Accommodation

The location of Bushman’s Baobabs was selected by a Liwonde expert. It is found at a quiet junction of the great Shire River and a seasonal tributary river at Liwonde National Park.

Wildlife Sightings or Relaxation or….both
To decide how best you will appreciate Bushman’s Baobabs decide first which of the following is your objective. Do you aim to maximize wildlife sightings and your enjoyment of the views over the landscapes and the river or instead must you retreat to the bush to unwind and relax? The answer to that question may depend upon whether you have many opportunities to go on safari or whether you have a short window of opportunity. Firstly, let us get some background.

Liwonde National Park – What’s so Special?
Elephants and hippos are regular visitors to Bushman’s and numerous other forms of wildlife are in close proximity or can be seen from the elevated viewing platform at Bushman’s Baobabs. Liwonde’s wildlife area is one of the top bird-watching hotspots...

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A mixed group go on a trip trip to Frances Cottage, Chambe on Mulanje Mountain. I first published this blog post here in 2011. Does a small group of young adults and a young family work for a trip like this? Why not?

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The first step, well the first step for me at least, is to find people to climb Mulanje with. One reason for that is the number one rule on Mulanje - don't climb alone. Also, the point of climbing Mulanje is to enjoy it, so therefore best to share the fun.

If you don't have anyone you know to climb Mulanje with and don't have time to wait for the right person to come along, then climb with a porter and / or guide. Mike Petzold in 'The Peaks of Mulanje Mountain' lists 59 peaks and tops. He says that he has been on the top of all but three of them, some of them several times, 'but NEVER alone.' If one of the most experienced Mulanje people is NEVER alone up there -...

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A few years ago I wrote a blog about our time in Malawi then. Now that I have resumed blogging rather than dispense with the previous written material I thought I would use some of the 'vintage' posts that are still useful. Some of what I wrote before is an introduction or was intended as part one of a series. We therefore may have some work that can be something upon which we can build.

In the meantime, let's go back to 2011.

We have just returned from a long weekend and three nights on Mulanje Mountain. Mulanje Mountain is the highest mountain in tropical southern Africa or the highest mountain in all of the band of countries running from Mozambique on the Indian Ocean over to Namibia and Angola on the Atlantic.

I have heard several people say that Mulanje is the third highest mountain in Africa. That is not true - it is far from that. Instead it is better to point out that it is one of the largest inselbergs (literally 'island mountains') in the world and the...

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I have been asked by someone whether Lilongwe is a worthwhile stopover point on a return journey between Europe and South Africa. The idea is easy access to Lake Malawi from Kamuzu International airport in Lilongwe.

I’d rather not give a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer to that question as the truth sometimes requires a bit of work. Surely the truth and nuances are friends? As this same potential visitor did say to me, sometimes when you dig a bit, you strike gold. Furthermore, why give one person a lengthy enough answer to do justice to the question when one can write something roughly similar for a blog post and therefore benefit a wider audience.

Let’s start off with some assumptions with regard to the situation of the potential stop-over visitor. The assumptions are as follows: 1/ the visitor has some inkling of the magic of the Lake of Stars, probably the best Lake in the world, 2/ the visitor has four nights to spare, 3/ they are interested in a backpacker style,...

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A few years ago a friend of mine told me that we were going to buy some land together by a National Park. We would have elephants on the lawn. There would be plenty of room for us to have seperate houses or cottages and all the necessary privacy.

He's the kind of guy who thinks, 'Look at this opportunity, I [or we] am [are] doing it.' When I ask him a question he always has a quick and clear answer, this is a useful trait for a friend to have.

I remember someone used to do impressions of me for a group of mutual friends. Eventually he was persuaded to allow me appreciate the same show. The impression involved a very long silence with someone contorting themselves into various poses all with something of 'The Thinker' air about them. Finally, with a Churchillian flourish I (or my impersonator), would deliver the kind of look that precedes a moment of momentous oratory.  Then finally I would deliver a grand total of one word: 'Yes' or 'No'.

Of course, he was...

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