Whilst we were away, although we spent the majority of our time in tents at the site, we did all get a day or two of respite from such "tortuous" conditions. The most significant of these trips was our trip to Mvuu, which is a National Park in the south of Malawi, only couple of hours drive away from the site.
Everyone on site got to spend a night there, with a swimming pool, a real bed, and meals cooked for us, as well as one trip out on a land safari, which I'll show you some pictures from here, and one on a boat safari, which I'll cover in my next post.
Pumba and his family were the first wildlife we saw, from the dining room at the lodge, in fact! Interestingly, warthogs kneel down on their front legs when they are grazing, as their necks aren't long enough to allow them to reach the ground! There were a lot of monkeys and things kicking about the lodge as well, as the scavenge leftovers from the tables whenever possible. The lodge is built with low walls, and a roof held up by wooden pillars, so birds and other wild life could come and go. The park wardens tend to chase the monkeys away with a catapult, however, as they are pests, even if they are rather sweet.
Out on our drive we saw a lot of things I didn't manage to get photos of on my disposable camera, which is a shame, but then, there are lots of good pictures of these things online - far better than any I would take. The list of what I didn't photograph includes sable antelope, roan antelope, duikers, bushpigs, elephants, zebras, sparrow weavers, hartebeest, kudus and guinea fowl. Seeing the zebras in the natural habitat was particularly exciting as I've not seen many before, but they're quite a famous animal.
I did manage to get photos of the impala, but we saw loads of those, so it was easy to wait for some right near the truck.
I also got this one picture of a buffalo which came out alright, although it's still pretty far away. Maybe by the time I go again (which I probably will, you know what I'm like) then I'll have a decent camera with zoom lenses and things!
We also saw a few baobab trees in the park. These are pretty cool - rather esoterically African, so they were nice to see again. We actually went to Mvuu the last time I was in Malawi as well, and there were a few things I saw this time which I didn't see before!
After the game drive, we met up with the other jeeps and went down to the riverside. We wanted to watch the sunset but we didn't actually get there on time, so we just had drinks in the dark before we went back to the lodge for dinner.
Love and hugs
Part 1 - The Epic Journey
Part 2 - The Daily Grind
Part 3 - Not Your Average Sunday Morning
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