Southern Malawi header: Lilian's Lovebirds

Itinerary - part 2: Lake Malawi and Lengwe

(Continued from Part 1)

The next place we went to wasn't somewhere I'd have chosen to go, but Vitty (my wife) was keen to visit Lake Malawi and do some snorkelling, so we headed up to Cape Maclear. We stayed on the lake shore at Fat Monkeys. Not really my cup of tea, but when you're married to a non-birder I guess you have to make a few compromises now and then!

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Lake Malawi at Cape Maclear, 18th May 2011

 

Even the busy complex where we were staying held a few birds...

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Little Bee-eater, Cape Maclear, 18th May 2011

 

Nearby Otter Point was where Vitty and Susannah went snorkelling. Lake Malawi is famous for snorkelling and they were not disappointed!

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Lake Malawi at Otter Point, 18th May 2011

 

I wasn't tempted by the snorkelling myself, and what was supposed to be an enjoyable birding stroll in the woodland around Otter Point was instead spent unsuccessfully fending off a pair of enterprising locals attemtping to sell me their wares. Eventually I did get a little birding in and enjoyed my first Pearl-spotted Owlet.

Susannah was to play in a concert in Blantyre on Saturday night and had to be at a rehearsal on Thursday, so next we headed back south to Blantyre, Malawi's second largest city. Here we stayed at another of Susannah's friend's house - which was especially kind as he wasn't even at home himself! On Friday morning we headed south to Lengwe National Park - a place we didn't manage to fit in on our 2008 visit and one I was keen to see as, being at the southern extremity of Malawi, it holds a few species that aren't easy to find elsewhere in Malawi (among those we saw were Crested Guineafowl and Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills).

To get to the National Park you have to drive through an extensive sugar cane plantation - ostensibly poor birding habitat and yet it provided a number of good birds including Southern Carmine Bee-eaters and Namaqua Dove.

Lengwe was a strange place - excellent for wildlife and a high standard of accommodation (I think it was the only place we had air-conditioning in the rooms for example). But I can't help thinking they could do so much more with it. The tracks round the park weren't well maintained meaning we couldn't get round the whole park and I wasn't overly impressed with the knowledge or interest that the staff had in the wildlife that was surrounding them. Still, that didn't spoil it, and we had an excellent time with some great birds and mammals.

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Southern Ground Hornbill and Impalas, Lengwe National Park, 20th May 2011

 

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African Hoopoe, Lengwe National Park, 21st May 2011

 

The water holes here proved good for birds and one of them in particular was fantastic for game, giving good views of speciality Sykes' Monkey (often called Blue Monkey, but apparently now considered to be a different species) and Nyala:

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Sykes' Monkey, Lengwe National Park, 21st May 2011

 

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Nyala, Lengwe National Park, 21st May 2011

 

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African Buffalo, Lengwe National Park, 21st May 2011

 

On the first evening here we attempted to take a circular route back to camp at dusk. Soon after darkness had fallen the track we were taken became very overgrown. This was no problem for Susannah's car, but what was a problem was when the track was so badly overgrown we could see where it was any more! We reluctantly opted to turn round and retrace our steps along the now much longer route back, but in the process of turning round we lost the track we'd just come along! By this time we were having visions of spending the night in Susannah's car among the Buffalo and whatever other dangerous animals might be out there, but eventually we did find the path and headed back the way we'd come.

On the way back we paused briefly as I spotted a Bronze-winged Courser in the headlights - a nocturnal bird which, whilst not uncommon, can be hard to locate. A much appreciated change in fortune!

Close to Lengwe is Nyala Park, a place famous for its introduced wildlife such as Zebras and Giraffes. Preferring to see truly wild animals this wasn't a place high on our priorities to visit, but as there are some interesting birds here too and we had a little time spare when we were passing the entrance we decided to have a quick look. However the guy on the gate wasn't able to convince us that in the limited time we had available we stood any realistic chance of seeing anything interesting, so we decided it wasn't worth the entrance fee this time. If we'd had longer it looked like it might be a place worth visiting, but not this time.

Back in Blantyre on Saturday night we went along to the concert Susannah was playing in, put on by the Blantyre Music Society. The Society clearly has some very talented musicians and I don't suppose Flanders and Swann would object to the localisation of "Mud, mud, glorious mud" to incorporate the banks of the River Shire instead of the Shalimar! Again we stayed at Susannah's friends house, Dr Malcolm Molyneux, who was also singing in the concert, and were grateful to him for his food and hospitality.

 

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