Malawi has a few national parks worth checking out.

The nearest to Lilongwe is called Liwonde, and is reputed for its hippo and elephant populations. Right now it is the low season for safari’s because it is the rainy season, also known as the Green Season, which makes spotting wildlife more difficult not only because of the abundance of foliage that gets in the way but also because there is water everywhere and the animals don’t have to congregate around water sources like they do in the dry season. March 3 is a holiday here, and since Lindsay and Andrea are heading back to Boston at the end of April, we decided to seize the opportunity presented by a long weekend and take our chances. JJR, Cole and Claire (a WUSC volunteer who arrived a couple weeks ago, is from Vancouver, will be staying for as long as I am, and who is friends with my former roommate Anique) also came.

After about 4.5 hours crammed onto a local minibus, we arrived at our lodge, and decided to stay in their dormitory, which was located along a long path behind the main lodge. The dorm building was one large room, with bunkbeds and no electricity (which we didn’t realize at first, much to Andrea’s horror, but she was a trooper).

I would normally hate a dorm set up, but it was ok. The toilets were a short walk away and there was a very nice outdoor seating area that we claimed as our own where spent most of our time laying around under the thatched roofing. At night, we played charades by candlelight and told ghost stories, and there was a guard stationed outside our dorm to make sure nothing ate us while we slept (or more likely, while we made the twice nightly exodus’ to the toilets). I have been very lucky in the richness of my safari experiences and have seen quite a lot (the serengetti kinda does that) so I didn’t join in on all the activities that the other “newbies to Africa” did (ie. Canoeing safari) but did go on a night drive and was very pleased to see over 15 hippos out of the water grazing. I had never been so close to hippos out of the water and it was cool. We couldn’t help but laugh at them though because their bodies are so fat and their legs so short so their butts would waddle and shake as they ran away from our spot light and it was pretty humorous. Unfortunately we didn’t get to spot any elephants, so the hunt still continues for Lindsay and Andrea, since their time is running out. We will see what we can do to fill that gap Easter weekend.