27th July. Lilongwe, Malawi

Hi there, sorry on the delay in getting this posted. Have been away from connections fdor a week and it is all dial up here in Malawi. Too slow to add photos.

18th July, Rumphi, Malawi.
The early missionaries found the shores of Lake Malawi a deadly base due to the prevalence of malaria. But above them rose the western escarpment of the East African Rift Valley and on finding a good water supply, moved to the top of the range. Malaria is not present over 2,000 metres. They called the town Livingstonia, named, of course, after David Livingstone. The road they built rises abruptly from the edge of the lake up the precipice. It’s a good road, rough in places with many hair pin ends but a credit to their road building expertise. Dr Robert Laws was the force behind the settlement. The building began in the early 20th Century and extended to a hospital as well as the church. The town now has a university as well as other institutions. Pulling up to the museum we were surrounded by a group of Irish visitors who were so enthused to see some Australian visitors. Sixteen of them, they were there to help construct a building at the local school. Before we knew it we had a coffee in our hands and standing for a photo shoot. They were such an exuberant crowd.
From there we travelled a further 100kms on to Rumphi where we had been told a camp site was available in the grounds of an orphanage situated on the outskirts of town. The Matunkha Orphanage is quite amazing. Set up by a Dutch couple some 10 years ago the number of orphans they cater for have swelled from about 200 to over 2600 today. Aids is the cause of most of the parent’s deaths and now they rely on grand parents and foster parents to house them of a night while they come to the school at the orphanage during the day. There are also many living at the orphanage as well. There are many volunteers visiting that help run the place but Matilde and her husband are the driving force behind it all. But theirs is just one of the many orphanages in this part of Africa that provide help to the many children suffering the loss of their parents. It is a major problem.
19th July. Nyika National Park.
Close to the Zambian border, this park resembles the Scottish Highlands so much you expect to see a red deer wander across the horizon at any time instead of an eland. Set on a plateau there are a few copses of trees but most of the rolling hills are treeless with a short grass and bracken cover. Many types of antelope are in the park as well as jackals and hyenas. As I write this I have had a knock on the door to tell us a hyena is prowling around. This is one of the few parks where it is safe to walk around. Before the park was gazetted plantations of conifers had been planted as an income earning venture. That was over 50 years ago and these are now being harvested after which the land will revert back to its original state. Alongside the camp site is one such plantation, Aerial, the bloke keeping an eye on the camp has spent the whole day cutting firewood so the 5 lots of campers can have roaring fires to keep the cold out. It is much appreciated, the night is cold.
20th July Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve.
Talk about cold. It was freezing. We were caught out somewhat. The frost was heavy on the ground in the morning. We left the park early and travelled back the way we came and have stopped off at this game reserve known for its elephants. We took an evening drive and didn’t see the herds but came upon one feeding in the middle of the road. The trees were too dense for us to creep past; we waited for 15 minutes watching him grazing away. He (or she) then noticed us and strolled along the track towards us. I don’t think it was that big as far as elephants go but when they are 15 metres away any full grown pachyderm looks pretty massive. I think he was just inquisitive because after eye balling us for a few minutes he turned away and headed into the bush. As we passed him he let out a trumpet and took off. He was very impressive.
21st July, Lake Malawi
Away from the cold for a short while enjoying the lake shore. Low surf, white sand, no bilharzia, it is very nice. We stopped off at the largest northern Malawi city, Mzuzu to stock up on a bit of food. There are small supermarkets in Malawi, a nice change after Tanzania where outside the major cities there are no larger shops, just little shops selling the same thing. Another thing we are appreciating here is being able to buy the bread that we are used to. Further north often all you can get is that sweet loaf which is bloody horrible.