My first adventure…Part 1

The M1 on market day.
Actually, this picture really doesn't
do it justice. It was much more chaotic.

My first Malawian holiday was a sort of working holiday. The Burn unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre was celebrating its 20^th anniversary and hosting a conference on burn care in Malawi.  Several of the residents and clinical officers from Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH—where I work) were headed down for the conference and Laura and I decided to go the weekend ahead and make a short vacation out of it. We set out on Saturday morning and drove south out of Lilongwe. On our way south, we passed through a small town during market day and the entire road came to a standstill while people, goats, cows, trucks, and oxcarts wandered back and forth across the “highway” between vendors. Granted, the “highway” is a two lane road, but still.

After some momentary confusion trying to find the correct road (the sign said take the next left, but there was no left turn…why?), we made it onto the M8 towards Liwonde. Liwonde is a small town near the Liwonde National Park, a game reserve with some of the best hippo and croc viewing in the region. Instead of the riverside camps offering the delightful opportunity to be eaten by a croc while walking to the toilet (well, probably not, but you never know) we chose “Bushman’s Baobob”, which wasn’t on any of the maps, but exists on the internet, therefore must exist in real life (right?). According to the directions, we were supposed to drive through Liwonde, turn left near the bank, turn right near the public library (apparently those exist here) and follow the signs to the park. Remember, this is one of the biggest parks in Malawi. Are you picturing it? This is where we ended up…

We made it!

After driving for what felt like three and a half years on the roughest dirt road ever (seriously, I think the Mars rover has an easier job) we finally made it to the camp! The camp was actually perfect. Lots of camping tents nestled among the baobobs, complete with attached toilet/shower (before you think we were living large, like Madonna when she visits, the water for the shower was pumped directly out of the river and was dark brown and smelly).  There was also a tree stand with an excellent view of the river and, not to be outdone by the nearby “Hippo Lodge”, many hippo prints throughout the camp.

Hippo prints.

Our tent nestled amongst the baobobs.

A few more guests arrived after lunch (including a doctor couple working with Partners in Health in Malawi who were taking a break after hosting Paul Farmer for a tour of the site…yes, Paul Farmer was in Malawi and I missed it. Sad) and we joined them on a safari drive through the park.  We saw lots of impala, kudu, waterbuck, and various other buck-type creatures, along with warthogs and lots of birds. We saw one elephant, in the distance, but I think it was a little too hot for them.  Once again, no big cats (honestly, I’m starting to think that lions only exist in zoos).

The mighty Baobob.

After the game drive, we relaxed with dinner and drinks and retired to our tent for the night.  Just before I fell asleep, something came thundering through the campsite, which sounded like a dinosaur, but was probably a hippo.  I contemplated sticking my head out of the tent to get a look, but I don’t really want to get killed by a hippo, so I decided against it.