Tuesday, 30 September 2014

Days 69 to 72 – Makuzi, Malawi

Makuzi is one of those hidden gems in Africa that you find by chance. Last time we were in Malawi we went from beach camp to beach camp to try and find the best spot and settled on this one and strangely enough, when Lisa was looking for somewhere to book for them to stay she chose the same one. It is just below Chintheche where Wilderness Safari has a camp but Makuzi is tucked into a little bay with rocks, white beach sand and the most beautiful huge shady trees to camp under. The lodge itself is a little rustic but very charming and Laura and Brett, the owners, are such interesting people and good hosts.

Laura's mother bought the place about 18 years ago and started to develop it into a lodge but was tragically killed in a Hang gliding accident when she was only 45 years old. Laura then took over the place and she and her husband Brett and their two boys have run it since then.
The water in Lake Malawi is very clean, clear and you would honestly think you were on the ocean with sand, waves and sea water but this is so much nicer because it is fresh water and there are no sharks. There is however the occasional crocodile and so I was ever watchful and a bit nervous about swimming out too deep. The last visit that they had from a croc was over 8 years ago; it had a go at some swimmer who had managed to get away. They had later shot the bastard ... 11 foot long....and not seen another since then.

Anyway it was quite safe in the shallow water as it is so clear you could see one coming from far away. There are also rumors that there is Bilharzia in Lake Malawi but this resort is about mid-way up the lake and there is no sign of it there.

Their two sons ages twelve and fourteen are home schooled and spend a good part of the day in the water, either surfing or playing on tubes or boating into the deeper water. They are both skilled spear fishermen and took Travis with them to a nearby rocky island where they do their spear fishing. He of course was absolutely in his element and barely came out of the water for the four days that we were there.

The lake is really quite deceptive as it appears to be so calm and tranquil but apparently the storms can get quite violent and they do appear out of nowhere. There were 140 fishermen that drowned a little while ago so it is something that really needs to be respected and not taken for granted.
The rest of us swam; sun bathed, read our books and went for long walks up the mountain. There were some unusual birds like the magnificent Purple Crested Turaco and tons of little birds like Manikins and Wattle eyes which we enjoyed identifying.

Kim spent some time going around the property with Laura looking at all the plants she had cultivated; she had some unusual local herbs that he was interested in. She was telling us about an active volcano in Mozambique that her mother had been trying to find... The reason for having taken up hang gliding and when her mom was killed she had decided to complete this mission for her and went with three friends into the mine infested area in Mozambique to find this volcano. There she found a village where there was a community of Nuns who have healing powers in their hands... Thank goodness we persuaded Ernest that we shouldn't go and find them... Forever the adventurer.

For me it was a very special time as I got to spend some time with Cammie who has been away from home skiing quite a lot lately. We have always been so close and we were able to spend time chatting and catching up on all the latest exciting things that had happened to her over the last few months. Kodi of course kept all the "big people" entertained and had them all going on his expeditions" finding crystals on the beach. Poor Steve has to push him up and down in the waves on a big tube that he had managed to borrow from the boys.

Our original plan was to go up to Livingstonia and then on to Nyaka plateaux but we decided just to rather chill at Makuzi and rather not do too much driving with the kids. It was their first "African experience" and we didn't want to overwhelm them with too much traveling.

The last day at the lake was kind of marred by the arrival of the Lake flies. These horrible little creatures hatch from the larvae that are laid in the lake and in actual fact it was the wrong time of the year to see them. Well we seemed to have attracted a lot of stuff that was the wrong time of the year" and we started seeing what appeared to be black clouds over the water. Brett, our host said  "Oh dear they are on their way"  he warned us that by the evening we would be covered in these pesky little flies. You can't complain too much as they are the life blood of the lake and keep the fishes fed but they do get into everything and I would much rather have not seen them... Just read about them - would have been good enough. The locals apparently catch them, compress them into a huge ball, cook them and eat them like they are a real delicacy. Yuck!!

Anyway that night was quite a sight, they came in from the lake and swarmed around the lights in a huge cloud so thick that it almost blocked off the lights completely. They got into our food, up our noses and into our eyes and when you got into the tent you couldn't put on a light inside as they are so tiny they just went straight through the netting. Thank goodness we were leaving the next day as I wouldn't have wanted a repeat of trying to cook without them flying into the food.


Till next time!

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