Vwasa Marsh & Nyika NP - Malawi

The previous night we had noticed the interior light had been left on in one of the Indian's cars so I went over to the restaurant/bar to warn them and found them sitting on the balcony looking out over the Lake enjoying their sundowners.

They were very appreciative we had taken the trouble to come over to warn them and they invited me to have a drink. I was very tempted as they seemed nice but Sue was back at the site cooking and I knew one beer would lead to more and we all know what the outcome would have been, so I took a rain check.

The next morning Panna and Vijay, the couple whose Rondavel we had plugged into came round for a chat and to look at Rupert. Amazingly they had lived all their lives in Lilongwe but this was the furthest North they had ever been and now they could see it was quite civilised they had the urge (at least Vijay did) to hit the open road and even try camping so they were looking for some tips.

Later on they pitched up again this time with a British couple in tow who they had met at the bar. The Brits had apparently just pitched up on spec looking to camp but Brett had told them the campsite was full as he was expecting a group of 13 people in later that day. This was all news to us and something we didn't relish, the site is small and intimate so any big influx like this was bound to have ramifications and how right we were.

It was a pity the Brits couldn't stay as they had been travelling in Africa off and on for many years, leaving their vehicle for 6 months at a time while they went back to the UK so we would have liked to chat about how that worked for them. However, having nowhere to stay and this being a holiday weekend they had to rush off, leaving us to await the arrival of the 'big group'.

We prayed they would just be overnighters and could fit where Brian had been as there was plenty of room there so hopefully we would not be affected! At lunchtime we had a few drinks with Vijay and Panna, Panna had brought a load of homemade Indian nibbles which were delicious so by the time we left them all we wanted to do was chill out under a tree.

At 4pm the first Landrover arrived and drove straight onto our site, parking right behind us, within seconds a second Landy had arrived, parking next to the first and completely blocking our exit. As the people jumped out I went up to see what their plans were, assuming they would move over to the space Brian had left. The two South African families were messing about on the Lake so they weren't around to see this new group arrive.

I asked the driver of the first Landy where they planned to camp and to explain they had parked in our area, he just grunted and said they were waiting for their Groupen Fuhrer (sorry Group Leader) to arrive and I would need to speak to him.  I didn't have long to wait as in drove a third Landy with the leader.

He just jumped out ignoring us and issuing instructions to his local guys, at first we were so taken aback by their total cheek that we didn't notice what was written on the side of the Landy's,  it was only when I saw the leader that the alarm bells went off. Shit, it was our old adversaries from Liwonde two weeks ago 'Livingstone 4x4 Tours DE', this was our worse nightmare!

Before I could say a word the leader just barked "move your table and chairs we want to get our stuff down there, pointing to where the Lapa and fireplace that the South Africans were using was.  No "hello, please can you move your chairs" just this terse command as if I was going to hop to.

Ignoring the demand I asked did he realise they couldn't just camp anywhere they liked especially if it infringed on other campers. His response was it is a public campsite and they will camp where they like and they always use the Lapa and BBQ (regardless of whether the South African were already set up there). To re-enforce the point one of their local camp helpers had already started to move the South Africans stuff,  laying the table for their dinner.

One of the group was your archetypical German skinhead who  looked like he would have been thrown out of the Gestapo for cruelty! He was grinning like a Cheshire cat and said "what is the problem" I said "the problem is your supposed to show consideration to your fellow campers but I guess consideration does not exist in the German vocabulary"  He just muttered  something to his lanky wife and then they and another couple started to put up their tents between us and the beach, walking backward and forwards through our camp.

I went off to find Brett or Lara but they where not around, meanwhile Vijay and Panna had returned to their rondavel and were equally pissed that the Germans were now spoiling their view as well, especially as they were paying much more and  had friends visiting them that night. They had warned us at lunch they would probably be quite noisy for awhile and we were welcome to join them, now we thought we just might and break one of our golden rules about keeping quiet in the bush.

Luckily we had already decided to eat dinner at the restaurant  so we were spared for a while the company of our Teutonic cousins. We ate at a very nice table on the balcony overlooking the lake bathed in moonlight so for a while all was peaceful. At dinner we saw Lara and complained about the Germans, she told us the Indians had already complained to Brett and he would get them to move in the morning. She told us they had had problems with Livingstone and this particular guide before with camping in front of chalets, one group had even cut up the camps towels in the bathroom - it turned out Livingstone are regular customers but they were starting to wonder if some customers are just not worth having. 

Next morning the South African families packed up and left, they had had enough of the Germans walking through their camp and monopolising the kitchen area. We had thought about heading off a day early to Vwasa Marsh but we needed to go to Kande to check emails and up load some website updates and we decided to hang around to see what Brett did about the Jerry's.

By 11am they were showing no signs of moving, then soon after Brett appeared saw that they hadn't moved and unable to find the leader asked the lanky wife of the Gestapo skinhead why they hadn't moved their tents yet. She feigned not to understand English even though she had given us a few choice comments the day before. You could see Brett was not amused and tells her to start moving their tent or the whole group would be kicked off the site, he then stormed off presumably thinking job done.

The skinhead re-appeared with the group leader and we could see she was telling them what Brett had said. They were laughing and we could see the skinhead shaking his head as if to say f..k him we are not moving. The leader wandered off under some shade and everyone stayed put. An hour later Brett re-appeared well pissed that they had ignored him. We could just hear the leader saying they only camped there because I had refused to move our stuff and told him to f..k off (which was a blatant lie) and they weren't prepared to move, we couldn't hear Brett's response but after he left the leader went to the skinhead and the other couple who had camped in front of us and at 1pm they eventually after much mutterings they started to pack up and move in the heat of the day.

Through it all I made the point of looking busy but whistling loudly the theme from the 'Great Escape'. Unfortunately I wasn't there as the skinhead and lanky wife moved their last item but Sue said he said to her 'hope you have a nice day' to which Sue smugly responded 'I already am'  that's my girl!

Soon after the two Indian families came round to say goodbye, they were heading back to Lilongwe but not before Panna left us some of their delicious nibbles. The Germans were now giving us daggers so we headed off to Kande to do Internet only to find when we got there the lines were down - doh this just wasn't our day, we were very tempted to just go back and pack up to really piss the Germans off but it was too late.

When we got back to Makuzi we found a new couple in an old Landy had turned up, Francois a pretty French girl and Jim who turned out to be from Wallasey just over the Mersey from Liverpool, at last re-enforcements had arrived! That night we packed away as much stuff as possible in readiness for an early get away next day. Makuzi had been nice but the Panzer division had spoilt it, also we didn't want to be around when their tyres deflated!

We left at 7.45am, Brett & Lara had said they were writing to Livingstone's 4x4 DE head office to complain about their behaviour but we very much doubt if it will change anything - it's in the breed. Before heading to Vwasa we needed to go back to Kande to try the internet again as after here we would not have access until we reached Tanzania, two weeks away. It was gone 11am by the time we headed North the 140 miles towards Vwasa Marsh.

The route would take us through two small towns, Mzuzu and Rumphi where we were able to replenish some of our provisions. Up to Rumphi it was on good tar so we made good time, even so it was nearly 5pm by the time we reached the camp at Vwasa. We were met by two Malawians, Nancy & Sunrise, who took us to see the camp site. We had high hopes for Vwasa but once again we were disappointed by the camp site, which was on a rough bit of ground with virtually no shade and just two ancient ablution huts some way away.

However, nearby were five reed huts with single beds and Mosi nets but more importantly little shaded veranda's with wooden table and chairs. The huts also shared ablutions but these were close by and as there was no one else around and the difference between them and camping was just US$ 5 p.p.p.n it was a no brainer not to camp. 

Soon after we moved in Patson the watchman brought us wood for the fire and Sue found a Hungry Hippo tree with pods close by so she was happy. As it was getting dark we heard Hyena in the distance and Impala and Baboon came around the camp, maybe this wouldn't be too bad after all.

Early next morning we went out for a game drive but unfortunately Vwasa is surrounded by human settlements (as are most places in Malawi) and it shows as we saw very little game apart from a few Ele's, antelope and Buffalo so two hours later we returned to camp. It was a shame there was very little game as the view form the camp was quite pleasant but even though we went out for a sundowner drive later that day there was still not much around, we were quickly realising that Malawi is not a country to visit if you want to see game - people maybe!

During the night we could hear the Ele's trumpeting in the distance but it was not enough to persuade us to stay another day so in the morning we packed up and headed off for Nyika Plateau.  We had not been that bothered about visiting Nyika as we knew it was high and therefore probably quite cool, another Zomba, but so many people had raved about it that we thought we should go and take a look.

It is only 75 driving miles from Vwasa to Nyika but all on dirt and nearly all uphill. By 1.30pm we had reached an altitude of 2,438 metres and amazingly started to see the odd Zebra and Reedbuck. It was surreal seeing African plains animals amidst scenery like the South Downs in Sussex or even the Scottish Highlands.

The camp site at Nyika is called Chilinda and we reached there at 2pm in good time to set up camp. The site has three dilapidated open sided concrete Lapa's, two of which were occupied. The site looks out over a valley and hills coated with heather so it was hard to believe we were in Africa and not Scotland. What was also immediately obvious was it was cold up here with strong winds, they other campers had strung tarpaulins across the open walls of their Lapa's in an effort to make a windbreak, if we were to stay here we would have to do the same or risk spending a very uncomfortable night.

When we walked over to ablutions we realised the other two Lapa's were occupied by Brian, Margaret, Sophie & Nan who we had met at Makuzi. Brian & Margaret were out but the two old ladies were home sheltering inside their Lapa around a fire playing cards with blankets over their laps and wrapped head to toe in coats, scarves, hats and gloves, it was still mid afternoon and sunny -  this didn't bode well  for later!

Sophie and Nan were pleased to see us, it seemed they would be  here for three weeks while Brian worked mending bridges and roads. They had been coming to Nyika for over thirty years and loved it here, we were just amazed that two frail ladies in their 80s could survive three hours out here let alone three weeks! 

The guy who looked after the camp site brought us a load of wood whilst we set up camp in the last Lapa. Brian had come well prepared with huge tarps which covered all four sides of their Lapa's. We on the other hand only had bits and pieces which we would have to cobble together as best we could but which would only afford partial shelter.

Around the camp were warning signs to put away all foodstuffs because of the Hyena yet at the same time a group of horses from the riding stable came walking through camp on their own, Nyika was turning out to be quite surreal.

Brian and Margaret returned just before dark and invited us over to join them for dinner, by now it was getting pretty cold and the wind was rising so they didn't have to ask Sue twice. Later after the other's went to bed we sat in our Lapa in front of a big fire warming ourselves with Drambui, it was a brave effort but in the end we had to admit defeat and went off to bed.

Next morning we went to explore, Nyika is certainly unusual, like diving in the Lake District Laurens Van De Post (Prince Charles old friend and mentor) described it as "where African fauna live amidst European flora" still it was unexpected to see Warthog running through bracken. Nyika is also known for it's herds of Roan Antelope, a species which doesn't occur in too many parks and if it does is usually difficult to see, in Nyika they roam the hillsides at will.

That night was even colder and windier than the last and even though we could hear Hyena close by and as unusual as Nyika is, it was far too cold and bleak for us, we must have become nesh since being in Africa as we need the heat so next day we headed North towards the border with Tanzania. Malawi had been great and different but it was time to get back to the true African bush.