Vwaza Marsh

We left the beautiful Nkhata Bay on Thursday morning. We took a minivan to Mzuzu which took about 2 hours and caught another minibus to Rumphi. Once we arrived in Rumphi, we stocked up on water, snacks and peanut butter and bread which would be our meals for the next 2 days. We then finished our journey riding on a matola (possibly spelt wrong). This is a truck jam packed with people in the back. And by jam packed I mean there is absolutely no space for another foot. I had the "pleasure" of standing which meant standing behind the cab and holding on for dear life. There were two rows of 5 behind the driver standing and I somehow got wedged to the second row so I was holding on by my finger tips while we were shaken around by the terrible roads. I was almost in tears because I obviously don't have very good upper body strength and the man in front of my kept pushing back in my direction and I couldn't go any further back because my feet were stuck in between his legs.... So imagine me, holding on for dear life at a 45 degree angle! Had I slipped and lost my hold, I'd come down on several ladies and children like Godzilla on a small building... It would not go over well. Finally the man got out about an hour into the drive and I was able to get right behind the cab and adjust my feet so then it was quite enjoyable. I got talkin to a man beside me who explained the different crop they grew and how poor Malawi really is. Your probably wondering... Where was Steven?! They sat him in the back with the women and children. Apparently I look quite butch to these people hahaha. As we would go through various villages on the drive, kids and adults were yelling "mzungu" which means white person. The kids would wave so I would wave back and then they would bust a gut laughing and wave again. Adults would just smile at the scene of two white people taking the traditional ride between towns. We finally arrived 2 hours later after only driving 30km, so you can imagine just how slow we were going!! As we got out of the matola, I laughed so hard at how filthy Steven was! I found out on the way back how he managed to become so dirty!

When we arrived I was a bit nervous because of Stevens previous experience at Vwaza Marsh which led him to almost becoming a victim to the foot of an elephant and being left there alone. Our hut was really nice! Two dbl beds with mosquito nets and a porch! The side facing the lake was open except for a screen which doesn't help when the hut is made of bamboo and there are multiple gaps but still very nice place! We arrived at around 4:30 and were told that it was just us and that noone stays in the park with us but that they were just down the road if we needed them. We had a PB sandwich and sat on the patio in hopes to see some wildlife.
The lake was full of hippos so I was already scared/excited. We then saw a group of small antelope down by the lake. Off in a distance we could see a lot of dust in the air- from the elephants! This was excitement enough for me.. Hippos, antelope and now dust haha. I stepped inside while Steven ventured a little closer to the water with my zoom lens to try to get a better photo of the hippos. I come running outside when I hear him yell "THEIR COMING!!!!" I thought he was about to be chomped by a hippo for getting to close to their water but no! He meant the elephants!! He has been looking through the zoom lens so they looked really close and so he panicked a little lol. About 20 elephants came walking by the water right in front of our hut! It was the most amazing moment... Of the day! There was no power so we were in bed reading by 7 and listening to the insane noises of the hippos.

  I slept so good and woke around 6. The worker said he would bring us tea at 6:30 and then we would go for a walking safari. It was very very cold in the morning so I put on as many clothes as I could and held the tea for a long time. On our walking safari we learned lots about trees but saw no animals. Had we of waited an hour later we would have been in for a shock! We got back from the walk and some hippos came out of the water to eat, right in the area we had just walked. Them a family of warthogs came to have some water. Then two different types of antelope were spotted and then THE ELEPHANTS AGAIN!! This time they were further away and only went to the lake to drink and bathe and then head back where they had come from. Later that afternoon we watched a lone male elephant bathing himself in the same spot. We sat and watched for animals all day. When it was almost dark and I was tucking myself into bed, I heard something and it was the elephants AGAIN!! All I could see was their silhouette. A few minutes later another herd of elephants came through. These guys were competing with the hippos to see who could be the loudest. It was the most amazing sound to go to bed to. 

I slept so well that night. I had to wear pants and then shorts over those and 2 shirts, a sweater and double my comforter to stay warm but it was such a great sleep! 

We woke early for tea and then walked to the road to board another matola. This time I wa sitting facing the opposite way that we were driving. I then realized how Steven got so dirty. The dust was flying back at us as we drove. I have never been so dirty in all my life... Even after rolling in the sandbox ! This dust stuck to your body and your clothing!! 

Once we got back to Rumphi, we hopped into a minivan on route to our next destination of Chitimba, Malawi.