Cape Maclear to Liwonde National Park, October 2022

We have done a week on the shores of Lake Malawi and need to be up north with my cousin and family in about two weeks time. Need to move into a “a little of a lot” travel style. Our first stop is going to be Liwonde National Park.

Liwonde National Park has been around since the 70s and is an important wild life refuge. There was a significant amount of human-wildlife conflict in the area but that appears to have died down quite a bit since the game fence went up in 2015. A significant number of local people were moved out of the new national park area in the 70s. This resulted in denser communities on the periphery of the national park. A non-profit organisation called African Parks manages Liwonde National Park. African Parks also manages some national parks and game reserves in around twelve other African countries. The president of African Parks is unfortunately a British Royal (Harry) and so I can’t speak to their overall governance. Kirsty crossed this out.

Our roof top tent pops up once again, but this time at Liwonde Safari Camp which I like a lot. The camp has a great Gaudi-esque feel to it. Probably because it’s a build which has developed organically over time and with imagination. The camp feels like a place where adventurers meet, and has a decent sized bohemian bar lounge with an honesty jar for cold cold drinks. The cool drinks are Malawian expensive. Bottles are currently difficult to come by maybe raising the prices but the heat of the Malawian dust at the back of the throat craves the cold sweet bubbles of liquid. I am also currently on a 60 day stint of zero alcohol and so feel justified in the cold drink expense.

If there is one major difference between being on a short-term holiday and traveling long-term it is the ability to enjoy excess. On a short-term holiday, one to three beers a day would often be seen as normal to some. One to three beers a day on long-term travel quickly starts to impact the budget (and belly). It also steals a few significant hours each day which could have been used for any one of the many hobbies I want to enjoy. At the same time, there is a special thing in this world which I feel can truly be life affirming. Beer!

So my time in much of Malawi is a blue period. No alcohol and no franchise fast food, not that there is much in the way of franchise food on offer here. There is nothing like a cold cold Coca-Cola or Fanta Orange from a bottle on a hot African day.

The camp has a viewing deck where you can watch the elephant, water buck, bush buck, kudu, warthog, etc wander through at night. There are guaranteed to be a few eyes burning in the light of your torch at night. The camp is actually on the inside of the national park fence and so those eyes really could belong to anything.

We wake up at sunrise and quickly pop the tent down. We are going to go into the national park today. Snacks and supplies are prepared as an option to remain in the park over lunch if we can find a good spot to game view. Our hilux bumps and bounces down the dusty road and, after some preliminaries, through the main gate of the park.

We don’t see any of the big game in the morning, some recent cheetah sightings by others, but the area itself is unique and fun to explore. After driving in a few circles we take a turn in to the east and are surprised by the opening up of a vast plain. A rift valley inspired grassy plain with zebra, wildebeest, water buck, elephant and more stretches in front of us with the old Shire river running through it. Another African garden of eden which we feel privileged to witness.

The Shire River section we’re looking at is a wide part of the river after having been discharged from Lake Milombe. The lake itself receives water from Lake Malawi. About 50 kilometres downstream of us is the cyclone damaged Kapichira Hydroelectric Power Station. The Shire River also well known for being ol’ Livingstone’s alternative route to adventure. After being unable to navigate up the Zambezi as planned, Livingstone went up the Shire instead.

Having discovered the best part of the park, we spend the next few hours diving down little roads to find peaceful sites under ilala palms and fever trees. We settle on a specific fever tree’s shade at midday and spend the next few hours watching the animals go by. We have plenty of food and drink to assist in the stake-out. Great white egrets float by above crocodile and hippo doing the same. An elephant or two meander through munching on branches and river bank grasses. It is so perfect we stay where we are for the rest of the day.