Overlanding across Africa and beyond : 4x4plus2.com

Nyika National Park

Hey Ho.. but it did turn out to be a very scenic route, but only after a further 2 hours of talc hell! Nyika, why Nyika? .. we hear you ask. Well, Nyika National Park was Malawi’s largest national park; the Nyika plateau, was at an altitude of over six thousand feet, the highest in Malawi; parts of the undulating plateau with its pine plantations and moorland bore an uncanny resemblance to the Scottish highlands ..so did the temperature, at a near freezing 160C; it was, according to the Bradt guide, home to ‘the most concentrated population of leopard in central Africa’, for us the most beautiful and elusive cat in Africa; the park also allowed visitors that rare delight of being able to roam free on foot; and despite all this, it was also relatively tourist free.

After arriving at the gate, a bad bumpy road became an even worse track as we headed into the centre of the park. Climbing gradually but continuously, luxuriant African deciduous woodland gave way to the open sky and wide horizons of a rolling yellow brown moorland more usually associated with northern Europe; only the swathes of blackened tracts of the passage of wildfires, relieved by isolated rich green islands of vine clad indigenous forest, along with herds of grazing zebra and antelope gave lie to that European setting.

Chitende campsite, Nyika NP

We made the campsite near the park headquarters at Chelinda by about 5pm and were less than impressed with the’ facilities’ but loved the view. The isolated campsite was empty and very dilapidated; a recent wildfire had spared the fixed ‘shelters’ but had disfigured many of the surrounding fir trees. But we were in glorious isolation, on the edge of the Chelinda forest where this fabled ‘concentration of leopard’ was located and the side open to the rolling moorland provided fantastic unending views, a stunning sunset and plenty of scope for spotting the resident herds of game. It was dark by the time Peter returned from lighting the donkey (water heater, not adorable Eeyore!), looking like a dishevelled member of the ‘Black and White Minstrel Show’ and, after a warming supper and before retiring to bed under a duvet, blanket and sleeping bag, we were able to have a hot shower .. along with various insects and by the light of a precariously positioned head torch!

The 26th September dawned bright and chilly; the birthday boy had been up at daybreak, concerned that another year had passed and wishing he was 16 not 61.Breakfast and the ceremonial opening of THE card over, we put on our walking boots and with a picnic in the backpack set off on a moorland hike. A deep blue sky and gentle breeze accompanied us as we followed a path, one of a confusion of antelope tracks, across undulating moorland hills through a chaotic patchwork of dark green bracken, brown fern heather and yellow grasses, in what we hoped was the right direction towards a couple of small reservoirs.

As we crested ridgelines, some feeding antelope looked up and then, as one snorted in panic, they scattered towards distant hillsides; others, bolder and perhaps curious, watched our approach standing stock still, ears pricked, neck tensed and eyes fixed, until they too lost their nerve and as one joined the stampede. At the first reservoir a dirt road ran along the raised stone causeway that created the small triangle of the fir lined water, walking along it were a group of Belgians we had met the previous evening at the park headquarters.

One of them, a young woman called Maaike who ran a small orphanage in the Senga Bay area, had offered the lakeside garden of her home as a camping spot for us. What kindness, what good fortune! Senga Bay was at the southern end of the lake and on our route to Mozambique, so we had accepted her kind offer. On meeting them again we made a point of checking to see if Maaike had had second thoughts, thankfully she hadn’t and was insistent we visit her and stay as long as we wanted. We continued walking with them along the track to the second dam where they returned to their chalet for lunch leaving us to our picnic and then more glorious freedom of unfettered moorland walking. What a joy it was and how we ached that evening!

Happy hikers, Nyika NP

The following morning, after having enjoyed the rare privileged of watching slowly moving lines of that imposing, gracious and mystical antelope, the eland, wading silently and effortlessly through the low mist of early dawn and passing within yards of where we sat transfixed, we left the park. Our only regret, the lack of a concentrated leopard.. oh well, another day!

Chintheche Heaven
Heading southeast, we made our way back towards Lake Malawi and after turning our noses up at the delights of the very touristy and backpacker-ish lakeside resort of Nkhata Bay ..well, one does have standards, don’t you know!!.. we had lunch in the middle of a rubber plantation ..how bizarre!. and studied ‘the bible’. The phrases ‘huge garden’ and ‘one of the best campsites in Malawi’ leapt out of the pages of the Bradt Guide that covered lakeside village of Chintheche and the Chintheche Inn, twenty five miles further south. Right, we would try this Chintheche Inn and hope for ‘one of the best’.

It was better than ‘one of the best’; it was sheer heaven! Everything we could have hoped for; a grassy open campsite with all ‘mod cons’ was shaded by majestic and beautiful flowering trees, ran down to a perfect picture postcard white sand beach, beyond which the turquoise blue of Lake Malawi stretched, sparkling under the mid afternoon sun, past small islands out into the distance to the hazy horizon.

An overnight stop became an indulgent and supremely relaxing three days! The young temporary managers of the Inn, Eva and David, were part time overlanders, absolutely charming, full of stories and brilliant advice, particularly on Tanzania and Mozambique, and introduced us to the ‘Green’, the locally produced excellent Carlsberg lager!

We were also able to garner advice on the journey ahead from a group of young (our age and young of heart!) South African travellers, Bella, Heinz and Chris, and go snorkelling amongst the colourful fish off a nearby island with Tom, a German who with his wife ran a guest house in Lilongwe, and his young son Michael, on a long exeat from his boarding school in South Africa. Michael completely melted Liz’s heart by being the perfect gentleman; offering Liz his hand as we climbed over the boulders on the island, but then blotting his copy book somewhat by encouraging her to join him in jumping off a cliff into the lake ten feet below! Oh, and we had a broody wagtail problem, they had decide that underneath the spare tyre on the roof rack was the perfect nesting site, we didn’t agree! For two days we removed twigs, grass and bits of roots and for two days they replaced them twofold before finally getting the message!

Peace and Quiet in Lilongwe
We left our lakeside idyll early on the 30TH September and by mid afternoon, having negotiated a series of police check points at each of which we had ‘senior moments’ ..unable to remember where we were coming from or going to!.. we had arrived in the capital city, Lilongwe, a tale of two cities: the old town a noisy, chaotic, cramped and colourful area full of street traders that reminded us so much of those cities we had passed through in West Africa; the new town with its government offices, embassies and wide jacaranda lined avenues, a complete and boring contrast. Unbelievably we found the perfect campsite right in the centre of the city; alongside the river that separates the old and new towns and surrounded by the one hundred acre wooded tranquillity of the Lilongwe Nature Sanctuary. Re-entering the Sanctuary all the noise and hubbub of the city faded into nothing to be replaced by bird song by day and the call of hyena by night.. yes, hyena!. and to top it all, the Sanctuary Lodge was managed by a friendly young ex Marine Commando, a Liverpuddlian (Alex and Jeni please note!) called Steve.

Maaike’s Orphanage
We spent three hectic days in Lilongwe: Liz celebrated her birthday; at long last we booked our flight tickets from Dar es Salaam to Bangalore; and by the end we had Mozambican visas in our passports. We left Lilongwe on the 3rd October, drove to the fishing village of Senga in Senga Bay, found Maaike’s lakeside villa and set up camp in her extensive and very pretty garden that ran down to the lake shore. Fishing boats, nets and fishermen filled the beach and every evening it became a hive of activity as canoes were loaded, seemingly precariously, onto boats, seemingly over laden with men and canoes, before disappearing out onto the lake, where the canoes would be deployed with their lanterns to attract the fish.

Kunyumba and,from (l) to (r),Mtima,Maaike,Sarah and Ruthie

The rented villa acted, by day and during the working week, as the Kunyumba Orphanage (www.kunyumba.org); kunyumba means ‘new home’ in Malawian and it had only been in existence for one month and was largely funded by the philanthropy of the parents of Maaike’s German friend and co-worker, Sarah. As the Trust was in its infancy there were only six children, orphaned and most mentally or physically handicapped, that were cared for by Maaike (fully qualified to organise and conduct the care for such difficult and demanding charges) and Sarah; caring for a handicapped child is virtually a one-to-one requirement and fortunately they were helped by a local retired nurse, a woman by the name of Kingless and by Memory.

From the left, Memory, Lexa and Kingless with baby Missi, Kunyumba

Memory ..what a lovely name.. was a pretty young fifteen year old girl, who had already been through the mill: her father deceased and her mother in South Africa as an economic migrant, leaving Memory to care for her six year old sister, Lexa, and blind grandmother. As a result of Maaike’s and the Trust’s efforts, Memory was due to go on to secondary education at a boarding school in the near future and the Trust had made arrangements for the care of Lexa and the grandmother.

The first night we were there a farewell party took place for Sarah who was to flying back to Germany to earn money that would enable her to return to the orphanage nine months later. Her parents were returning shortly after the New Year. We spent four days at the orphanage getting to know Maaike, becoming increasingly impressed by her dedication to this full time commitment and her natural gift for communicating and emphasising with those in her care.

Ruthie holding baby Missi, Kunyumba

We became very attached to this small group of children: seven month old baby Missi, whose mother had died at child birth ; Ruthie who was mentally handicapped and had difficulty walking (a recent email from Maaike let us know that dear, sweet Ruthie is now using a DIY wooden walking frame, and absolutely loving it. Bravo Maaike!); Mtima, a rather sad little ten year old mentally handicapped boy who had been tied to a tree for most of his life by his parents, to preventing him from wandering into danger, he was quite a handful and constantly needed watching; Sem, a ten year old boy whose parents had died and had been looked after by his grandmother until she too died, and, probably as a result of all this trauma, he was unable to talk; and, of course, little orphaned Lexa.

Maaike’s Nick
We departed the Trust’s orphanage on 7th October hoping to cross the border into Mozambique that afternoon. We left behind a Maaike who was both saddened to see us go and a little disturbed that she would now be alone, but not for long! Her English boyfriend, Nick was coming out from Oxford..to prevent confusion with Louisa’s Nick, he was known as Oxford Nick..and would be arriving a few weeks later. Maaike and Oxford Nick were obviously an ‘item’ and after hearing Maaike talk about him, Liz was wondering what hat to wear for the wedding and hinting that she was hoping for an invitation!! Maaike, thank you for the chance to see at first hand the Trust at work and your dedicated commitment to getting this wonderful project off the ground.

Maaike and Mtima, Kunyumba

Mua Mission
It was a humid and very hot journey to the border. Initially passing through rich farmland that could not realise its full potential due to a failure to create a viable year round irrigation system, despite the proximity of the lake, we then followed advice in the Bradt Guide (yes, again!) and stopped at the Catholic Mission in Mua. The mission, with the rift valley escarpment rising above it and its mix of modern mural decorated buildings and the original 1902 graceful red bricked mission was delightful; as a result of the Mission having been a key training centre for wood carving over a long period, we were keen to see the results on display in the art centre. The carvings, particularly those of the human form by a gifted carver, who had completed commissions for the Norwegian Royal Family amongst others, were stunning. Peter who has a ’thing’ about wood carving was in raptures at the quality of the craftsmanship, and managed to buy a couple of small (a pre-condition set by a Liz muttering ‘oh no, not more’!!) pieces ..unfortunately any work by the ‘royal woodcarver’ was out of our price range.

Mangochi to the Border
Leaving Mua we continued south to the town of Mangochi, some three miles south of the lake and sitting on the only river that draws its water from Lake Malawi, from here the waters of the Shire River join that of the Zambezi and so dashed Livingstone’s hope that in Lake Malawi he had discovered the source of the Nile. Before we leave Malawi and its cheerful and charming people we should point out that this was in fact a ‘liver’, they, like their compatriots in Zambia just cannot pronounce an ’rrr’! Sheer hell for those hard of hearing (Peter!) trying hard to decipher the undecipherable: African English speak coming at a hundred words a minute!

On a more serious note, we came across a number of overlanders who clearly felt Malawi and its people were a complete basket case and living off world aid. We don’t agree, Malawi is no longer a food aid black hole; carefully targeted advice and aid has expanded the distribution of free fertilizer and hybrid seed (GM by any other name and fast becoming the saviour of African agriculture) to farmers, boosting food production to such an extent that Malawi has become, for the first time, an exporter of maize and, according to both the World Bank and Action Aid, Malawi ranks fifth (after Brazil, China, India and Ghana) in a league table of the world’s countries to have done the most to leduce ..sorry, reduce!.. hunger. Well done little Malawi, ‘The Warm Heart of Africa’!

Roadside advert,Selima enroute Mua Mission

Having refuelled both tanks and stocked up on food, Northern Mozambique’s supply of both was an unknown quantity, we crossed the Shire Liver and climbed the lift (OK..no more L’s!) valley escarpment on a hairpin road that gave us spectacular final views of the lake until we finally reached the top, turned east and headed towards the border town of Chiponde.

*** END OF MALAWI JOURNAL ***