Mvuu

Hello All! I apologize for my delay in posting this blog. I spent Monday in the HIV clinic, and then helped Shant in the kitchen yesterday evening, so I was totally exhausted last night.
We had a blast this past weekend at Mvuu Lodge (Mvuu means Hippo!!)! I was so happy because all 8 of us were able to go, so e had some nice bonding time together!

We arrived back from Mvuu Lodge on Sunday evening, to a note from Terrie asking us to help her clean up the house and prepare food because we were having 18 people over for dinner. Soon after her call we also discovered that we had no water. It was funny because I think, as our minibus neared Blantyre we were each visualizing an evening of hot showers and lying around reading and sleeping, and instead we had to switch gears and start tidying up the house. It was quite inpressive, we all pictched in and prepared a lovely spread for the guests, and survived without water until the next morning. Terrie said that there is no rhyme or reason to when or why the water stopps running, it just gets shut off every once in a while for several days at a time. Most of Blantyre was without water for the entire weekend, some for the whole week.

Our trip began on Sat morning. We were up early and ready to go at 7am. To get there, we rented a mini bus and a driver. Mini buses are the main mode of public transport around here. They are basically a large van that seats 9 people plus a driver and a passenger who typically finds passengers by yelling out the window at people walking by. Ours was not yelling out the window because we hired him specifically to drive just us. The minibuses are known for being cheap, and driving fast and recklessly. I never felt unsafe, but some of my roommates were less than pleased! I must have a higher tolerance for danger ;)

Finally, after a few screams, laughs, white knuckles and possibly even prayers, we arrived at Liwonde. From there we took a boat up the Shire River to Mvuu Lodge. The boat ride was about 45 minutes long and perfect! Mountains lined the river and there were hippos everywhere. Emily said that the Shire River is home to the highest density of hippos in the world!



Sneaky hippo:




Here is a photo of the boat ride to the Mvuu Lodge:




After the boat ride we pulled into the dock at Mvuu Lodge. The first place we were escorted to was the dining room. This was in a large hut that was perched on stilts about a story above the ground. From the dining room we had a perfect view of the river and we immediately spotted a crocodile. After lunch, we were shown to our rooms. There were two people in each room. The rooms were beautiful. Every cabin overlooked the river with its own balcony, and we even had outdoor showers!

Angela and I shared a room at the lodge. Here it is:





Saturday afternoon we set off for our first safari drive. We saw lots of impalas and warthogs. Apparently warthogs eat on their knees because their necks are too short for them to reach some of the really tasty bits of grass!



We also saw more kudu, a few elephants and water bucks. There is a sanctuary within the park where zebras and rhinos are being bred then will be reintroduced. We did see four zebras outside the sanctuary. A few years ago, 3 zebras escaped...and now thee are 4!! I guess they know how to survive in the wild!!


Here is a photo of the 8 of us:




A pretty tree:







Sunday was awesome. In the morning, we got up early to go for a walking tour in the park. We didn’t go very far but it was cool to see all the trees, flowers, and tracks in the sand close-up. None of the animals came very close but we did see impalas and water buck.

Waterbuck:




Then after lunch, we embarked on a water safari. The first thing we did was explore the small river that flowed in front of our cabins.

Krikey! It's a croc!



We saw tons of hippos, and lots of birds including the Fish eagle which is the national bird of Malawi & King Fishers.


King fishers:






Then our guide somehow spotted some elephants several miles away. We took off towards them. It was incredible. There were at least 50 elephants including a bunch of young ones. It was crazy to get so close to them. Most of them just hung out and watched us. They were eating and washing. About a hundred yards up river we saw one elephant get into the river almost completely. Our boat just hung out there for a while and watched the elephants and got some amazing pictures.





Me getting closer to the elephants!


Momma & baby:



I have to go now, but overall, it was an amazing weekend. The lodge was beautiful The river and the elephants were unbelievable.

love you!!