Africa Wine and Wildlife Malawi: Nyika National Park

By Michelle Alten

Eland herd

Crawshay’s zebras

Roan antelope

Roan antelope

Day 10— We board Cessna planes in a dusty field near Mvuu Lodge.  Our destination is Chelinda Lodge in Nyika National Park.  We head north, following the river to Lake Malawi, the huge body of water that runs north/south along the northeastern border of the country.  Then we continue north to Nyika.  Upon arriving, we head out, following dusty red roads over graceful hillsides.  We are at about 8,000 feet, and the air is cool.  Bushbuck, stunning roan antelope, eland antelope, reed bucks, and Crawshay’s zebra graze in the grassy open hills.  At dusk, a spotted eagle owl roosts on a bridge post.  We return to the lodge where a fire is blazing.

Reedbuck

Bushbuck

Paul, who manages the lodge along with his wife, talks to me about Malawi.  I learn that this country’s per capita GDP is so low that it is one of the poorest nations in the world.  Tobacco, he explains, is the main crop, but the profits don’t benefit the people.  While there is substantial aid coming in for health and education, the country lacks a major food crop that can help the people.  Malawi, it appears, lacks a sustainable path for the future.  People live for the present, forced to focus on how to feed their families today.

Day 11—The landscape of picturesque rolling hills at Nyika National Park surprises us: this could be Washington’s Palouse.  But in the Palouse, there are no leopards!

Leopard at night

Red-winged Francolin

On our morning safari drive, we begin to photograph the park’s wildlife.  This morning we see elands and Crawshay’s zebras (a subspecies of the Burchell’s zebra) grazing together.  The two species not only look beautiful together on the grassy slopes, they benefit from each other by feeding on different parts of the grasses and sharing warning signals, relying on the zebras sharp sight and the elands keen sense of smell. Our sightings include bushbuck, Red-chested sparrow hawk, Red-winged Francolin (an endemic species), Black-shouldered kite, White-necked raven, an Auger buzzard, and a Lizard buzzard.  After tea at a giant rock, overlooking the sweeping hills, some of us head back, enjoying sightings along the way of eland and zebras with a very young baby.

exploring lichens on rocks

I join a group to search for leopards, hyenas and other night creatures.  Rolling quietly along the windy roads, we pan the forest edge with our light.  Many hares hop along the road ahead of us.  Suddenly there she is a hyena out for an evening hunt.  We are fortunate– she is the first we have seen here.  Further down the road, someone whispers, “Stop!  It’s a leopard!”  The giant cat is making her way between the trees.  Her size and beauty are astounding.  We return to the lodge feeling very lucky.  We go to bed with the fire snapping and cracking and awake in the morning to find the hills painted gold.

coffee break

Nyika Plateau sunset

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