August 27, 2016
Our tent at Sausage Tre Camp
Giant Kingfisher on the breakfast bar at Sausage Tree
This morning we slept in until 6:30, had breakfast at the railing again, then went for a lovely canoe ride/paddle down the Zambezi. I mostly rode with Richard paddling while I took photos of birds and scenery. Mark and Hastings paddled together. In what seemed like a short time we were at the place where the speed boat picked us up to return us to camp.
The distance was much longer than it seemed as the downstream drift went very quickly, at least 6-8 miles per hour, while the speed boat ride took quite a bit of time to bring us back to camp. Ashley met us at the dock to inform us that we would be picked up by boat and taken to lunch at noon. Another treat was in store. Back in the boat, Richard motored us to
Mark and Hastings canoeing on the Zambezi River.
a water covered sand bar about a mile downriver, where three staff had set up a sunshade, and laid out a table, chairs, linens, flatware and glasses. On a second table was a bar setup with a pitcher of premixed Pimm’s cocktail. We were served piping hot chicken pot pie, green salad, mixed rice and warm bread. We happily ate it all and the chocolate parfait they served for dessert as well. Many years ago we had had similar experiences on the Zambezi when we were on a 5-day canoe trip on the Zimbabwe side of the river. Then, however, there were no linens and no sun shade and we carried our lunch with us. Such delicious luxury this is.
Luxurious lunch on a wet sand bar
This afternoon we again passed on any activities. We have had plenty of excitement. Ashley and her husband, Yuri, the co-management team at Sausage Tree invited us to join them for dinner at 8. We accepted. For the rest of the afternoon, Mark read and napped and I worked on the blog as best I could with snail internet service. It takes ages to upload even one photo and half the time an error message pops up before it is finished and I have to start over. I finally gave up and hung out with Mark until dinner. I thought these elephant images were interesting enough to include them here even though they taken a day earlier on the game drive.
Elephant grazing on tree leaves
Odd to see an elephant’s front teeth
Yuri and Ashley saying good bye. Sausage Tree dining hall and veranda are in the background. Zambezi River is behind them. Yuri and Ashley were good conversationalists and we talked a lot about their history. Ashley is multi-generational Zambian, although she looks and talks like her British ancestors. She considers Zambia her country even though she does not have Zambian citizenship. She has the same mentality as other Africans that we spoke with, including John and Julius, who feel responsible for any less fortunate relatives, including distant cousins. If a cousin asks you for help, and you have the money, you must help them even if it means your own children may not have enough for their education. We found this true with every African we asked. It is not surprising that so few Africans get ahead financially. Their sense of responsibility overrides any other need. Both John and Julius said they would be called “bad men” if they did not help when asked, regardless of their personal dreams and plans. Because they had good jobs, they were considered to be well off. Both men were more concerned about being called “bad men” than with giving up some money.
Yuri, on the other hand, is white South African and has even older ancestors there. He, however, has little sense of responsibility toward the larger family. If he has funds to spare then he will help, otherwise he prefers to save for his own needs and those of his immediate family. There is no stigma about being bad if you do not help distant cousins. Much more western attitude. They have still in their 20’s and married less than a year. They love being camp managers, especially in such a nice facility as Sausage Tree. We studied the stars for awhile, with Yuri pointing out the Southern Cross and Scorpio, then we were off to bed.
August 28, 2016
One last breakfast at the bar overlooking the river and we were off on a boat ride upriver in the party barge to look for birds and fish. Saw nothing new in the way of birds, so decided to try our luck at fishing. While I practiced my casting, rarely getting the correct wrist action to cast very far,
Mark dropped a line in the water and left the pole alone. Sure enough, he got a bite and had a good fight pulling in the tiger fish. It was difficult getting the hook out of his piranha-like mouth, but at last Richard got the weighing gadget on it, Mark held it up and I photographed him with it. All of 4 kgs. Then, as required in the National Park, we let him go. We drifted back to camp, feeling like we had had a successful morning. We took one last shower, finished packing and had lunch. After lunch we said good bye to Ashley and Yuri, jumped into the speed boat and retraced our path 30 minutes to the unmarked spot where the Ford truck is stored under a canopy and drove another 15 minutes to the Jeti strip, where a mixmaster plane was waiting for us. The plane ride was another 30 minutes back to Lusaka. There we learned that the scheduled flight was waiting for us and would we hurry up, even though we were not late according to the schedule. Once we were all on the full plane, it took off 15 minutes early. The plane was very cramped and hot, but the flight lasted only 1.5 hours and landed in Lilongwe, Malawi.
\
Welcome to Milawi. We have just arrived in our 26th African country. Our guide, Eddie, was waiting with a Suzuki suv to take us to Kimballi Lodge in the outskirts of Lilongwe. The drive was 45 minutes mostly in the dark. Many buildings were not lit and only a few street lights. Eddie told us the country did not have enough electricity and rolling blackouts occurred everywhere except on the street where the president lived. Wouldn’t you know, our lodge was also on the same street, so we had power until after we went to bed.
August 29, 2016
It wasn’t until after breakfast the next morning that we saw the scenery where we were staying and began to learn about Malawi. We were at a country inn on a very large dairy farm with pleasant grass and tree covered grounds around the inn, separated from the cows and paddocks by a green hedge. On a walk about, I met the owner of the property, Guy Pickering, who told me he had 600+ hectares and kept 100 cow calf units, 140 sheep and 150 goats along with a very large vegetable garden. He employs 300 people and is doing well except for the effects of a 4 year drought the whole area is suffering. The population of the Malawi is 18 million, more than double what it was a few years ago and way too many for the land to absorb, according to Guy. He says he stays away from politics, but he sure has strong opinions about our government, as well as his own. He is in favor of Trump. Wants to see a shake up in global politics. Fortunately, I had to leave just then as Eddie arrived with the car. He did tell me that Madona stays at his Inn every time she comes, which is once a year. He seemed proud of that.
Then we began our 4+ hour drive from Lilongwe to Pumulani Lodge on Lake Malawi. Eddie drove us through part of the city, which has 250,000 people in a hugely spread out area. Few high rises, built mostly by Chinese investors.
World War I and II Memorial, with first President, Hastings Banda
Birdseye view of Lilongwe, capital of Malawi
At my request for a good view of the area, he took us to the World War’s I and II Memorial with a statue of the first Malawian president and long time dictator, Hastings Banda. The guardian opened up the place and walked us up the 130 steps and ladders to the top. A bit uncomfortable, I was happy to let Mark take the photos, while I sat on the edge with the wind blowing furiously. The view was not worth the trip, BUT it was an adventure, so no complaints.
THe two common ways of getting around are bicycling and walking. Most do not have cars.
Markets are local and open air
Back in the car we slowed down for me to take pictures of locals walking on the roadside, marketing their wares, visiting and doing what people do who have no vehicles and must walk everywhere and transport their goods on their heads.
A typical village. Everyone must be at the market
Wash day at the river
Eddie said the people do not like tourists to take pictures of them as they think we will sell the photos to make money. I had to snap quickly as Eddie did not want to stop or slow down much. We have not had this experience in the recent past and were surprised, until Mark looked up the information that Malowi is the 8th (221 out of 228) poorest country in the world. Almost at the bottom of the list. As he talked, we learned that he is not particularly happy with his lot in life, unlike the other guides and drivers we have had on this trip. He is 35 and has a wife and 4 children.
Finally, the 4 hour drive having dragged on for 5 hours, we arrived at Pumuloni Lodge. We said good bye to Eddie for two days, and met the lodge managers, Josh, from South African and Crystal, from France. Crystal escorted us to our sod covered house.
Inside our long and thin, sod covered house. There are 16 like it in the facility
Long and thin, every room has a full glass view of the wooded hillside and the lake. The entrance gives way to the living room, which gives way to the huge bathroom followed by the bedroom. The place has air conditioning, full time electricity, very hot and cold running water and a coffee service. There is a public, infinity swimming pool overlooking Lake Malawi, a large fire pit, outdoor veranda and dining area AND fairly decent WiFi service at the bar.
At 4:30 all 6 of us guests went out on the lake for a sunset ride on the resident dhow. Unfortunately, the sail was not put up and the motor was on the whole time. Not the slightest bit romantic, we passed the time visiting with the British family of 4 with 2 nearly adult teenagers. Later, cleaned up for dinner, we enjoyed a lovely meal of curried lamb. I did manage to get a post off before bed.
August 30, 2016
Ant Lion larvae
Ant Lion hole-about an inch in diameter
During our early morning bird walk, we saw only a few birds, but I was taken with the Antlion. It is a tiny insect you may not know. It is in the larvea stage until it eats enough to pupate, which can take many months to years. During the dormant time it traps ants in its hole and eats them. The bigger the hole, the hungrier the antlion. It is like a lion to the ant, who is unable to get away as the lion kicks sand onto it until it tires and quits trying to get away. When it finally pupates, it transforms into a dragonfly like creature looking to mate. As an adult it can live about 25 days, but is rarely seen as it flies at dusk or in the evening. If you take a thin twig and stick it gently in the hole, the lion will move and you can see it and pick it up as our guide did. In the image on the right it is on the sunny edge of the hole where we dropped it.
After the walk, which lasted about a hour and ended up back at the Lodge, we had breakfast and then joined the British family for a speedboat ride to the back side of a nearby island where we could snorkel in a protected area. The water was cool, but not cold and the fish were wonderful to behold. We learned that there are more different fish in Lake Malawi than any other lake in the world and that the same can be said for the variety of fish in Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika as well. Each has more different fish than any other lake including each other. Go figure.
Anyway, you will have to wait for more about the fish. It is late and I am tired and I see that the formatting has gone weird. No idea how to fix it.
Tomorrow we leave Pumulani for Mambo Island, where we will have no electricity. Hopefully, we will have wifi at our last stop before returning home and I will be able to complete this saga.
Adventures with Julia 