Liwonde: Place of many

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There is something about the unexpected that intensifies the way you experience something. The hostels at Arundel are named after impressive rivers, Kafue, Sabie, Shire and then Junior House. Well that was unexpected and boring. Hopefully they’ve fixed that by now. Bushman’s Baobabs is on the banks of the Shire River, abutting the Liwonde National Park.

African Parks, an NGO established in 2000, is systematically taking over the collaborative management of Parks where the wildlife are in trouble. Thankfully, it seems to be a resounding success. Infrastructure is being maintained or upgraded, roads repaired and most importantly wildlife protected. In places like Liwonde, animals have returned in their droves. It’s the dry season so wildlife is concentrated around water, makes for easy game viewing.

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We chose the cheaper option an A frame permanent tent with shared ablutions. Shared is a very loose term at Bushman’s. It may mean sharing the loo paper with tiny white frogs (my worst) or bumping into an ellie while they share the vegetation shading your tent. With huge baobabs as the central feature, basic but comfortable structures have been arranged to maximise interaction with game while affording guest some privacy.

Best features, an amazingly cool pool and a platform viewing deck. Worst feature a lecherous young man who was “escorting” two young Dutch women who were teaching the local children English in 3 days. Ok,ok I’ll try be more tolerant of the do-gooders but it’s hard.

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We’d signed up for a sunset safari which started at 2:30 pm. Unexpected. Gabriel was to be the guide and Gift the driver. Let me tell you being the driver requires far more talent than you would expect. The vehicle, an ancient land Rover, held together with odd bits of wire and rope had a knack of not starting. Gift would have to first undo the rope holding the door closed, open the bonnet, (well not really it had a convenient gap in the appropriate place) then fiddle and pump coaxing the old machine back to life. Hoping the vehicle didn’t die in the middle of an escape occupied my mind.

Entrance to the parks is a standard US$10. Happy to part with that because you can really see the difference the management is making. What lies on the other side of the fence is a total surprise. Massive herds of water buck, impala, kudu, eland, bush buck, sable, elephant, buffalo and all the birds a girl could want. Gabriel and Gift soon got into the game of birds and patiently stopped on request. A first for me, an albino type buffalo. Unexpected.

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We returned to camp way after the 5pm ETA but Gabriel and Gift didn’t seem bothered. It was getting dark but hot and sticky we first cooled off in the pool. Chatting away with not a care in the world, we rounded one of the A frames and bumped into an elephant. Unexpected. Fight or flight? Margie chose flight . I didn’t choose, paralysed I sank back into the shade of the thatch hoping like hell the head shaking teenager was in fact friendly. What I do know is that I’m no elephant whisperer and would really rather not bump into them on the way to the Loo.

What a special place. We signed up for another night and settled in to enjoy what nature had to offer. This is Africa at it’s best. Unspoiled.