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Published: December 2nd 2012
Journey through the bush
The journey through the bush is a eco wilderness lodge deep inside Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve so a good 45 minutes (maybe even an hour) of the journey was literally through the middle of the bush in a 4 wheel drive. The ride was very exciting and I saw water buck and baboons on the way in which was a wonderful taster of bush life. This reserve is one of the country’s largest conservation areas so it’s not commercialised. It’s vast at 1800km
2 and the terrain is rugged spanning altitudes of 500m to 1638m so seeing wildlife here is a privilege and not guaranteed!
After being jiggled around all over the place and beginning to feel a little queasy I was relieved to be greeted by the management and team with a cold wet flannel and a refreshing drink. I was given an orientation tour. The place is absolutely stunning. It has only been open for just over a year and there are only 4 rooms! This weekend I was the only guest so had the undivided attention of the whole team – I literally felt like a celebrity! I could choose what I wanted to
My room
Sheer luxury - attention to detail is incredible such as my towel holder which is a tree do, when I wanted to do it, how long for, when to eat, what to eat…..
My bush hut was called 'eagle' - a good sign!!! It was very luxurious but I was very surprised to discover that the only protection I had from the wild were bars which almost spanned the whole of the front of the hut i.e. you’re practically sleeping and bathing outside.
Crocodile Dundee…. I was very eager to do everything on offer so I chose to go canoeing down the river as my first activity. I tried not to be startled by the man with the gun as I boarded my boat. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and pointed out many varieties of stunning birds. The trip was very peaceful and relaxing until we came face to face with a large crocodile! Me and my guide (Shai) had just landed our boat on the side as Emanuel (the man with the gun) got out and stood on the side. There was an almighty noise as a croc appeared from behind the rocks. I’ve never laughed so much since I’ve been in Malawi….you know when you meet somebody in a corridor
My bed
Opposite the wild animals - no windows, just bars and you play the dodging game as neither of you can decide which way to go…..well that’s what happened with Emanuel and the croc! Emanuel obviously looked really scared, who wouldn’t be, the crocs teeth were huge. Eventually they both worked out which way they wanted to go and the croc made a rapid escape into the river. Emanuel and Shai were very excited because that’s the closest they’ve been to a croc from the river. Now I know I’ve just met these guys but I couldn’t help but joke about the man with the gun being really scared. Poor Emanuel! A few days later he explained that his gun is for scaring animals away (i.e. shooting into the air), he’s not allowed to shoot at the animals unless the circumstances are extreme.
Faulty towers incident…. After a feast of first class food and my first taste of fine wine since I arrived in Malawi I was ready to retire. I have to be escorted to my bush hut because it’s pitch black but of course there could always be a wild animal outside my room. There was fresh elephant dung on the path to my room so
Shai and Emanuel
The man with the gun :) evidence that they go anywhere they want to. My bug net had been prepared only I discovered the bugs were inside the net and not outside. They were blimmen huge too. After a VERY brief debate with myself I decided to call security using my walkie talkie which had been provided for emergencies. Well it was an emergency. The security guards arrived and were HIGHLY AMUSED that I wouldn’t sleep with the bugs. I kept my eye on the biggest and told them to get that one first. I’m convinced it was an enormous cockroach but I didn’t ask, I really didn’t want to know. One guard went back to the lodge to get some bug spray, then the little security guard (Dennis who is about 5 foot) starts unbuttoning his shirt. Puzzled by this bizarre behavior I stand by the gap in the net while Dennis starts leaping around in my net beating the insects with his shirt. Sorry but another moment where I had to hold myself up with laughter. I think Dennis enjoyed entertaining me with his bug catching skills. He chuckled along whilst we had a body language conversation as he speaks little English). As soon
as they landed he was like a ninja and removed them from my net. Despite all the buzzing in my room and animal noises outside, I slept like a log (thank you for wine).
Hiking to the top of the mountain... We’d agreed we’d hike to the second highest peak the next day which meant a 5.30am departure. There and back took around 4 hours. The terrain was rough on the ascent so there was plenty of scrambling, slipping and tripping! On the way down I actually took to my backside rather than my feet at one point! Considering we covered many kilometers the only wildlife we saw were baboons. There was plenty of animal poo around which we analysed and plenty of evidence of poachers too. That’s the sad side of Africa, the reality can’t be avoided.
Nelly the elephant packed her trunk... In the afternoon, I prayed I’d see some elephants. I could hear them pushing over trees but couldn’t see them. I was sooo tired but daren’t close my eyes or even blink in case I missed something! After a couple of hours they appeared from the bush, I was SOOOOOO excited. I
At the top of the mountain
Looking over the reserve and across many districts never tire of watching elephants especially in their natural habitat. Shai told me that there had only been 3 bulls around recently so that’s all I expected to see. One entered the river, then another, then another, then another…..I counted eight adults in total and then I was blessed to see a tiny weany baby too! All the staff were nowhere to be seen and I wanted to shout out…come and see…there’s a baby. Two hours later Shai joined me and we watched for a further hour until they retired to the bush.
I’m a very, very happy lady 😊))))))))) These are proper wild elephants, no fences on this reserve!
Later we went canoeing again and I saw water buck, bush buck, black water mongoose, vervet monkeys and more elephants that crossed the river once we’d passed. Most animals here are very timid though so you have to be quick and not blink otherwise you’ll miss them. Photos are almost impossible too. Not only because they are moving but so are you in your canoe! So I gave up and decided just to enjoy the moment and my memories.
A wonderful experience drawing to a close... Nelly the elephant
packed her trunk....they don't know what to do with them when they're small. They're like a toy! A woodland and riverside walk was on the agenda on Sunday. I negotiated a 6am start this time! We caught a glimpse of a few other animals and plenty of baboons but my legs were ready to give up on my by the time we returned. I had to retire and take a nap! I woke to the arrival of the rains and the elephants! Have you ever seen an elephant run from the rain? They really didn’t like it and launched themselves into the river.
The rains are long overdue in Malawi. October and November are the hottest months of the year and Jo (the manageress) said they’re known as suicide months!!! And here’s me wondering why I couldn’t cope on the first week of my trip! It should have started raining around mid November. So after 7 months of no rain, they are very much welcomed by all the people and the animals. It’s much cooler now too.
I made good friends with the team at Tongole and was very, very sad to leave. If I had stayed a few more days I could have gone to see the community school they’ve extended (they have a
Elephants playing in the water
So much fun watching them wrestle each other Foundation). Apparently it had around 800 students and two classrooms! I can’t get my head around that one.
Back to work tomorrow... So back to work tomorrow. I really want to go to Kasungu national park as they have a large hippo population. But getting there is another matter. There’s a fuel shortage here so finding a driver with enough fuel to take me is quite a challenge. Tongole gave me some contacts so maybe I’ll be blessed to visit there too before I leave. Fingers crossed.
Bye for now!
P.S. it's taken over an hour to upload photos so I've just selected a few.
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