Malawi P-Global: Summer 2015: Vwasa Marsh: Home of the Hippopotomuses

The thought of leaving Malawi without observing some of its local wildlife would be tragic, so Bernard scheduled a trip for Jonathan, our driver, Derek and myself to Vwasa Marsh. Vwasa is a national wildlife preserve on the border of Malawi and Zambia and is one of the best places to see hippos!

After a 4 hour drive through northern Malawi, swerving on many asphalt and dirt roads, we arrived at a small gate. The guard there checked us in and told us directions for picking up a park ranger to ride with us, in our own (well, Diocesan) vehicle through the park. Let’s just say that there were many stretches of road that we were not sure were passable, but that Jonathan can figure out how to drive anywhere!

We found an armed ranger to ride with us at the main headquarters just inside the gate of the preserve, which has a large fence stretching around it to the Zambian border. It is meant both to keep animals in and poachers out. However, some nearby villagers who do not have indoor plumbing or access to safe water are allowed to use the river inside the park for any of their needs. Though it would be incredibly difficult, there must be some beauty in being so close to the wildlife (along with some danger).

Starting off, the ranger listed a few animals we might look for as we drove through the rocky dirt of the forest. He said usually people see elephants, lions, warthogs, and always hippos. At first it was difficult to peer through the trees and even the smallest movement of a leaf made us jump! But, eventually we decided to divide the labor—Derek took the left and I took the right—so that we could be sure to watch as much as possible.

Our first glimpse of life were the many biting deer flies that swarmed our van and perched on our windows for a ride. Finally though we happened on some small monkeys swinging in a dry tree. Soon after, we saw in the road ahead of us several warthogs (Lion King!) followed by some guinea fowl. Unfortunately, we did not encounter elephants, though we did encounter evidence of them…tracks and droppings littered the trails.

For the final portion of our tour of the preserve, we drove towards the river and lake, the home of many, many hippos. As soon as we approached, we could see large gray lumps littering the scene and then heard the pig-like noises the lumps were making. Sure enough they were hippos! Apparently, hippos are fairly non-aggressive, so our ranger walked with us to the edge of the water over the cracking, muddy ground. Once there, not a single hippo took notice of four curious humans, until the ranger blew a whistle and we were afforded a collective groan!

After a picnic stop inside the park, antelope and impala sightings, we headed back to Mzuzu. That evening, we enjoyed a delicious home-cooked dinner with a woman we met at St. Mark’s who is also a member of the local Rotary club. This woman, Elizabeth, was a nurse by profession who received her degree from a school in Israel in the 1960s. After that, she spent time traveling and living throughout Africa and Asia with her family before returning and settling in Malawi once again. It was a joy to exchange stories!