15 June, Wednesday Livingstonia and Nyika Wildlife Parkround
We wake up with a beautiful sunrise over the lake and are back on
the road early, because there was little packing to do. The road stays close to
the Lake and the vegetation is thick, lush and tropical green. We pass through
small villages where all kinds of goods, food, fruit and veggies are on display
on ramshackle tables made from wood and straw. What I really appreciate is the
way produce and even goods are being displayed: tomatoes arranged in little red
shiny pyramids; brown potato columns; corn-on-the-cob fans tied together at the
stems; orange carrot triangles…The originality is endless and I learn much from
the pride taken to display the produce in the best possible way in the midst of
such simplicity. Plastic buckets hang from stalls in a colorful arrangement
inviting you to come and buy.
Daily life happens beside the road: goats graze and chase one
another around where women sit on the ground peeling vegetables, spreading maize
on plastic tarps to dry in the sun; washing clothes in big, round, plastic
containers; men are repairing turned over bikes with which they transport huge
white bags stuffed with coal or animal feed. Bikes are the popular mode of
transport in Malawi and we drive for kilometers without seeing any other
vehicles which is a welcome reprieve after Tanzania and Kenya where trucks and
taxis are everywhere. People mill around the street stalls where they bargain,
barter and buy. Children = Malawi = children: 50% of the 12 million population
is under the age of 15! Babies sit on their mothers’ backs from where they can
safely watch all the activity; toddlers play in the dust; others, all different
ages, sit around in groups, play or often, depending on the time of day, go to
or come from school.
Livingstonia, our next stop, has a fascinating founding history.
The famous explorer, David Livingstone stumbled upon Malawi when he returned to
Africa in 1858. His original route up the Zambezi was blocked at Cahora Basa and
he found a major Zambezi tributary, the Shire, which brought him to Lake Malawi,
which he called Lake Nyasa, in 1859. Livingstone, with a group of missionaries,
returned in 1861 to establish a mission in the Shire Highlands. Livingstone’s
death inspired a flow of missionaries to Africa and in 1875 the Free Church of
Scotland built a mission at Cape Maclear, called Livingstonia. Because the area
was malarial the site was moved to a high escarpment where the present day
Livingstonia finds itself.
At Chitimba we take a narrow dirt road that gradually snakes,
turns and curves higher and higher – a 15 km arduous climb with a kaleidoscope
of constantly changing, endless panoramic views over the lake, valleys and
mountains. I’ve not sat on top of
the car probably since 2003 and Andrej and I climb out…it is an awesome
experience…I rock and roll with a tenacious hold on the railing and jerry can.
We duck and dive for the trees and as far as we crawl up and on the views
change constantly, growing deeper, bluer, higher and vaster…I enjoy it so much
and feel as if I’m 30 years old again! I will probably feel it tomorrow in all
my muscels.
It is difficult to imagine that there is a thriving little town
on the top of the mountain when you are in the process to reach it. Once on top
the find is amazing: colonial style houses, wide dust roads under the shade of
big trees. The town exudes a peaceful and tranquil feel and it feels as if
you’ve stepped back into time. We stop at the Mission Church, established by Dr
Robert Laws, in 1894. The church has an unusual stained glass window showing Dr
Livingstone with 2 companions, his medicine chest and sextant with Lake Malawi
in the background. We meet Israel, the friendly church custodian who shows us
around and also leads us up the creaky dilapidated wooden stairs of the clock
tower from where one has a beautiful view of the surrounding area.
We take a slow, bumpy back road from Livingstonia to go to Park
Nyika. The roads are badly corrugated and ¾ of the way there Willie wonders if
we should have done this. It is late and from the entrance gate of Nyika it is
another 60 km to the camp. We are this far though, so we decide to aim for our
end destination. Park Nyika is known for its stunning views and the last 10 km
through rolling hills, valleys and grasslands. Andrej and Hugo sit on top of the
car as the sun starts to set and the change of colors as the night starts to
swallow the light is breathtaking. What makes it even more gorgeous: as the sun
disappears in the west a full moon takes over to bathe the earth in a soft,
luminous glow. The air is quite nippy and forces us back into warmer clothes.
We reach our campsite after dark, but with the help of the camp
warden finds a spot and he quickly has a fire going for which we are very happy.
There are warm showers and we go to bed early after a nice meal. Willie hears a
rustling in the grass and in the full moon we see the outline of a huge hyena
about 20 meters from where we are. We have to hide our little stow-away, Sammie,
because we are not sure that he is allowed in the park. All the strange smells
make him more alert as well and he lest out a bark in the quiet of the night –
the one time that we would not have wanted him to make himself known!
We wake up with a beautiful sunrise over the lake and are back on
the road early, because there was little packing to do. The road stays close to
the Lake and the vegetation is thick, lush and tropical green. We pass through
small villages where all kinds of goods, food, fruit and veggies are on display
on ramshackle tables made from wood and straw. What I really appreciate is the
way produce and even goods are being displayed: tomatoes arranged in little red
shiny pyramids; brown potato columns; corn-on-the-cob fans tied together at the
stems; orange carrot triangles…The originality is endless and I learn much from
the pride taken to display the produce in the best possible way in the midst of
such simplicity. Plastic buckets hang from stalls in a colorful arrangement
inviting you to come and buy.
Daily life happens beside the road: goats graze and chase one
another around where women sit on the ground peeling vegetables, spreading maize
on plastic tarps to dry in the sun; washing clothes in big, round, plastic
containers; men are repairing turned over bikes with which they transport huge
white bags stuffed with coal or animal feed. Bikes are the popular mode of
transport in Malawi and we drive for kilometers without seeing any other
vehicles which is a welcome reprieve after Tanzania and Kenya where trucks and
taxis are everywhere. People mill around the street stalls where they bargain,
barter and buy. Children = Malawi = children: 50% of the 12 million population
is under the age of 15! Babies sit on their mothers’ backs from where they can
safely watch all the activity; toddlers play in the dust; others, all different
ages, sit around in groups, play or often, depending on the time of day, go to
or come from school.
Livingstonia, our next stop, has a fascinating founding history.
The famous explorer, David Livingstone stumbled upon Malawi when he returned to
Africa in 1858. His original route up the Zambezi was blocked at Cahora Basa and
he found a major Zambezi tributary, the Shire, which brought him to Lake Malawi,
which he called Lake Nyasa, in 1859. Livingstone, with a group of missionaries,
returned in 1861 to establish a mission in the Shire Highlands. Livingstone’s
death inspired a flow of missionaries to Africa and in 1875 the Free Church of
Scotland built a mission at Cape Maclear, called Livingstonia. Because the area
was malarial the site was moved to a high escarpment where the present day
Livingstonia finds itself.
At Chitimba we take a narrow dirt road that gradually snakes,
turns and curves higher and higher – a 15 km arduous climb with a kaleidoscope
of constantly changing, endless panoramic views over the lake, valleys and
mountains. I’ve not sat on top of
the car probably since 2003 and Andrej and I climb out…it is an awesome
experience…I rock and roll with a tenacious hold on the railing and jerry can.
We duck and dive for the trees and as far as we crawl up and on the views
change constantly, growing deeper, bluer, higher and vaster…I enjoy it so much
and feel as if I’m 30 years old again! I will probably feel it tomorrow in all
my muscels.
It is difficult to imagine that there is a thriving little town
on the top of the mountain when you are in the process to reach it. Once on top
the find is amazing: colonial style houses, wide dust roads under the shade of
big trees. The town exudes a peaceful and tranquil feel and it feels as if
you’ve stepped back into time. We stop at the Mission Church, established by Dr
Robert Laws, in 1894. The church has an unusual stained glass window showing Dr
Livingstone with 2 companions, his medicine chest and sextant with Lake Malawi
in the background. We meet Israel, the friendly church custodian who shows us
around and also leads us up the creaky dilapidated wooden stairs of the clock
tower from where one has a beautiful view of the surrounding area.
We take a slow, bumpy back road from Livingstonia to go to Park
Nyika. The roads are badly corrugated and ¾ of the way there Willie wonders if
we should have done this. It is late and from the entrance gate of Nyika it is
another 60 km to the camp. We are this far though, so we decide to aim for our
end destination. Park Nyika is known for its stunning views and the last 10 km
through rolling hills, valleys and grasslands. Andrej and Hugo sit on top of the
car as the sun starts to set and the change of colors as the night starts to
swallow the light is breathtaking. What makes it even more gorgeous: as the sun
disappears in the west a full moon takes over to bathe the earth in a soft,
luminous glow. The air is quite nippy and forces us back into warmer clothes.
We reach our campsite after dark, but with the help of the camp
warden finds a spot and he quickly has a fire going for which we are very happy.
There are warm showers and we go to bed early after a nice meal. Willie hears a
rustling in the grass and in the full moon we see the outline of a huge hyena
about 20 meters from where we are. We have to hide our little stow-away, Sammie,
because we are not sure that he is allowed in the park. All the strange smells
make him more alert as well and he lest out a bark in the quiet of the night –
the one time that we would not have wanted him to make himself known!
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