Malawi - Mumbo Jumbo

February 27-March 2

Hello everyone!

 

As I mentioned in a previous post, Malawi’s tourism industry has been hit hard by the pandemic. Many of the more luxurious places to stay haven’t had international visitors for almost a year now. One consequence of this is that they’ve reduced their previously exorbitant prices, allowing residents in the country more of a chance to access them. Mumbo Island is one such place.

The main beach on Mumbo Island

 

Looking like people who definitely wouldn't
spend $200pppn on a place to stay...

You can see from the pictures why it’s in the ‘exclusive’ bracket. A small island which is commissioned to a South African company for ten years at a time, Mumbo Island has developed into a spot of serenity in Lake Malawi. It’s not a place we’ve ever considered before, simply because of the price. Until now.

Far more weavers than people on the island

At the moment the number of visitors is capped at 14

 

I should caveat ‘residents’. Many people who live in Malawi live below the poverty line. Going to Mumbo will never happen to them, and they have more important and pressing concerns. For lucky and privileged people like me, however, dropping the price by more than half has given me the opportunity to experience and enjoy a slice of paradise.

Tea and coffee are brought to your chalet so
you can have a drink whilst seeing sunrise

Being a deserted island means Mumbo
keeps its greenery and forests intact 

You have to get to the lake first. Mumbo Island is accessed from the used-to-be backpacker haven of Cape Maclear, usually a four hour drive from Malawi’s capital of Lilongwe. A couple of incidents extended our journey.

The drive includes one of my favourite Malawian roads,
winding down the Rift Valley from just after Dedza

Mumbo is about 10 km from the beaches of Cape Maclear

Police have been out in their masses recently, particularly on the roads. I had the misfortune of being pulled by one at the end of the town of Dedza after overtaking a lorry which was struggling to keep moving forward up the hill. I disputed his take of ‘reckless driving’ and disputed things further when he leant through the passenger window to start shouting at us. A word with his superior officer eventually led to an apology. Continued petulance on my part eventually led to the 30,000 ($40) official fine being reduced to a 10,000 ‘off the books’ payment.

A newspaper image of a Malawi traffic officer

The other hold-up was due to the weather. Bright sunshine on our drive south was very different to the rain which had lashed across the country overnight. A plain had flooded, resulting in a usually flat and clear road looking somewhat different…

Cape Maclear showed its usual stunning sunset, with us getting to Mumbo the following morning.

Our usual place to stay at Cape Mac now has a pool 

Spectacular

The island itself is a 45 minute catamaran ride from the lakeshore. On approach, you are confronted by enormous and spectacularly smooth boulders rising out of the azure blue water. The mind boggles as to how these were formed.

We passed many fishermen in their dugout canoes

I'm assuming there's a geological explanation!

We arrived with the Sun at its strongest. Initial paddling was done in a t-shirt to avoid an early sunburn. From the water you can see a few huts on top of a tree-covered rock.

An example of an island chalet - we stayed in
on the other side which got sunrise

Very. Warm. Indeed.

The views from these island chalets are pretty special. I guess paying hundreds of dollars a night makes you feel entitled enough to a rather nice panorama…

Our view

It was quite a drop from our balcony to the water below!

Mumbo is a place for escape and a relative return to the wild. Next to no internet allows you to switch off from all media. Noise is reduced to birdsong and the lapping of lake waves as the hammock sways. Toilets are composted and showers are buckets above your head.

Where I spent quite a lot of time

One of the many birds who joined me on the balcony

One thing which surprised me – when I wasn’t dozing in my hammock – was the ability to trek and trail across a very small island. This gives you some amazing views, both in the morning and at sunset.

View from Pod Rock at about 7am

View from Pod Rock at about 6pm

One fascinating part of walking was seeing the different trees. A tree called Euphorbia which resembled a cactus with many arms. Another tree which seemed to have wrinkling ‘skin’ on its trunk. The roots which have grown around boulders, looking like a long witch’s fingers enveloping an apple. Otherworldly.

 

Amazing roots

Euphorbia

The weather wasn’t always worthy of a travel magazine, however. As our first afternoon unfolded, the skies darkened in anticipation of a storm arriving. Watching the winds whip across the water from our rock-top position was a bit surreal, particularly as we were sheltered from the wind by our cabin. It soon turned into a downpour with thunder and lightning joining in to make quite a display.

You can see the wind pushing the water

The wind had calmed by the time Hannah and I took a kayak the following morning to circumnavigate the island. It was still choppy, though, and I would have found it a struggle without Hannah happily paddling away and singing Beatles songs in the back.

Yesterday...all these waves seemed so far away...

There are more species of fish in Lake Malawi
than in Europe and North America combined

Kayaking was regularly stopped for snorkelling, trying to find the colourful mbuna cichlids amongst those strange boulders. We saw some monitor lizards scrambling across rocks and were given a show by a cormorant.

Cichlids nibble the algae from the boulders

A cormorant keen to impress. Or dry off its wings...

Mumbo is a delightful place and a perfect way to escape the relentlessness of life in front of a screen. As progress is made and tourism begins to return, it would certainly be a place to visit when coming to Malawi. Until then, I’d like places like this to keep their prices down so I can experience them myself!

 

Love you all,

 

Matt

Malawi - Baboons at breakfast

 January 1-4

Hello everyone!

Let’s face facts: for many people, 2020 was not a great year. We’re all hoping that 2021 will bring more happiness, freedom and a return to many of the elements of human life that we dearly miss.

The hippo laughs at such optimism

Running at Luwawa

My first day of 2021 could actually have ended up worse. I hadn’t made it to midnight on New Year’s Eve. Starting to feel a bit strange after eating fish and rice, I was asleep before 9pm. I frequently woke up sweating or shivering and with my muscles feeling as if they had done an IronMan the day before. I’d felt like this once before. That time, I had stage 3 malaria. Uh oh.

A pre-Covid era, 2019

So away from the disappointing Maji Zuwa I went, speeding off towards northern Malawi’s biggest city of Mzuzu to find some half-decent healthcare. Well, I tried to speed. On the country’s main road I came across this…

At least 20 petrol tankers in this line. The blue bus
is trying to give enough room to the white truck, without
falling off the edge of the cliff. No pressure...

I wasn’t entirely sure why so many petrol tankers were parked on the side of the road. Eventually I was able to squeeze past. A couple more upward hairpin turns took me to the answer…

'Emergency road'. Quite a few cars needed a push.

I certainly didn’t appreciate being told I would have to pay to use the ‘emergency road’. I told them I’d give them some money if I needed a push. I didn’t. They then stood in front of the car saying ‘Give me money.’ I bollocked them for being rude, gave them a note, and drove off before there could be any further repercussions. People saying ‘Give me money’ and not knowing any other English really irritates me about Malawi at times.

Where I spent about 6 minutes
wondering if I had malaria

A rainy, meandering drive got me to Mzuzu an hour later than anticipated. Still plenty of time to get a malaria test though. They are free in hospitals, and quickly concluded that I didn’t have malaria. That would not have been a good start to 2021. I didn’t feel great (though being able to drive for almost 4 hours made me think my condition was improving) so spent my day shopping for future food supplies and then at Macondo Camp, an Italian-owned campsite and restaurant in the city.

I was tempted to buy one of the larger watermelons you're
likely to find on Earth, but opted for an orange instead

Aside from a few jelly beans, my first food of 2021 came that evening, with me stomaching half a plate of homemade tagliatelle carbonara. The following morning my appetite had returned. Banana pancakes were wolfed down whilst waiting for the rain to abate enough for me to pack up the tent before heading northwest.

Packing up a wet tent: always fun

I was heading to Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve, a moderately-sized area of land on the border with Zambia. Genuinely, one of the main reasons for me driving up there was because it was the name of my first classroom at school. It is possibly the least-known and least-visited wildlife area in the country. The quality of the signage on the drive suggested a place way past its peak.

The drive took a little over 2 hours

Incredibly faded, you can just about make out
the name and arrow for Vwaza Marsh

This was reflected in the fact that I was the only visitor. The Lilongwe Wildlife Trust have a base here but there are currently no volunteers (blame Covid). There were no ‘guides’ like in other national parks here. 

Camping: 8,000MWK. Staying in here: 10,000MWK.
No. Contest.

Which is a shame when you see the view…

Lake Kazuni

Impala soon after sunrise, with mountains in
the background, made for a lovely wakeup view

...and then notice what is inside the lake…

The big blob sticking out of the water...

You don't want to get in the way of that!

I do like a hippo. There are hundreds of them all in this small lake. Makes you wonder how they got there, really. Doubt they migrated from Zambia just for this.

Estimates state that there are over 500 hippo in the lake

I'm watching you...

Lake Kazuni is a bit too big - and dangerous - to walk around. A ranger called Kenneth was therefore summoned to accompany me with his rather large rifle in my car. Being wet season, there are many places other than the lake where the most interesting animals (elephants, lions, leopards and such) can get a drink. We were driving around to find them.

Always a sign of an underwhelming drive
when pictures of impala are used

Moving branches was a main action point

We didn’t. Elephants hadn’t been seen for the three days before I came, and weren’t seen during my time at Vwaza Marsh. Still, it allowed me to get a little bit closer to the rafts of hippo further down the lakeside.

Egyptian geese. "Not from Egypt," Kenneth stated.

Mother and calf hanging by the water's edge

A brisk early morning walk was similarly unsuccessful, though we did get to see some smaller insects which would be missed in a vehicle. The rhino beetle below is one of the ‘Little Five’.

The rhino beetle

This beautiful vivid crab-like creature
popped up regularly near the lake

I had done our morning walk using my white trainers. They got muddy, obviously, but there was a reason I had to use these. My normal walking trainers are blue. Wearing blue - or black - is a no-no in Vwaza. This is due to the park being home to a number of tsetse flies. These are rather dangerous to humans and other animals as they can pass on a disease known as ‘sleeping sickness’. It is treatable. If you don’t get it treated, however, you usually...die.

New York Times picture of a tsetse fly

To combat the tsetse fly, the park has put up numerous large pieces of blue and black fabric. Kenneth called it the Vwaza flag. The idea is that the fly is initially attracted by the blue part of the flag. It then notices the black part in the middle, which has been treated. When it lands on the black part, one of two things will normally happen:

1. fly death;

2. fly infertility.

Over time, the number of flies should fall and the threat should diminish. I know that they are trying something similar with mosquitoes in other parts of Africa. Wouldn’t it be great if the minds who feel they have sorted a Covid vaccine all turned their attention to eradicating malaria and sleeping sickness? One can dream…

The 'Vwaza Flag'

Arguably the most thrilling wildlife interactions came without the ranger present. The first was after the Sun went down. This is when hippos, commonly known as one of Africa’s most dangerous creatures, come out of the water to graze. This is also when I was planning to cook and eat my own food. In an area quite close to the lake. Oh, and the only light sources are my phone and torch. There is absolutely zero electricity here. Eventually a night guard came...with a cook (Bertha called herself the ‘lodge attendant’, which I thought was a brilliant title), who wanted to cook for me. Using my equipment, naturally. Did I mention there were hippos nearby?

Wanting to give Bertha a bit of extra cash to help her children, I arranged for her to cook eggs on toast for me after the morning walk. She somehow managed to use the remaining half of my gas canister when doing so. She more than redeemed herself when a congress of baboons (yes, I looked that up) came charging over as I was trying to load things into the car. Things like food. Which baboons like. A lot. It was when one of them, sitting on the wing mirror, started clawing at the window that Bertha came over. She essentially sat by the car to intimidate them whilst I loaded everything in.

Tasted slightly better than it looked. Slightly.

There were at least 15 in total, of all ages

As if the car hasn't been through
enough over the past week...

Vwaza Marsh was the last main port of call on my northern Malawi excursion. The drive back to Lilongwe was an optimistic seven hours, so I broke it up over two days and stopped at Luwawa in the forest on the way home. Interestingly, this was the strictest place for Covid that I saw on my trip. A reminder of why I staycationed in the first place.

It was also no overnight guests unless
they had been told in advance...

...or brought your own tent. Lucky me!

Luwawa Dam

Aside from Nkhata Bay, many of the places I have visited on this adventure were new to me. Even in my fifth year of living in the Warm Heart of Africa, I am still finding new, interesting places to visit. Many of these are too far away from Lilongwe to visit without having a significant amount of free time. Most are worth it, and I always have to remind myself of how lucky I have been to be able to travel at all.

Likoma Island

Manchewe Falls, Livingstonia

Karonga Museum

Vwaza Marsh

To those of you in lockdown, stay safe and keep smiling. Your travelling time will come again. Maybe you should make it Malawi…

A lovely Likoma sunset

Love you all,

Matt