Our time at Njaya Lodge had been lovely and tranquil but eventually we tore ourselves away and returned to Lilongwe. This involved the usual exciting bus journey. The first leg, Nkharta Bay to Mzuzu, was in a pick-up full of bananas and included an unscheduled stop at a police roadblock. Unfortunately our driver's insurance was out of date and he was hauled away by the police out of sight of the mzungus. I was expecting a severe beating or electrodes on the testicles at the very least, but he soon returned cheerfully tearing up the ticket. A small 'tip' for the police had sorted everything out.
We spent the night at a resthouse in Mzuzu and got up early on Sunday to catch the 7am express bus to Lilongwe. Despite the normal chaos at the bus station but we found a biggish looking bus with 'Lilongwe' written on a board in the windscreen. I stepped up and asked the driver if this was the express. He said yes it was, 450 kwatcha (about four pounds) each please. We paid up and sat down. Ten minutes later I saw a bus which was clearly the real express drive past the entrance. The lady next to us confirmed this and said our bus wouldn't be leaving until it was full.
H and I went over to have a shout at the driver. It was too late by then, of course, but it made us feel better and started a lively discussion amongst the other passengers. They broadly split into two camps: the irate women ("You should not cheat the mzungus!") and the more sanguine men ("Business is business."). The driver kept his head down and looked suitably abashed.
After an hour the bus was full and we set off. Forty five minutes later, inexplicably and to the great delight of our driver, we overtook the express bus labouring up a hill.
I find Africa maddening and wonderful in turn. All you can do is sit back and go with the flow.
The remainder of the journey was uneventful apart from a chicken falling on to my head out of the roof rack.
We only had an afternoon in Lilongwe. This was just as well as we'd exhausted the entertainment options after half an hour and spent the rest of the day in the bar of the old colonial Imperial Hotel.
Our real reason for coming back to the capital was to travel across the border into Zambia's South Luangwa National Park. In terms of accessibility and sheer numbers of game, South Luangwa is one of the best wildlife parks in Africa and offers a wilderness experience that the parks in Malawi can't match. We had booked a tour with Land and Lake Safaris, and were at their office early on Monday morning. Our guides were Godfrey (a Zambian) and Eric (Malawian). Our fellow passengers consisted of three Finnish girls and an expat couple and their 16-month-old baby.
It was a long, hot, dusty drive to the Luangwa valley. It was still the rainy season and once we had crossed the border, the road deteriorated into a pot-holed, track. Even with the two large four-wheel-drive Land Rovers we were rarely able to get over 30km/hour.
But the journey was interesting nonetheless. We swept through small towns with traders frying chips or selling sugar canes and peanuts by the side of the road. We saw small boys struggling on their bicycles with huge bags of maize flour - the staple food here. At one point our vehicle got a puncture. Godfrey and Eric jumped out and changed the wheel with practised ease. Five minutes later we were on the move again. For them this was just another trip along another African road. The expat couple, who were surprisingly unprepared for the journey, helped by complaining the whole way. The baby was fine - it was the parents who did all the whining.
Nearing the Park, the track suddenly turned into a tarmac road. This was the route the Zambian President used when taking his guests to see the wildlife, so of course it was well-maintained.
We were all relieved to reach the camp in late afternoon. The lodge was situated just outside the Park in a serene spot overlooking the Luangwa river. Families of baboons played in the trees and we could see hippos wallowing across the water.
Early the next morning, Godfrey took us into the Park in search of big game. Perched on top of the Land Rover we had an excellent view, and soon came across herds of elephant. They always seemed a bit annoyed at our arrival. Most would turn their backs on us in disgust but occasionally a large, tusked female would trumpet at us in anger. There were tall, languid giraffe who stared at us with utter surprise and would then carry on munching. There were colourful birds and skittish antelope such as impala, and puku.
We did two game drives during the day and saw some amazing wildlife. I was more than happy, but Godfrey didn't seem satisfied. He kept shaking his head and muttering about how quiet it was. He was most disappointed that he hadn't found any lions and joked that he would have to send lots of emails to the relevant authorities that night to see if they could organise something for us tomorrow.
Back at the lodge we had an excellent dinner. It turned out that Godfrey used to be in charge of the anti-poaching strategy in the Park. He would lead teams of armed men into the bush and, camping out at night and tracking the poachers during the day, they would try and ambush them in the act. It was dangerous work and many of his men were injured and even killed.
The expat couple kept wanting to talk about breast-feeding, and how clever their baby was at managing regular bowel movements. The baby baboons could manage regular bowel movements too, but I wasn't expecting them to be intellectuals when they got older.
The next day Godfrey was clearly on a mission to find some lions for us. We covered a lot of ground and did just spot the rear end of a female disappearing into the bush. Unfortunately she refused to come out and give us a proper look.
It was on the final drive of the trip that Godfrey triumphed. We went back to the place where we had seen the female in the morning. And there with the sun setting behind them, lay two very content, well-fed lions. We got quite close but they completely ignored us. As far as these beautiful, powerful creatures were concerned, we were of absolutely no threat. In a hushed silence we watched them pad about.
Godfrey drove us back to the lodge with a happy smile on his face. The emails had clearly paid off.
