Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve - Day 7

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There are 2 National Parks near Rumphi. The first is the large one on the Nyika Plateau which we were going to visit but instead, we were lured to go to the nearer Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve, some 20 miles away, which reputedly had some excellent birds. But first we had to get fuel so, back we went into Rumphi to the BP station we saw there the night before. But it was closed.

We ascertained that the owner did not have enough cash to reorder his supplies until he had sold his present stock - which had run out - so it would remain closed for a day or two till he could get another tanker in. So we were directed to a hole-in-the-wall supplier at the crossroads some 6 kms on our way to our destination. So off we went, and joined the queue there!

The establishment was called Aunt George and was next door to an extraordinarily named grocery. (When we can get some photos to this website you will see what I mean). Anyway, all was well and off we went to the Reserve. Everywhere is so dry at the moment, just panting for the rains to start at the end of this month some time, that the marshes the Reserve boasted were almost dry - but there was a shallow lake, littered with hippo lazing in the heat, with the water only half way up their bodies.

We selected our campsite and then set off on a game drive lasting till teatime. We saw many familiar animals,: impala, kudu, warthog, and the puku antelope found here. The birds were scarce but we enjoyed seeing what was there. Perhaps the highlight was the small herd of elephant we saw on our way back to camp and a very close encounter with a juvenile Marshal Eagle.

The down side of this park was the hoards of tsetse flies. These followed the cars, thinking they were some sort of elephantine beast and they made every effort possible to get inside the vehicles. Open the window for a second, and they were in. Open the door and they swarmed in. They had horrid bites and were extremely difficult to kill. They were horrid.

Back at the campsite we asked the attendant what the extraordinary banners around the site were for. These had three cloth panels; the centre one was black and the two outer ones were a rich blue. He explained that the banners attracted the flies for some reason, certainly there was some bovine odour impregnating the black panels to which the flies congregated - only to find that they were poisoned and as soon as they touched the banner they died. It was very effective and we had no flies around.

Camping was in a specific spot, perfectly adequate for our needs especially as we had the place to ourselves, but the water supply ran out that evening, fortunately after we had showered, denying us any water the next morning. We all feel we might have made the wrong choice and that we should have gone to the Nyika National Park, but we did save ourselves about 100 miles driving.

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Photos

Refuelling
Filling up

Journals
Journal time at campsite Malawi