When I was a little girl, I had a little safari set that I enjoyed playing with quite a bit. It had a tent, a grass fence, a jeep, and many animals, including elephants and zebra. I loved it so much. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined that I would actually get to experience an African safari for myself. This was my fourth visit to Mvuu Camp and I never tire of it. I could ride on the jeep or river and/or sit on the front porch of my tent chalet there for days and be entertained by the many sights, sounds and smells of nature.
Mvuu Camp is one of my most favorite parts of our visit to Malawi. Mvuu is the Chichewa word for hippo, and our experience at the camp encompasses a river safari, a land safari and a night/land safari, as well as a morning walk that begins at 5:30am. I view this outing as my opportunity to get to know the animal and plant life in this land that is so near and dear to my heart.
Hippos were scattered about along all of the riverbanks. They make paths to the land, which are called hippo highways. We had the opportunity to see a week-old baby hippo and its mother. Mothers are very protective and she made great efforts to shield her little one from our view. We also saw several crocodiles along the river, as well as storks, egrets, heron and eagles.
We saw a few elephants. One elephant was about three years old and its leg had been caught on a snare. It had difficulty walking and was all alone. I can’t stop thinking about it. We also saw a dead elephant. The guide said it could not keep up with its group and had settled down on the ground to die alone. …Another sad elephant sighting. On a positive note, the best treat of all was seeing zebras. It is rare to see them, the group was especially happy for this opportunity! We saw multitudes of impalas and waterbucks. We also saw kudu and heart beasts. A mongoose crossed our path, as well as a genet. There is a black rhino preserve at Mvuu, and we looked for them, but did not see any. Rhinos are very shy animals. It was fun to look.
On the night safari, the elephant sightings picked up, and my group had a riveting experience. At one point, we saw one elephant to the left of us, behind the jeep. The driver slowed down and the guide with the spotlight carefully scanned the landscape. We then saw other elephants in front of us, to the right. The guides revved the engine of the jeep in an effort to flush out all of them so we’d know where they were. A few ran by, with finally a baby elephant running as well. The one behind us was still behind us, so we could not back up. We had to go forward. Just as the baby elephant passed and we started to drive, we heard the trumpet of another elephant. It was dark; we could not see it, but it sounded close. I quickly hid my eyes, ducked and hoped for the best. We made it and returned to camp thrilled.
At night we retired to our chalets and were entertained by a symphony of sounds, with hippo grunting in the background every now and then. We woke early to take a 5:30am walk. We saw warthogs, which are my absolute favorite. We learned about the digestive systems of elephants and impalas. We picked wild basil and learned how it will help a head cold, and it also helps for sleeping well at night. It may also be burned as a mosquito repellent. We learned about the yellow fever tree, the origin of its name and how it contains a chemical that is helpful in the treatment of malaria. We also picked wild jasmine, which smelled so sweet.
The food at Mvuu Camp is absolutely scrumptious. For lunch they served stew, carrot salad and dessert – fruit crumble. It was heavenly! For dinner, we had cauliflower soup, Portuguese chicken, vegetables (the sweetest cooked carrots I’ve ever had) and lemon pie. Breakfast consisted of cheese omelets, freshly made butter, bran muffins, and fruit. We can eat the fruit at Mvuu and it was delicious. I loved every meal. The staff at Mvuu is top notch, very friendly, knowledgeable and professional. It was a wonderful two days!
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