The first weekend in October I got the amazing opportunity to participate in game count, a Peace Corps and wildlife
office organized survey of large mammals in Liwondwe National park.
About 40 Peace Corps volunteers were there and we paired up with park
rangers to do walks through the park and count and record the animals
we saw. The 20 second year volunteers got to stay at Mvuu camp, a
nice resort in the park right on the river. We camped there for 2
nights and had to wake up at 4am both mornings to do transect survey
walks. Each morning we got in a safari van or the back of a truck and
were driven to different places in the park to start.
The first day's transect walk we saw
very little. We walked about 12 kilometers and saw a few warthogs,
impala, and common duiker. We also saw a green mamba in a tree which
was pretty awesome. Apart from the animals, we also found a lot of
evidence of poaching and took down at least 15 wire snares.
The second day was a lot more exciting. Our walk was along the river and we got to see more animals. At a few points we got really close to groups of hippos. We also saw a huge crocodile sunning on the shore and at least 10 more crocodiles in the river near it. We saw more impala, bushbacks, sable, warthogs, and even found an elephant skull.
The walk ended at a clearing near the river that had a huge hollow baobob tree covered with a thick vine. We had to wait there a while for the truck to pick us up and bring us back to camp, so obviously we decided to climb the tree while we waited.
The second day was a lot more exciting. Our walk was along the river and we got to see more animals. At a few points we got really close to groups of hippos. We also saw a huge crocodile sunning on the shore and at least 10 more crocodiles in the river near it. We saw more impala, bushbacks, sable, warthogs, and even found an elephant skull.
The walk ended at a clearing near the river that had a huge hollow baobob tree covered with a thick vine. We had to wait there a while for the truck to pick us up and bring us back to camp, so obviously we decided to climb the tree while we waited.
While the walks were fun, we saw the
most animals during the drives around the park and just hanging out
at our camp on the river. On the drive into the park we passed a
group of elephants less than 100 meters away from the truck! Sitting
by the river we saw even more elephants with two baby elephants
drinking and were close enough to a warthog to almost touch it.
Another time driving around the park we saw a herd of buffalo. It was
an amazing, once in a lifetime experience and I'm really happy I got
to do it.
love the pictures! You are truly experiencing once in a lifetime events and thank you for sharing these precious memories.
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