TOP: Relaxation in Malawi.
Located in Southern Malawi and situated along the Shire River, Liwonde Park (where Mvuu is) consists of woodland, floodplains, grasslands, swamp and lagoons. Liwonde supports the largest population of elephants left in Malawi, has a high herbivore carrying capacity and a viable, but threatened, population of black rhino. It’s an important bird area with over 400 species listed. A premier game-viewing destination, years of rampant illegal extraction (snares and illegal fishing) have impacted on the biodiversity of the area and resulted in a major decrease in visitors to the area. African Parks assumed management control on the 1 August 2015 and will be focusing on addressing the poaching threat, as well as mitigating human-wildlife conflict as the most pressing priorities. Commitment to the local people is everywhere obvious – in a well-equipped school and hospital, in the love and respect they enjoy from the villagers, in the cheerful and slightly ‘slapgat’ way the staff go about their business. This is no enclave tourism
where visitors are off limits to locals. At dawn, the women are filling their buckets and washing their pots on the beach, and the sails of fishing boats meander past throughout the day. One evening, thousands of migrant fruit bats arrived from further up Africa to make the most of the mangos in season. Twittering, pushing, nudging, whispering and grooming, they hung happily upside down in a giant baobab tree as the day began to slip away into the night and the dawning of another uniquely Malawian day. Now it was just about time for another Kuche Kuche… By Kate Turkington ESSENTIAL INFORMATION For information on Mvuu Lodge, visit Central African Wilderness Safaris at www.cawsmw.com. Visit www.africanparks.org.
IMAGES: KATE TURKINGTON, THE WILDERNESS SAFARI.
organised chaos of people, goods and livestock being loaded and offloaded. Or sit on the top deck and watch the waitresses gyrate to rented videos of West Africa’s pop idols. Co-o-l! Likoma Island harbours 4 000 souls, and the most stunning lodge in Malawi, Kaya Mawa – a cross between a medieval keep, or a Lord of the Rings mini castle. As one guest remarked, “This is the sort of place where the baddies would hang out in a James Bond movie!” Capetonians Andrew Came and Will Sutton came to this island in the early 1980s. With the support of the local chief and the help of the villagers, they built the whole place – cottages, decks, walkways, rooms, restaurant, bar, swimming pool and steps – entirely by hand. With no electricity on the island, there was no other way to build. Will and Andrew sold the bush camp to current owners, Nick Brown and James Lightfoot, several years ago and the place has been reinvented to reflect a fantastic blend of luxury and laidback comfort, rather than a honeymooner’s retreat.
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