Another night survived, although Debs did encounter a large animal when she went to the toilets in the middle of the night. By the pile of dung near the tent, we are assuming it was an elephant.
Having breakfasted, we met Ron and Jo and headed down to reception to meet our guide. A little later than planned, Henry came and introduced himself and said that he would be back with the boat in a minute. In the meantime we had been watching a baby swallow be harassed by some weaver birds. Suddenly, a grey headed bush shrike swooped down grabbed the swallow chick and flew off with it! It was all rather dramatic and not altogether pleasant to watch. If we were after the wildlife experience then we were off to a good, if somewhat blood thirsty start.
As the boat arrived at the jetty, Henry called us over and we went down to get on board. With only four of us on the boat and Ron and Jo both being keen birders it was going to be an informative trip. In the last few years we have endeavoured to learn a bit more about British birds, but elsewhere our knowledge is a little lacking. Had it been only us on the boat the conversation probably would have gone “look a bird” and “look there is a different one”, or “ooh that one's pretty”. As it was with a combination of Ron, Jo and a very informative Henry we learned a lot, which when it comes to labelling the photos we will have completely forgotten!
Other than the prolific bird-life we encountered some very large crocodiles, countless rafts of hippos and lots of elephants. It is hard to do the safari justice in words as there was just so much to see. It would certainly count as one of the highlights of our trip. Hopefully the photos will give you all some idea of what a fantastic experience it was.
Later in the afternoon Ron and Jo very kindly offered to take us for a game drive around the park. After the morning's river safari, the drive round the park didn't produce many great animal sightings, but we did get to see some elephants, impala, water buck, hippos and a lot more birds.
We also got to see rather too much of some painful biting flies, that made having the vehicle windows open impossible. It is hard to believe that something so small can cause so much havoc. We eventually resorted to spraying the inside of the car with some powerful insect killer! The dirt roads through the park eventually took us to Livingstone's Baobob tree, where he had allegedly rested within the trees hollowed out core. Strangely the tree didn't appear to be hollow, although the large creepers growing round the outside may have covered over the entrance. We didn't actually get to stop for a closer inspection as we were being pursued by an underpants clad local, who was trying to get money for a photo Jo took of him while he posed acrobatically on his boat!
Back at the camp having had a terrific day, we cooked dinner and then went to sit with Ron and Jo around their fire. Helpfully they also identified the birds in our photos, so if any are incorrectly named it is their fault or my listening! Good company and some marvellous game spotting has made for a very enjoyable stay in Liwonde National Park.
Aren't the animals wonderful to see? We are glad you did not meet any during the night.
ReplyDeletelove from Mum and Dad xx