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Liwonde National Park
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| Liwonde
National Park: At about
110km south of Club Makokola along the banks of the Shire River is
the Liwonde National Park. The park covers an area of 450sq.km, the
Shire is the only river that flows out of Lake Malawi and is the
Zambezi most important affluent. Livingstone explored it in 1859 for
the first time. It was used for a long time as a means of
communications between the interior and the sea. The rapids that
divide the river into upper and lower stages and the continual
change in the level of the water always made it very unreliable. The
fact that with the arrival of the railway the use of the river was
abandoned helped preserve for us the unspoiled habitat that is now
the Liwonde National Park.
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Elephant on the Shire River
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| The Park is relatively small by comparison to other African
parks, but its habitat makes it an interesting place to visit. It
changes from marshy plains covered in reed along the banks of the
river to turn into open savannah to then become thick mopani forest
as the ground starts rising into the foothills of the Shire
Highlands. The park is home to hundreds of different bird species;
some of them are very rare. In the river live hundreds of hippos and
crocodiles, elephants come to the river to drink and play in the
water. With luck you can see huge herds joining together at the
water. Recently an ambitious project has been sponsored by J&B
Whisky ‘Care for the Rare’ program where rhinos have been
reintroduced. They are also working on reintroducing, wilder beast,
buffalo, zebra and roan. In abundant supply are puku, impala,
waterbuck, warthogs, leopard and hyenas.
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The major attraction of the park is the possibility of
doing boat safaris. The boats are about eight meters long and are
built locally in wood and have an outboard motor, the design is
copied from the old slave dhows. They are comfortable and being
shallow draft ideal for navigation on the river.
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| A boat safari lasts about a couple of hours, it is possible
to see many of the birds fishing and nesting along the riverbanks.
The boats usually have some resident swallows the make their nests
under the shade canopy. Sunbathing on the sand banks are crocodiles
of all sizes from the babies a few weeks old to giant monsters over
six meters long. The largest is known as Mr. President and he is
often seen in front of the Mvuu
Camp. Hippos are everywhere both in
the water and on the banks. In the clearings heard of antelopes come
to graze on the fresh green grass. The most exiting thing is to see
the large herds of elephant come to drink and play in the water.
Boat safaris are a totally different experience from the more
classical game drives; they enable the visitor to see the animals
and the bush from a very different perspective and are an excellent
opportunity to take some very unusual pictures.
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| The route to the park is along a tar road that passes by
the town of Mangochi before going southwards along the shore of Lake
Malombe passing though small fishing villages. Here it is possible
to see the local fishing industry that provides for about 70% of the
protein consumption of the nation. The fish are put to dry in the
sun on racks made of reeds. It is then packed in sacks and taken to
the urban markets. The smell of dried fish will tell you when you
are about to arrive at one of these villages. These villages are
more prosperous than most other villages you will see. Their extra
wealth is apparent from the brick buildings all gaily painted with
murals advertising products. At the town of Ulongwe, we take a turn
off onto a dirt track, which will lead us to the river. It is about
a fifteen-kilometre drive though some rural villages and fields. It
is possible to see the African rural life of woman pounding maize,
building houses or attending to the fields. On arrival at the park,
the car is parked in a clearing under some trees. A boat will arrive
at the little embarcadero to collect the visitors and ferry them
across to the Mvuu Camp on the other side. After checking in and a
drink the boat safari starts. On returning from the safari lunch is
served at the camp. There is the time to relax and have a look
around before setting off for the return trip to Club Makokola. On
the return trip it is possible to stop to buy some of the baskets
that are for sale on the roadside. There are a large variety of
baskets, tablemats, hats and toys to choose from. Popular are the
loafas, natural vegetable sponges that grow in great abundance in
this region. Some of the baskets come in handy to double up as an
extra suite case in case you need more space to store you purchase.
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