November 25
Hello everyone!
For many reasons, I was getting a bit of cabin fever in
Lilongwe. Whether it’s the intense heat, reports writing season or other shenanigans,
I hadn’t gotten out of the increasingly urban jungle since we returned from
Tanzania.
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| Dzalanyama Forest Reserve |
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| I wasn't the only one who needed to get out |
There are day trips to take from Lilongwe, though the more
spectacular places often occupy a whole weekend or even longer. One place I was
yet to visit is a forest reserve tucked away in the west of Malawi, heading
towards the western part of Mozambique. That particular country surrounds the
southern part of Malawi, though it seems strange to write that as I associate
Mozambique as being to the east of Malawi.
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| These hills form the border between western Malawi and western Mozambique |
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| Dzalanyama Forest Reserve is almost 1000 sq km in size |
The area we had in mind was a forest reserve called
Dzalanyama. Say it with either a silent or very soft ‘d’ and you’ll pronounce
it correctly. We had been told it was an area with nice hikes and a flowing
stream to dunk ourselves into. A two hour drive from Lilongwe (whoever does the
Google Maps timings clearly hasn’t driven on these roads before) took us out of
the city and through an increasingly green and lush part of the country.
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| The other route is quicker but less scenic and more liable to have police checks |
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| It was dirt roads most of the way, making this trip trickier in rainy season |
After a while, we stopped at the top of a hill in front of a
quaint house. The guard said we could park to take in the spectacular view and
make ourselves some tea on our portable gas cooker. The owner of the house soon
returned from church and, rather than kick us out of what essentially was his
front garden, invited us in for lunch. We already had food so politely refused;
I couldn’t help but wonder whether we would have had such a thoughtful and
friendly reaction elsewhere in the world.
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| This place would do very well on AirBnB |
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| Neither dog really appreciated the view |
The man was a ranch manager, looking after the cows in the
forest reserve. Looking out into the distance, you can’t see any cows among the mass of trees in the forest. You wouldn’t think deforestation was an issue
looking out at this (it definitely is).
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| Apparently there are leopards down there - good luck spotting one |
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| Lots of indigenous flowers and trees are visible |
This lovely viewpoint wasn’t actually our target, of course.
We never made it to that stream or those hikes. This is because the large,
heavy Land Cruiser we were travelling in came up against this rather rickety
bridge…
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| It had large logs underneath but seemed too narrow for the car |
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Our mind was made up when a local told us that a car crossed
the bridge...3 months ago... |
Deciding we would come back in a smaller, older, more
rubbish car which we wouldn’t care if it fell in (our car), we cut our losses
and headed back towards Lilongwe. Not wanting our increasingly random day trip
to end, we made a stop at Kamuzu Dam.
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| Our aborted attempt to cross attracted quite a crowd |
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| Next time I'll do a DVD video shoot |
This dam is on the Lilongwe River which flows through our
city and actually starts in the Dzalanyama reserve. There are actually two of
them in close proximity – the nicer one to visit is Dam II.
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As with many things in Malawi, the dams are named after its
first President |
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| The dam is large enough to host the Lilongwe Sailing Club |
During the rainy season, which is fast approaching, the water
level in the dam will be much higher. During the hour or so that we were there,
it seemed as if rainy season was about to arrive in a spectacular fashion. After
an initial look, we took the dogs for a quick dip in the stream emanating from
the dam. The temperature difference upon returning was stark, as was the wind
which was creating ‘white horses’ in the water.
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| Not much water is trickling through at the moment |
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| The four-leggeds enjoyed their dip |
The wind posed a particular problem when we tried to eat,
blowing Tupperware all over the place. We abandoned just in time, as the
heavens opened as we returned to the car.
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| The ominous dark clouds approached from the east |
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| The water became rougher, not that you can tell from this picture |
It was a peculiar, lovely day. We didn’t get to where we
wanted to. We spent most of the day in a car. However, I feel we saw a bit more
of the real Malawi and managed to escape the city sprawl, which was exactly
what was needed.
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| More road trips, more often! |
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| Dzalanyama Forest Reserve |
Love you all,
Matt
