From Majete to Cape Maclear

Monday, November 18

Nearing the end of our time at Majete, we are falling into some comfortable routines. We almost always wake up with the first light, which is around 4:30 here- all of southern Africa is synced to the same time zone as South Africa. Malawi, being fairly far east, ends up with very early sunrise. Many of our field days start by 5:30 so we can work when it is coolest. We have had some exceedingly hot days recently - upto 115 degrees in the late afternoon.

We are a small group: 2 researchers and 5 Earth Watch volunteers. The leaders are Kate and Colin, both grad students from Stellenbosch University in South Africa, are a delight to get to know. They have a pretty tough job. In addition to being responsible for all the research, they also have to play hosts to all our needs, preparing all the meals and keeping us happy.

It has been fun to meet the other volunteers as well. There is David, a retired doctor from Minnisota, and Bob and Sharon from Captiva, Florida, also retired. The whole group has traveled the world extensively, much of it on Earth Watch and other volunteer trips. It makes for a lot of interesting stories around the dinner table.

Today we started off with an other driving transect. We saw most of the same animals we have been seeing, but did drive through some of the more remote sections of the reserve. Eventhough the reserve is over 700 square kilometers, the majority of the wildlife is concentrated along the river. Much of the reserve is rough and mountainous, far from reliable water, thus, less suitable to wildlife.

It was another insanely hot afternoon, so we talked Kate and Colin into taking us back to the pool. Ahh...

Tuesday, November 19

Today was school visit day, and it turned out to be surprisingly rewarding. After experiences in Peace Corps and during our travels in Latin America, Tammara and I are always a little wary of these kind of choreographed interactions, but this turned out to be a special day we will long remember.

African Parks, who manage the reserve, employ extension agents who work with the surrounding communities and schools to educate and smooth relations with the reserve. We visited a primary school just outside of the park. There are over 500 students for just 9 teachers. The students were very friendly and excited to have visitors. We toured a tree plantation project and helped with litter pick up around the school. Tammara had quite fan club by the end of the day. We were then entertained with some amazing singing and a short drama- all with environmental themes. We were all quite impressed. At the end we presented the school with all the school supplies that were brought by us and the other volunteers. They were well appreciated. The highlight of the day was when Tammara presented the school with a brand new soccer ball, which elicited a huge cheer from the students.

Around lunch time we had some visitors to camp - a whole herd of elephants! There were about six in camp, and a bunch more on the edeges.  They were very calm and non-threatening, just going about their business. We tried to keep our distance, but they came right up to the camp tents. We watched them for about a half hour before they wandered off. What a great chance to observe them- one calf was even still nursing- with it's trunk no less.

Later in the day our group met with the reserve manager for Majete. He gave us a short presentation and then an opportunity to ask questions. We were quite impressed with the professionalism and dedication to making Majete a success.

Wednesday, November 20

With regret to be leaving, we said our fairwells to Majete today. We were driven back to Blantyre; David, Sharon and Bob to the airport, and us to find a bus to Liwonde. The transportation systems of Malawi leave a lot to be desired. Most people get around by mini-bus which dilapidated Toyota vans that were designed to hold 14 people, but here are typically jammed with up to 25. The biggest problem is that they do not leave town until they are full, so what should be a 3 hour trip will take about 6.

We travel northeast from Blantyre to Liwonde National Park, which is locate a out 100 km south of Lake Malawi on the Shire River. We stayed at a moderately priced safari camp call Bushman's Baoabab. It was a nice place in a rustic safari camp kind of way, but felt a bit like a deserted Hollywood movie set. We were practically the only guests there. 

Our first night there we did meet some fellow travelers that were passing through: a German, a Scotsman, and an American from Ithica NY. We also met a Peace Corps volunteer who works at the park doing community extension. It was an interesting dinner.

Thursday, November 21

In the morning we went on a guided canoe tour up the river and along the wetlands. This was a wonderful way to view the wildlife, but definitely a bit on edge. Paddling by the elephants and hippos wasn't to nerve wracking, at least they are vegetarians, but being surrounded by hungry looking crocodiles even got the guide nervous.  Fortunately, we survived to tell the story.

We spent the remainder of the day hanging out, mostly watching the birds and wildlife from an observation tower. We saw mainly the same species that we saw in Majete, but it was much more open and flat along the river here, so you could herds of impala and waterbucks. The park also has the largest concentrations of elephants and hippos.

Friday,  November 22

We got an early start to make our way north to the southern shores of Lake Malawi. It's not that far, but it took all day to get there. The buses are frustratingly slow, but they are at least they give some insight to typical life in Malawi.

After about six hours of travel and waiting around we found our way to Cape Maclear and Lake Malawi. The lake is the third largest lake in Africa and it looks it. The town has long been on the hippy backpacker route through southern Africa and is supposedly one of the more touristy areas. I guess that is all relative - there is a modest dusty strip of hotels and restaurants - but the town is still very much a fishing community of 15,000. It feels like at least 90 percent of that is under 5 years old. After treking up the beach with our backpacks, checking out the accommodations, we attracted quite the parade of overly friendly children.

We settled on a mid-range option called Mgoza Lodge. It's owned by a South African/Brit and and his Dutch wife. It's a nice quiet spot right on the beach with some actual green lawn- a rare thing here- and some shade trees, plunge pool and lounge areas. The view of the lake is stunning - blue waters dotted with rocky islands.

We have yet to go in the water - it is rife with bilharzia. We did pick up the medication to treat it after exposure since I'm even nervous of getting my feet wet.

Saturday, November 23

Finally, a totally laid back day at the beach. Walked along the shore, checked out dinning options, made kayak plans for tomarrow, and read books. Also, finally got caught up with these blog notes - damn it takes a long time to type with your thumbs! We are going searching for an Internet connection this afternoon, so if we are successful, you will be reading this soon. If not, there is not much hope until we get to Cape Town.