Day 19 - 1 June 2016 Fat Monkey Lodge to Liwonde Safari Park

Day's trip schedule

Fat Monkeys -> Monkey Bay -> Mangochi -> Ulongwe -> Liwonde

Distance & time taken

166 km
3 hrs


Accommodation

Liwonde Safari Camp, Liwonde, (www.liwondesafaricamp.com)
+/- 10km from Liwonde town centre and within the boundary of the Liwonde National Park

Trip Notes

Reception area for Fat Monkeys Lodge

Today was back to driving again but fortunately, short flip over to the Liwonde National Park. In discussion with the barman the night before, he suggested we try The Baobab Bushman Lodge which is right next to the park. I didn't realise at the time, but the owner was watching the F1 GP on Sunday afternoon with me in the pub. He also has a lodge on the lake that he is busy renovating after it was damaged by fire 2 years back. We checked it out on google before we departed but also picked up that there was another campsite right next door - a community camp called Liwonde Safari Camp.


We were up reasonably early again today as Reg & family were busy packing there vehicle for departure.  They left shortly after 6 & we then started packing the Hilux, showered & decided to have breakfast at the restaurant - French toast with honey.  Ang then went & settled the bill - fortunately, they accept Mastercard & their machine was working, while I did the final engine checks.


By 10h00, we had eventually packed / checked everything & departed.  We first had to drive back through Chembe village & then onto the open road over the mountains that surround this portion of the lake.  The level of poverty here is very obvious but nobody hassles you begging for money.  The villagers waved & smiled as we passed by.  On the way out, we decided to have a look at Monkey Bay to see what it happened here as we heard that the ferry docks here.  It is only about a 20 minute drive from Chembe & is a bustling trading post with plenty of traders (formal & informal side-by-side).  Most of the banks were also represented here. We headed through town to the ferry terminal - one can catch a ferry here to Sengu which is the link to Lilongwe.  Interestingly, there is a lack of lakeside accommodation - there were only 3 lodges we could find.  Monkey Bay is also the base for the Marine Corps of the Malawi army.


The road down from Monkey Bay through to Mangochi was again littered with a number of checkpoints as well as many bicycles transporting anything from other passengers (taxis) to goats & chickens to building materials.  There was nothing really to stop & look at on this leg so we pushed onto Liwonde which we entered around 13h00.  There is some development happening here with a new bridge being constructed over the Shire River - the Shire eventually links Lake Malawi with the Zambezi River in Mozambique.  Liwonde is a bustling town linking western & eastern Malawi.


We progressed through town looking for the Baobab Bushman Lodge which was about 10kms out of town right next to the park & bordering the Shire River. After a quick walk around the campsite & ablutions, we decided to try the Liwonde Safari Camp next door which proved to be a much better option. Although a very rustic camp with no electricity, the campsites had some shade, decent braai's & was well maintained. It was a bit of a walk to the toilets from our campsite (#2) but the showers were a stones throw away & had steaming hot water from a well tendered donkey - not the animal.

Reception / bar at Liwonde Safari Camp

We declined the offer to join a game drive in the afternoon but did book the boat cruise the following morning.  As it was already past 13h00, we decided to have lunch in their restaurant which was prepared while we set up camp - the cook calling us when it was ready.  I had a burger & chips & Ang had samoosas, both meals tasted great.  We spent the rest of the afternoon in the boma on the viewing deck watching the birds, bushbuck & warthog along with the ever present yellow baboons.

We poured a few G&T's & headed back for the sunset on the other viewing deck - closer to our campsite.  Afterwards, I acquired firewood from the kitchen staff & we braaied fillet steaks. We were done by 20h00 & headed to bed early as we were to be up early for the boat cruise.

Sunset from the viewing deck at Liwonde Safari Park

Costs for the day

Accommodation	Liwonde Safari Camp	US$20,00
Lunch	Liwonde Safari Camp	US$12,00