Malawi 1988
Wilderness Safaris arranged the twenty day tour of Malawi. They provided a ten seater Mercedes bus with Andy Egginton as the tour guide and Joseph Banda as the cook. Our group was made up of the Grewar family: Gus, Mick, Rosan and Linda together with Trevor, Conrad, Leon and Me.
The purpose of the tour was to experience a some of Malawi’s most interesting attractions. Accommodation provided varied from camping in tents to rondavals, hired houses and lodges, as was appropriate to the place being visited. Days generally started with coffee at 06h00 and breakfast around 10h00 after an early morning excursion.
INDEX
Day 1 : Saturday, 25 June 1988
Lilongwe to Liwonde National Park
The two and a half hour SAA flight from Jan Smuts Airport to Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe landed at 10h30. We were met by Andy and Joseph and loaded our luggage into the bus. Mick had brought a canoe on the flight and the paddle did not arrive with the luggage so Mick and Linda decided to wait for it to arrive on the next flight. We left them and travelled down through Lilongwe to the Liwonde National Park about 335 km to the south. We stopped at the Kudya Discovery Lodge in Liwonde for a beer in the lounge overlooking the Shire River. It had been arranged that we would be picked up and transported up the Shire River to the park by boat, but the boat did not materialize. We drove on to the Mvuu Camp in the park where we settled into the rondavels provided. We had supper on the banks of the Shire River watching the sun set before retiring with the sound of hippos grunting.
Day 2 : Sunday, 26 June 1988
Liwonde National Park
We got up early and, after a quick cup of coffee, met Robert the game ranger for a walk through the surrounding bush. Robert had an expert knowledge of the trees and birds in the park. Along the way we found the remains of an elephant that poachers had killed. We arrived back at the camp for breakfast and then we were taken by boat about 8 km up the Shire River to the start of Lake Malombe. There were plenty of hippos, crocodiles and birds to be seen en route along the river.
Day 3 : Monday, 27 June 1988
Liwonde National Park
We had early morning coffee followed by a walk up river with Robert to look at the Cormorant nesting area. We returned for a late breakfast and relaxed for the rest of the morning. In the afternoon, the boat returned and Rosan lost a shoe in the mud on the way to board the boat. We headed down the river and saw elephant, waterbuck, more hippos, crocodiles and various other game. The late afternoon was blissfully peaceful drifting on the water.
Day 4 : Tuesday, 28 June 1988
Liwonde National Park to Cape Maclear
We were up early for coffee and a sandwich before heading north through Mangochi to Monkey Bay. We stopped here for lunch at the Wilderness Safaris company house. Mick and Linda paddled round to Cape Maclear while we proceeded by bus to the house on the lake shore. Although there was plenty of space in the house, most of us chose to sleep outside under mosquito nets suspended from trees.
Day 5 : Wednesday, 29 June 1988
Cape Maclear
We had a proper early breakfast for a change! Mick and Linda paddled to West Thumbi Island and the others hired a boat to get there. I chose to windsurf but the headwind became very strong and I was soon exhausted. I eventually reached the island and tried snorkeling. A whole new world opens up under the water in the rock pools inhabited by a multitude of small, beautifully coloured fish. As luck would have it, the wind direction had changed by a full 180 degrees by the time we decided to head back and, rather than repeating my efforts of sailing into a headwind, I opted to take the boat and tow the sailboard back. After lunch, we relaxed with a few beers. That evening, we all sat on the lake shore to watch the sun set and moon rise while drinking Mick’s 12 year old Glenlivet malt whisky.
Day 6 : Thursday, 30 June 1988
Cape Maclear
We started the day with coffee followed by a delicious mid-morning breakfast of crumbed Chambo. We took a walk around to Otter Point where we were met by Andy who had sailed there on the windsurfer. There was a pleasant wind blowing, so I sailed it back to the house leaving Andy to walk back. We had paw paw and later walked down to Mr Stevens place for an evening beer. After supper, we sat chatting on the lake shore drinking Trevor’s KWV 10 year old brandy until bed time.
Day 7 : Friday, 1 July 1988
Cape Maclear to Dwangwa
In the morning, Andy discovered that R2000 was missing from his money bag. It must have been stolen during the night. We packed the bus in preparation for the trip northwards. We departed at 09h00 stopping first at the Monkey Bay police station to report the robbery. We then headed up the lake coast through Chipoka, Salima with a brief visit to its market, and Nkhotakota. We stopped somewhere along the way for lunch. We reached our destination at Dwangwa late in the afternoon. After unpacking, we walked along the beach up to the local fishing village where the local Yao tribe found our pale complexions most amusing. Our accommodation at Dwangwa was a beach cottage but most of us decided to sleep under mosquito nets on the beach. This was the coolest way to spend the night.
Day 8 : Saturday, 2 July 1988
Dwangwa to Mzuzu
After breakfast, we took a walk along the beach with ominous looking clouds approaching over the lake. We then packed and headed north to Nkhata Bay. Along the road we passed friendly Malawi faces, helped ourselves to beers from the fridge at the back of the bus and stopped to have a look at a rubber plantation. Arriving in Nkhata Bay, we had lunch then decided to continue to Mzuzu for the night. There we restocked our food and drink supplies at the PTC and at the local market. The Government Rest House in Mzuzu kindly allowed us to pitch camp in their grounds and make use of their spotless bathrooms, kitchen and dining room facilities.
Day 9 : Sunday, 3 July 1988
Mzuzu to Nyika National Park
After a sit down breakfast in the dining room, we packed and continued up through Rumphi, along the Zambian border and over bad roads to the Chilinda Camp in the Nyika National Park. Andy had some problems sorting out the bookings and eventually we were given a chalet and two bedrooms, but only after the tenants had been evicted! That evening, we had a good supper of steak, eggs, chips and salads with paw paw for desert.
Day 10 : Monday, 4 July 1988
Nyika National Park
In the morning Gus, Conrad, Trevor and I went on a game drive of about 80 km. We saw various buck, zebra and warthogs on the way to Domwe Viewpoint. This is at the edge of the escarpment overlooking Zambia (altitude 2100 metres above sea level). It provides an amazing view for hundreds of kilometres. We headed home for lunch and spent the afternoon chatting to some Aussies doing a Kenya to Johannesburg trip. We did a night game drive to look for leopard but only saw 7 rabbits, a jackal and little else, so we gave up and returned to have supper.
Day 11 : Tuesday, 5 July 1988
Nyika National Park
We had breakfast then we headed for the Zaro Chipolo Nature Forest Trail and walked to the Chisanga Waterfall. It was a walk of about 2 km of very steep paths. We had lunch back at the bus before returning to camp. We all had hot baths then sat around the fire in the lounge awaiting the supper of roast beef.
Day 12 : Wednesday, 6 July 1988
Nyika National Park to Vipya Plateau
After an early breakfast, we packed and set off southwards to the Vipya Plateau via Mzuzu. We stopped in Mzuzu for provisions at the PTC then had lunch beside the road just outside town. We arrived at the Kasito Lodge in the late afternoon and we were very pleasantly surprised. It was more like a luxury home than a guest house! I was given a bedroom with four beds all to myself. We sat around the fire drinking beers excessively until supper, then argued politics with two Canadian UN representatives until bed time.
Day 13 : Thursday, 7 July 1988
Vipya Plateau to Salima
We had cheese omelettes for breakfast then took a short walk to the charcoal kilns nearby. We packed and headed south through Kasungu to Lilongwe, passing hundreds of Mozambique refugees along the road before Lilongwe. In the New Lilongwe city centre, Mick and Trevor took photos while we were looking at the shops. They were promptly apprehended by a plain clothes policeman who confiscated the films. They discovered that they had inadvertently taken a picture of the South African Embassy! After negotiating with the policeman and the Embassy officials, the films were returned. We then continued to Salima where we pitched camp at a lakeside camp site using the usual mosquito nets strung from trees under the stars.
Day 14 : Friday, 8 July 1988
Salima
After a windy night, we awoke to a cool, cloudy and windy morning. We spent a lazy morning at the camp and after lunch, we visited the nearby fish farm before driving to the Livingstonia Beach Hotel for evening drinks. We arrived back at the camp in time to enjoy the sunset.
Day 15 : Saturday, 9 July 1988
Salima to Zomba
We had breakfast then left Salima and headed for Zomba via Balaka and Liwonde. In Zomba, we did some shopping for provisions at the PTC and the local market and looked around the town. We went up Zomba mountain to the camp site. The camp site was on the Zomba Plateau, 2087 metres above sea level. After pitching camp, we walked to the hotel for an evening beer before returning for supper.
Day 16 : Sunday, 10 July 1988
Zomba to Mulanje
Leaving Zomba, we headed for the Likhubula Forestry Office at the foot of Mount Mulanje. Here we hired porters to carry our sleeping gear and food then set off on foot up the steep slope to the Chambe hut. This was a 7 km walk from a height of 896 metres to a height of 1904 metres. We slept well that night!
Day 17 : Monday, 11 July 1988
Mulanje
In the morning, we had an early breakfast then continued on the trail to the Thuchila hut. This was a 12 km walk to a height of about 2000 metres, the highest point on the route being 2237 metres. We had our first experience of walking above the clouds.
Day 18 : Tuesday, 12 July 1988
Mulanje
The next section was the longest, an 18 km walk to the Lichenya hut at a height of 1840 metres with the highest point on the route being 2180 metres. Walking on Mulanje was never boring with the ever changing conditions and magnificent views. One minute you are walking through mist, the next you walk into bright sunshine looking down on cotton wool clouds in the valleys or with a rainbow above the path ahead.
Day 19 : Wednesday, 13 July 1988
Mulanje
The last day on Mulanje was largely a steep downhill walk back to the Likhubula Forest Lodge, dropping about 10 metres per minute. It was less enjoyable coming down and I made the mistake of going as fast as I could and hurt my knees as a result. That night we slept at the Forest Lodge.
Day 20 : Thursday, 14 July 1988
Mulanje to Blantyre
In the morning, we set off for Limbe passing tea plantations along the road. We booked into the Shire Highland Hotel in Limbe. We had a lunch of Chambo and chips at the hotel. We were not happy with the rooms provided so, after much discussion, we asked Andy to move us to the Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre. That night we had our final supper in the hotel restaurant.
Friday, 15 July 1988
Departure
We were up early the next morning to go to the airport to catch the Malawi Airways flight home.
