about 770 m, in a straight line distance of only about 50 km. This accounts for its main claim to fame, its waterfall, Kalambo Falls, which is Africa's second highest (after South Africa's Tugela Falls).