As you leave
Blantyre on its southern exit and head towards Chikwawa, the straight road soon
becomes a winding road. The road snakes its way down a steep mountain side as
you descend into the lower shire valley. And all you can see are rolling hills
that blend into the horizon.
From the decent
the shire river can be seen, winding and carving its way on the flat plains.
The shire river drains Lake Malawi, which empties into the Zambezi then
eventually the Indian Ocean.
The game reserve is
only about 70km southwest of Blantyre, the commercial capital of Malawi so it’s
not long until you reach the game reserve entrance. African Parks (Majete) Ltd.
is the local company established by African Parks for the management of Majete
Wildlife Reserve. Majete Wildlife Reserve is 691km.sq, and lies at the low
attitude of about 100m. African Parks' vision is to restore, develop, and
manage the Reserve in order to demonstrate biodiversity conservation and
sustainable natural resource utilization for the benefit of the people of
Malawi in general and local communities in particular.
It is an area of
undulating and hilly country, covered in tall deciduous woodland with beautiful
grassy glades and occasional patches of thicket. To the east it is mixed
acacia, leadwood and marula savannah with scattered stately baobab trees and
patches of ilala palms.
It is home to
the elusive black rhino, elephants, buffalo, nyala, waterbuck, bushbuck, bush
pig, impala, zebra sable, eland and hartebeest and many other animals. Most of
which we saw, of course except the 'elusive' black rhino.
The game drive
takes you through many roads within the reserve, each route specific to certain
animals. There are over 150km of new roads within the Reserve.
Within the game
reserve is the shire river. Hippos can also be seen in the river trail.
The Shire River
forms part of the eastern boundary.
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A dam was erected within the reserve that
provides a dynamic force to generate power for a hydroelectric power station.
Despite the intrusion wildlife thrives. An elephant could be seen in the
distance, in the marshy area close to the dam.
But throughout
the day we barely saw an elephant close. But when the sun started setting,
there it was, right in front of us.
But as the sun set and
the stars appeared in the navy blue sky, it was time to head back to Blantyre.
It was a day well spent.
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