Today we are leaving Liwonde National Park behind and journeying north to Lake Malawi. But first, we ask if we can have a short game drive before breakfast.
Much to my disappointment, there are not many animals or birds out and about this morning.
The path winding its way amongst the Mopane Trees
Hippo on the airstrip
Grey Go Away Bird
Warthog
Rhino
Then our guide Danger gets very excited as he spots a rhino hiding in the undergrowth.
As this is a very rare sighting, we hang around for quite some time, hoping it will move. Eventually, after studying the animal very closely through the binoculars, Danger declares that he thinks that it is not a rhino as he first thought, but a buffalo. We drive closer to ascertain its species.
A buffalo identifying as a rhino
Helmeted Guineafowl
Impala
Tea Break
We stop at a suitable flat area overlooking Shire River to have a cup of tea and a biscuit.
Shire River
Danger making the teas and coffees
The sun is just rising
Breakfast
We return to Mvuu Lodge for breakfast earlier than we normally would, to give us a chance to leave at a reasonable time for today’s drive.
Breakfast overlooking the river
Granola, Yogurt, and Blueberry Jam. I follow this with two fried eggs and two sausages plus toast, but I forget to take a photo
During breakfast, we watch White Breasted Cormorants skim the surface of the river, hippos risking their eyes and nose above the water, and a couple of kingfishers doing what kingfishers do best: fishing.
White Breasted Cormorants
Hippos
Pied Kingfisher
It’s time to say goodbye to Liwonde National Park and head towards our next destination: Lake Malawi.
We're ready to roll
Jim stops the car a few times when he sees something interesting on the way to the gate
Livingstone's Flycatcher
Saddle Billed Stork
Python Vine - curls itself around other trees, always in an anticlockwise direction
Hippo highway
Sparrow weaver nests - always found on the north side of the tree, which helps anyone lost in the bush to navigate
ATM
Not far from the gate, we stop at a bank to get some local currency out of their ATM. David puts his card in the slot but is confused by the fact that the choices of amounts on the screen do not correspond to the amounts he was expecting (at ca 2500 kwacha to the pound, you’d expect to see amounts such as maybe 25,000 or 50,000 being available to withdraw, but the figures are in hundreds of thousands. It turns out that they do not add decimal points to the numbers). With Jim’s assistance, he tries to withdraw 300,000 (just over £10). The machine goes through all the motions (pin number etc.), and then finally a notice appears on the screen for him to “contact his bank”. The same thing happens with another card issued by another bank. Despite logging on to the app on his phone, David is unable to bypass these anti-fraud blocks, which I suppose is a good thing.
The only option left is queuing up inside the bank. The first teller he arrives at is unauthorised to process foreign transactions, so he has to line up again at another till. Finally, after showing his passport and giving them our accommodation address, he can walk away with the grand sum of just over £20 in local currency.
Picnic Lunch
At a suitable place along the road, we stop the car and Jim gets the picnic stuff out: table and chairs, tablecloth and a cool box with food prepared by Mvuu Lodge for us.
Chicken wrap (tasty and tender), fresh muffin, a bag of peanuts, an apple, and lychee juice
Gule Wamkulu
I see two people walking down the road dressed in some unusual outfits. Jim explains that these are men from a secret cult that is part of the Chewa society. They perform ritual dances at weddings, funerals, initiation ceremonies, and appointments of new village chiefs. These two appear to have come from the graveyard.
Lake Malawi National Park
The scenery here is very different, with huge boulders, different trees, and not as flat as the previous parks we have visited.
Public bus
Goat on bicycle
Chembe Village
Access to our lodge for the night is on a narrow track through the fishing village of Chembe.
Drying fish
Mending the fishing nets
Boys with their toys Africa style
Chembe Eagles Nest
The lodge is simple but more than adequate, with little cabins spread around the grounds just a stone's throw from the private beach.
Our cabin is the closest to the bar and restaurant
The inside is quite cramped with two single beds occupying most of the room
The secluded beach
The bar and open-air restaurant
The small swimming pool
We are the only people staying here tonight, and we make ourselves at home in the restaurant area, checking the internet and enjoying a Savanna Cider. It is hot and humid this afternoon, and quite cloudy.
View over Lake Malawi
Savanna Cider
Sunset
Despite the earlier clouds, or maybe as a result of those clouds, there is a reasonably good sunset this evening.
Dinner
There are two choices this evening: pork chop or a whole fish. As I don’t like to fight with bones in my food, nor do I like my food to be looking at me as I eat, I choose the pork chop. Jim, who despite not staying at the lodge, is dining with us this evening, has the fish.
Starter of crispy homemade nachos with a refreshing salsa
Pork chop (very tasty) with spinach, channa salad, mash and a tomato relish
David tries a different cider this evening - Hunter's Gold
Jim's fish
Dessert is described as "pancake with honey", although it tastes more like jam
We retire to a very early bed. The mosquito nets don’t quite reach all the way around the bed, so I leave one side open, as I hate having to fight with the net when I go to the loo in the night. It is very warm this evening, so we both spend most of the night sleeping on top of the covers.
Thank you so much to Undiscovered Destinations for arranging this Great Africa Trip 2024 for us.
This featured blog entry was written by Grete Howard from the blog Grete's Travels.
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By Grete Howard
Posted Sun, Aug 04, 2024 | Malawi | Comments
