Hurray! I've seen my first Malawian elephants. Yesterday we went on safari with some friends / colleagues of A's. Early start and we drove past Zomba (unbelievable mountains) and got a boat from 'Hippo Lodge' up the Shire river. We motored for about 45 mins stopping to gawp at the hippos, birds, crocodiles and elephants. It was fantastic.
The river is wide and flat and the banks are lush & dense with high grass at this time of year. The mountains in the distance looked just like the Campsies. Malawi really does look like a warm Scotland. As it's the end of the rainy seasons the animals don't have to come down to the river so we were very lucky to see anything at all – a whole family of elephants tucking into the grass with their two babies on the way and two elephants in up to their necks scoffing more grass on the way back – brilliant. I love elephants.
We went to Mvuu lodge (also fabulous), went on a game drive and saw lots of impala, bush buck, water buck (beginning to learn the difference) more hippos, baboons, vervet monkey (the only kind in Malawi apparently) and fantastic birds. A lovely lunch and a couple of bottles of rose later and we were back in the boat speeding home.
We had dinner with our friends at their palatial house and headed home full and happy. Night driving took the edge off the day for me but I can not wait to take our guests on trips like that when they come out!
F x
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Hi sounds like fandabiedozie day out. Where do elephants and pigs come in a scale of 1=No Good and 10=the best. Enjoying the blog news. Luv A&L
ReplyDeleteI love Liwonde! Did you stop to have chips at the road block there? (Is the road block still there? One of my fondest Malawian memories is having chips at Liwonde!) I lived at the foot of Zomba Plateau. Every day I walked home across the road for work it was like looking up Kinnoull Hill, in Perth. Wonderful. Although there are no monkeys or elephants in Scottish hills and rivers. Hmm. Many happy memories of the Shire River and Liwonde National Park.
ReplyDeleteAm loving your blog. (Sorry if hogging the comment section a little ...!) Are you on Twitter as well?!