Malawi - Lovely Liwonde

April 16-18

Hello everyone!

To kick off our latest Malawian travelling adventure, we went to arguably my favourite place in the country: Liwonde National Park.

One of many, many elephants seen at Liwonde National Park

The herd of 60 elephants seen from our boat

Unlike Hannah and her family, who I am with, I have been here once before. I had a magical time with my parents when we came in June 2017.

The drive, at about 5 hours, is longer than it looks on this map

Mum and Dad's visit in June 2017

We saw many elephants up close

You may assume it would be more of the same but much has changed in those two years. A company called African Parks are helping to restore the park to its former glory, before neglect and poaching took such a negative effect after the 1970s.

Hippo numbers are on the rise

A colourful caribou stalk

Between the two visits, lions were moved up from Majete. We didn’t spot them, though we saw footprints. They aren’t the first set of cats to move to Liwonde, either. Shortly before I visited with my mum and dad, four cheetahs were relocated from South Africa. We didn’t see them at that time. Bit different this time…

Cheetahs in Liwonde National Park

Nine cheetahs in total were relocated during that period, and many more have been born since. They quite like hanging out near the luxury camp, Mvuu, where we were staying.

This cheetah was less than a 5 minute drive from camp

The evening before, we had witnessed the end of them taking down an impala. Other impala seemed confused, calling out to their fallen brethren.

Three cheetahs were in the bush with the stricken impala

The impact of predators arriving to Liwonde was something I was fascinated about. Last time I enjoyed watching warthogs pottering about without a care in the world. We were told that the behaviour of various prey has changed since the big cats arrived; one example was that the herds of waterbuck and impala now tend to stick together for protection.

The impala were very concerned about their friend

The other difference to last time is the time of year. This is the back end of the ‘green season’ - code for rain. A short, sharp storm just as we were about to board our wooden boat was a reminder of the power of the rain.

A gorgeous sunset over the Shire river

Green season is often cheaper than other times in the year, partly due to the difficulty of accessing much of the park but also the volume of rain gives animals more places to drink. The consequence of that is supposedly they are less likely to come to the river.

Moody skies towards Lake Malombe

A monitor lizard found far away from the river

Obviously some animals will always be near the river, such as hippos and crocodiles.

Still one my favourite animals

This croc was next to another which was about 6 metres long but hidden

Similarly, many birds rely on the river for food, so bee-eaters, stalks and kingfishers are omnipresent. The fish eagles are particularly majestic when perched on the branches.

A beautiful bee-eater

A fish eagle perched proudly on a branch

My highlight last time was seeing the elephants drinking at the Shire river. Similarly, Liwonde didn’t disappoint this time either.

A herd of elephants on the bank of the river

On our final morning boat ride, we coasted into the marshes beside approximately 60 - yes, sixty - elephants of all ages. Babies were flopping in the water, teenagers were wrestling with one another, mothers and fathers were chomping on the reeds. The swishing noise was incredibly relaxing. The experience was truly special.

Babies playing in the water

We saw some elephants inland as well. Some got quite close to us…

This elephant crossed less than 10 metres ahead of us

There is the potential for Liwonde to get even better. Our excellent guide Duncan told us that there are plans afoot to bring leopards and giraffe into the national park in the near future. For now, I can confirm that this is my favourite place in Malawi, and one which always seems to create magical memories.

Love you all,

Matt