Friday, November 27th - Liwonde to Zomba, Malawi

This morning we actually slept in until 6 a.m.  For some reason the birds that were singing earlier in the morning decided to take a break and the animals were not making noises so it was very quiet and we managed a bit of extra sleep.  I think it was also a bit cloudier and the tent was cooler so that also helped.

Once up, I decided to go over to the viewing platform to see what was happening.  The elephants were not far away and stayed for some time before moving slowly down toward the river.  This was (we think) the same family that seems to be around this area every day.  There are maybe half a dozen full-grown elephants and then various sizes of smaller ones including one little one about a month old.  They are all fun to watch but the little ones are definitely the cutest.

Lynn came up to join me and as she walked past she must have scared some warthogs that went running across the field.  There were just three adults; no babies in sight.

We stayed up there until about 7:30 when we decided to go down to breakfast.  Today we seemed to be there before they were ready for us but they quickly had our table set and some fruit and tea and coffee out for us.  Today's fruit was just mango and apple, no pineapple like yesterday, but it was still good.  And there were no baboons or monkeys in sight so we didn't have to worry about having our food stolen.  I had their English breakfast again which consists of eggs, bacon, grilled tomato, fried potatoes and toast.   You could have sausage too but I skipped it. 

After breakfast we finished packing up so we were ready for our 9:30 departure.  We made another trip up to the viewing platform.  This time Lynn got there before me and apparently about 60 elephants, including one baby that the guide estimated to be only about a week old, went meandering past on their way to the river.  I could still see most of them but they were farther away, and the baby was hidden by the bushes and reeds.

At 9:30 after we'd settled our bill for the honour bar (a great idea!) we sat in the lounge area with the breeze blowing through and waited for almost an hour before our driver finally appeared and we were on our way.  We had a bit of a ride on dirt roads to get out of Liwonde National Park and back to the main highway and then the route was good almost all the way.  Just at the end did we hit a detour and that was pretty dusty at times.  Luckily for us it wasn't far before our turnoff to the plateau above the city of Zomba.  From there it was a long windy road to the top.  I have no idea how far it was but it was a long way up on narrow switchbacks and we climbed hundreds of metres in altitude.  Since I didn't check at the start or at the end I can't give you the exact figure but it was well over 300 metres.

Malawi is such a contrast in environment.  We left a hot dry are where the dust rose with every step you took, most of the trees looked dead and barren and there was very little ground vegetation except where the resort was watering or right along the river bank.  Within an hour we were on a mountain that is so green and lush it is like a dense tropical forest.  We are on the plateau but not at the top of the hillside and what is above us looks even greener and thicker.  It was so hot when we went to bed last night that we were sweating just lying on our beds.  Today it is already cooler and tonight we will need our sweaters.  We are almost 1500 metres above sea level so that certainly accounts for some of the difference.  And even as we look out over the valley below, there are green sections and dry brown sections.

We thought we were going for a hike this afternoon but the hotel suggested we go tomorrow morning instead because of the heat.  We are to see two different viewpoints and a waterfall and a "hole" - not sure what that's about - and the walk with a guide is all included in our tour package.   Our driver said it would take a couple hours.  The first person we talked to at reception said it would take three hours.  The last person we talked to said it could take 5-6 hours to get to all of these places and back as it's 26 kilometres.  Now Lynn runs marathons so that distance doesn't sound daunting to her, but it sounds down right impossible to me.  Apparently there are paths to follow but you need a guide anyway as there are lots of paths.  They had a fire a few weeks ago so some of the paths are not necessarily cleared so you need to take the road at times, and apparently you can take the road all the time.  At that point in the story I asked if I couldn't just get a ride to all these points.  They said I could but their jeep wasn't working.  I said I could go outside the resort and find a ride and suddenly they had a land rover available.  Who knew?  Anyway, that may be what I do because I really want to see all these places but I can't cover 26 km even if they give me all day to do it - and we don't have all day because we told our driver to pick us up at 1 p.m.  However, at 17,000 kwacha it is rather expensive just for a ride to two view points.

We relaxed in our room for a while, had some of the lunch that was packed for us by the last hotel since we were on the full meal plan but left before lunch, charged up some much needed electronic equipment that was running down after two nights in the bush, did some laundry, and some computer work.  We walked around the hotel grounds a bit but that was it for me.  Lynn went out for another walk in the area just to get some exercise.  I kept blogging and uploading pictures until she returned and it was time for dinner.

Dinner was on the terrace overlooking the valley and the sunset - a very nice setting.  The sun had already set by the time we got there around 6:30 and it was an incredible sunset.  We watched it from the lawn in front of our unit and one cloud just above the horizon made the whole experience worth it.  The sky was yellow then orange then pink then red and then pale purple.  And as beautiful as the sunset was, the hills across the way were also amazing.  The peaks and ranges looked like waves in the mist, like something out of a painting.  Lynn said the same about the sunset, that it looked just like out of a painting.  We were both hungry but had to stay until the end of the sunset so we didn't miss anything.

Dinner was a buffet and it was delicious.  There were so many choices it was almost impossible to choose: roast potatoes, fried rice, plain rice, nsima on starch side; chicken, beef, fish on the meat side; two soup choices and rolls; lots of cooked vegetables and salad fixing (although we're still avoiding uncooked vegetables); and lots of desserts including a lovely black forest cake and fruit salad with whipped cream.  We're also not eating unpeeled fruit so the apples had to be avoided as they weren't peeled and the strawberries, although looking delicious, were also avoided.  We had a glass of wine with our meal and it was good but it was also expensive at 1,400 kwacha.  The self-serve price at the last place was 500.   And while this was a great meal with a lot of choice, the cottage pie and vegetables at the last place was just as tasty and was enjoyed just as much.

After dinner we went back to our room and did some more computer work since their internet seems pretty good.  Then we read some and I think it was almost 11 p.m. before I shut off the light, which is pretty late for us.  Maybe we'll sleep in tomorrow.