Wild Thang

So the adventure of Nyika….The original plan was to leave Rumphi by 8:30am Thursday morning, after picking up the farmers in 7 different communities and the supplies for meals. The drive was estimated to take about 3-4 hours, so we’d complete the tour Thursday afternoon, stay overnight at the park at the youth hostel camp and head back early Friday morning.

So Thursday morning, I got up at 6, got ready, breakfasted, and sat…. and waited.. and waited. I’m pretty used to things not starting on time here, but by 9am I started to get concerned. No worries though, 9:30 the truck showed up, and we made our way to Rumphi. Unfortunately we ran into some set backs gathering the necessary supplies, so by the time we actually managed to hit the road it was 10:30.

Back up the bumpy road I’ve almost gotten used to by this point, and this time, we take that turnoff towards Nyika Park. When we arrived at the gate entrance we took the necessary bathroom break before tackling what the sign said was the final 60kms to the lodge at the centre of the park. At this point it was noticed that we had a problem. The minibus we had hired for the trip was leaking oil…badly. About half an hour later we managed to trace the problem back to a connecting hose that was leaking from both sides. Luckily we had our truck, and there was a mechanic and some tools with which to improvise not too far into the park. It was, however, going to take at least an hour or two to repair, being in a bit of a tricky position.

So, trying to make to best of a bad situation we assembled the group, and began a discussion about what exactly they were hoping to get out of the trip, and to think critically about the conservation and resource management projects they’ve been running in their communities.
Actually, I got to facilitate the discussion, which was the first time I’ve been put in a leadership position for RUFA, which was both exciting and a little scary at the same time. It went well though, and although I still needed someone to translate for me, the crowd could pretty much understand me between the English they had and my hand gestures, lol.
Thanks to my training with EWB, I had the additional thought to take advantage of the fact many of them were from different districts and we organized them into small groups to share problems and best practices while we distributed refreshments.

Hugely successful, and they expressed an interest in setting up a future meetings every couple months to continue this practice, so we began to discuss the best way of doing that. At this point though, it was almost 4 o’clock in the afternoon, so we agreed as many people as possible should go ahead in the truck to at least prepare some dinner and prepare camp before dark, and then, if the minibus was not fixed, the truck could return for a second group.

Thankfully not more than hour later the mini bus was fixed and the rest of us could finally actually cross the boundary into Nyika Park. As we began the sloping and winding road up through the forested area the setting sun cast the most spectacular light across the landscape. But once it completed it’s decent into the horizon, we were not left in darkness, as luck would have it, it was a full moon, and a clear sky. So while the roads got more treacherous, the first glimpses I got of the sweeping grasslands were by moonlight, and the first wildlife we could see were the owls and rabbits scrambling to get out of the way as we barreled down the dirt roads.
Three hours later we finally made it to the camp – 60kms my ass. We found out later that they post that so tourists don’t get scared off, but it’s actually more like 160 kms.

After watching some films about Nyika parks and waterhole footage, we scarfed down some dinner and hit the sack. I’d been told it actually gets quite cold at night at Nyika because of the high altitude and weather patterns, but I haven’t been able to gauge what’s really considered cold here yet, as sometimes it’s not even cool by Canadian standards and people will complain of the cold. But this time, they meant it, I was so glad I’d brought my fleece sweater, but was kicking myself for wearing sandals instead of socks and shoes. Luckily, after crawling underneath a couple blankets, warmth returned and sleep took hold.

The next morning, we breakfasted, had a brief discussion with park extension officers about their programs, and ventured out into the park, at first in vehicles and then a small loop on foot to try to get closer to some of the animals. I won’t bother trying to put into words the beauty of the place, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, it literally moved me to tears. And yes, I hate to be so cliché, but from the moment I entered the park, I totally had ‘The circle of life’ from the lion king playing in the back of my mind.

After a quick lunch and a wrap up discussion about Nyika and its history, we began the long trek home, which was thankfully this time, quite uneventful. After 10 days traveling back and forth to Hewe, and two days in Nyika park I’m quite ready to stay in one spot for a few days. Tomorrow I’ll journey into Mzuzu to post these entries and run some errands, but Sunday is football day in my village and the boys I live with will be playing on home ground in their league, so I want to be here to root them on. Monday we leave for Bolero for 17 days or so to complete the next round on meetings with the VDCs in that district, so it might be a while before I get back to the internet, but I’ll probably have multiple entries prepared again so you can read them at your leisure in the meantime.


I hold you all closely in my heart and in my thoughts on a daily basis, and hope all is well with you, take care, chat soon. ~m

AHHH -- pictures are taking too long to upload, sorry you'll have to wait till next time!