Wowee Malawi
Trip Start
Sep 09, 2006
1
10
Trip End
Nov 24, 2006
Kande Beach,
Malawi
Monday, October 30, 2006
Yesterday we took a boat out to a tiny nearby island where we spent an hour snorkeling. During our circumnavigation we observed dozens of varieties of cichlids, the dominant fish which is unique to this lake. This was truly like swimming in a fresh water aquarium because cichlids are very popular with aquarists. Diving deep to the sandy bottom, I saw the shallow craters averaging six feet wide that are the work of male cichlids keen on finding a mate. One mouthful at a time they move what I make to be on the order of ten cubic feet of sand. Later we were fortunate to see a large female with her brood swimming about her. As we approached she darted about, gathering scores of her tiny offspring in her mouth for safekeeping. With stillness and patience we thought she might let them out again, but we were not able to earn her trust.
Before coming here we got a ways off the beaten path to reach Zambia's South Luangwa National Park. Getting there and away required ten bone rattling hours of travel over a rutted potholed dirt roads. The occasional paved stretches provided welcome relief, but only teased us. Fortunately, these hours of pitching, rolling and washboarding along are the worst stretch of road we'll encounter.
It is South Luangwa that I expected to be the highlight of the northern half of our overland trip. It did not disappoint, providing us with two particularly dramatic pieces of wildlife viewing.
During our morning game drive we watched from twenty yards a male lion feeding on a cape buffalo that he and his nearby compatriot must have taken down only shortly before. Lapping at the blood that stained his face, he seemed not very hungry. His lack of appetite was confirmed at dusk when we returned at dusk. I hoped to find that hyenas had replaced the sated lions. Instead, a crowd of vultures squabbling over the very limited access they had to the carcass, as the lions had not eaten much and the vultures were not capable of piercing the buffalo's tough hide. It was a grotesque, but mightily compelling sight.
As night fell, the spotlight man began scanning the trees and brush for the mopane forest's nocturnal creatures, particularly the elusive leopard. After a couple of uneventful hours of this I had closed my eyes and begun to doze. Coming to a sudden stop, I awakened to the sight of two leopards, quite a surprise given that they are solitary hunters. As they say, it takes two to tango and as we watched, they did - twice! With each mounting there was a bite to the scruff of the back of the neck and a roar for the finale. Pretty hot stuff.
On the way back to camp we came upon a lioness standing astride the narrow road with a small, fresh wound on her foreleg. Though we crept up on her, she seemed almost oblivious to our presence, not budging an inch. Finally, unable to wait any longer, our guide began to squeeze the Land Rover around her on the left side of the road, putting less than a foot between her and our open vehicle. As a body, we all shifted left.
Between our AM and PM wildlife dramas, Dana and I arranged a village tour for five of us. Billy, our wildlife guide, invited us with evident pride into his home of fired earthen brick, the roof thatched with grass bundles. With the recent addition of a second bedroom, the home was perhaps 150 square feet. I suspect that Billy is a relatively prosperous member of his community and thus can afford to have his home electrified by a lead-acid battery which powers a boom box and a small TV. The kitchen is a detached round hut with a half wall to cut the wind and a similarly thatched roof. Inside are a place for an open fire, very basic cooking and eating utensils and basins for dishwashing. Potable water is relatively convenient; a hand pump is only a couple of dozen yards away.
Billy and his wife have two young children, with a third on the way. When asked, Billy without hesitation says that they will have no more. His will be a small family, as five or six children are about average here.
Billy's village is atypical of the hundreds we've passed on our route through Zambia, as many people have an opportunity to earn money through tourism-related jobs. Much more common are the villages that rely upon subsistence farming and have very limited opportunity to participate in the cash economy.
Tomorrow we begin three consecutive travel days, during which we will round the northern end of Lake Malawi, turn east to cross Tanzania to Dar Es Salaam and then three nights on the island of Zanzibar.
