Friday, July 3, 2009

Lions and Tigers and Bears . . .

Well, not quite. But there is lots of other wildlife to see at Mvuu Camp and Wilderness Lodge. http://www.eyesonafrica.net/african-safari-malawi/mvuu.htm

On Wednesday, July 1st, Sandy, Moses, Miriam and I took off for the Mvuu camp to do a mini-safari. Little did I know it would be a nearly 5 hour drive -- some of which was on a winding, very pitted (and deeply gouged in some places), dirt road that went through several villages. Clearly some of the villages are benefiting from renewal projects. The village 'streets' were well compacted dirt and the homes were quite elegant, given some of the villages we have seen. The roofs were thatched, though. Not many tin roofs. That being said, you can tell there was a degree of prosperity operating here.

I've learned that a tin roof costs about $350 for a typical two-room home. Seems like a pittance, but it is well out of reach for many of the villagers whose annual income may be below US$200 a year. Even thatched roofs can be pricey for some. I can't tell you the number of homes we see that look completely built, but people can't move in because they have no roof. Bricks, it seems are fairly cheap, or they can be "home made," but the materials for a roof need to be purchased.

It took about 45 minutes travel about 15 Km (roughly 9 miles). Sandy did a remarkable job keeping the axle intact.

We arrived at Mvuu just in time for lunch. We got all settled with Moses and Miriam in their high chairs. As we waited, Sandy turned toward Miriam who was sitting next to her, and the next thing you know a vervet monkey hopped over the stone wall and grabbed one of the pieces of bread off Sandy's plate! The monkey looked up and Sandy, took a quick second thought and grabbed the second piece as well before scurrying over the wall.

Most of the buildings at Mvuu have stone walls with canvas, tent-type tops. The chalets (where we slept) have mesh windows. The dining hall is completely open all around -- an open invitation to monkeys and birds, it would seem.

After lunch we had time to relax before heading off on our land safari. Along with another family we piled into a jeep and began our sojourn. Our guide Julius was very knowledgeable, and he was the first of the guides to find the elephants that day. Oh my! What a sight.

It turns out elephants are pretty destructive creatures. The villagers and not particularly thrilled to have them roaming free. If they can't find a path to where they would like to go, they just make their own, trampling grown trees and anything else in their way. I didn't know elephants ate the bark off trees. I know it now. I have no idea how they do it, but they must have a way of grabbing it with their snout and stripping the tree bare. Wallpaper should come off that easily.

Elephants, it seems, are pretty civilized warriors. Two elephants were competing for the top of mound of shrubbery. One elephant took off and the other was left standing, King of the Hill. Our guide, Julius, told us that when elephants fight and one walks away, that is the end of the fight. Hippos, on the other hand are not so kind. According to Julius, when hippos get into a contest, they fight to the death. If one runs away, the other will pursue him (or her) until the deed is done. So much for the happy hippo theory. Hmmm. I wonder what Presbytery they belong to.

Mvuu means hippo in the local language, Chechwa. The camp is named Mvuu for good reason. We saw more mvuu than anything else but we did see many other animals: waterbucks, antelope, impalas. We saw a porcupine who was not the least bit amused by the attention. His (or her) quills stood right up when s/he realized we were in the neighborhood. We saw mongoose (mongeese?) and a great assortment of birds, most of which were lost on me. They have something like a gazillion species. It's a bird lovers' paradise.

The next day we had a short boat safari where we saw more -- y0u guessed it -- hippos. Hippos are nocturnal animals (who knew?), so there were whole families sleeping in the water, none to happy for the disturbance, I am sure.

Oh! The bonus is we saw crocodile! Apparently they don't come out when the weather is cool, but we managed to spot a few (good ole' Julius!). I'd upload the picture, but even I'm having a hard time picking them out from between the reeds.

All-in-all it was a great trip and I'm really glad Sandy was willing to make the trek. It is not easy doing these long drives on the roads here -- with two year old twins in tow! Sandy is an amazingly strong woman.

And it is officially confirmed. I am a city girl. I love being in God's great wide creation -- for short periods of time. In the immortal words of my dear friend, Stephany Crosby, "I don't do camping very well any more," and you could hardly consider what we did "camping."

That being said, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Anyone up for lions and tigers :-)

1 comment:

  1. You're a strong woman, too! Enjoy, relax, enjoy (while you're lucky to be there)!

    ReplyDelete