Bushman’s Baobab – Liwonde National Park

We’re not really sure how to begin describing the three days and nights we have just spent in Liwonde National Park in Malawi….our first African safari experience feels quite surreal and truly magical and we are only too aware of just how lucky we have been. 

Sunset at Bushman's Baobab

We have spent our time just outside the small town of Liwonde at a place called Bushman’s Baobab, which sits right against the border of Liwonde National Park on the banks of the Shire (pronounced shiree) River.  The owners of Bushman’s Baobab, a Malawian man named Pious and a Zimbabwean woman Sarah, have done a spectacular job creating a welcoming and relaxing environment that acts as an extension of the National Park.  Bushman’s Baobab consists of a small number of beautifully simple, open-air huts (some tented, some solid structure) with grass-thatched roofs; a dining hut and recreation hut.  We were booked into a Safari Tent, however on our arrival Pious and Sarah let us know that they had upgraded us to one of their new Chalets – the height of African bush luxury!!  There is no electricity on site though each evening a central campfire is lit, as well as many hurricane lamps, to provide some lighting – though walking around at night is not encouraged as the camp is often frequented by herds of elephant and hippo grazing beyond the National Park (the poor mango farmers in the nearby villages don’t often have much luck keeping fruit on their trees for this very reason!).  We have been amazingly well fed across three meals per day, have felt so welcomed by all of the staff and had many interesting conversations with other guests.  On our last night, we were the only guests remaining at the camp – we felt so privileged to have some quiet time to ourselves.

At first light on each morning during our stay, we were taken on safari tours of the National Park by jeep and canoe where we witnessed baboons, impalas, elephants, warthogs, hippos, crocodiles, waterbucks, buffalo and sables in their natural environments – amazing!  Here's a few snaps to share with you though we've also uploaded further photos from our time at Bushman's Baobab onto our Flickr page. 

Warthog on the banks of the Shire River

Hippo, Shire River

Buffalo, Liwonde National Park

Waterbuck, Liwonde National Park

Each day, as the morning sun reached full strength, we were then taken back to Bushman’s Baobab to spend the day reading, eating and snoozing and experiencing more of the local wildlife.  On our first morning at Bushman’s Baobab we had just got comfortable with our books in the shade outside our huts and were just starting to doze off when Alick heard a branch breaking behind us.  On looking up, we found a herd of about six elephants had settled into graze in the reeds about 20 meters from our hut.  This became a regular occurrence over the next three days and our afternoons have involved wandering over to have some ‘me-time’ observing the elephants grazing along the banks of the river at regular intervals.   

Elephant across the river from our accommodation

More elephants!

Lying in bed during the evenings we were treated to a chorus of elephants and hippos coming by to graze, grunt and otherwise converse.  On our first day here we were warned that if the elephants approached our open air huts during the evenings, the most important things to remember were to not scream or use flash photography so as not to alarm the elephants – thankfully the elephants didn’t come close enough during the evenings for us to need to heed that advice! 

Bushman’s Baobab has also recently partnered with an organisation called IFAW (who work to conserve the Liwonde National Park and deter poachers) to fund the Chinguini Trust Mchire Children’s Centre, an early childhood centre for the local villages just down the road from Bushman’s Baobab.  On Monday morning, after our canoe safari, we spent some time at the Children’s Centre talking with the manager, Gilbert, some of his volunteers and singing with the children.  The Centre has been operating for nearly three months now, though the biggest challenge is the student numbers - the Centre was based around funding for 30 children under 5 years old, however between 60-70 children turn up each day.  We spent some time talking to Gilbert, and were really interested to learn more about his views on getting further support from the local communities and church groups to ensure the centre’s sustainability at a local level, rather than being dependant on international aid and donations.  As a local man with a passion and educational background in HIV awareness and support, it is also Gilbert’s aim to have the centre’s teachings grounded in student education about HIV prevention and promotion of social inclusion strategies for children who are HIV positive.  We were both incredibly inspired by Gilbert’s interactions with the children and approach towards the children’s centre and are keen to be updated about future developments with the Children’s Centre.

Mchire Children's Centre

All in all, our time at Bushman’s Baobab has been a truly unique experience and one that will be sure to stay with us for some time – we are so thankful to Alick’s dad Simon, and of course Kate, for helping to arrange such an unforgettable few days. 

From Liwonde we made our way to Blantyre where we’re now spending a few days with Kate and Dom and getting and even greater sense of the work they do (having now experienced their fantastic destination recommendations in Nhkata Bay, Cape Maclear and Liwonde).  As ever, news from home is welcomed and thanks to everyone who is commenting on our posts – apologies we’ve not yet had a chance to respond given our intermittent internet access over the past week or so!!!