Tank Talk Magazine September 2009 | Page 7

to look after his guests. Our accommodation was next to the Luangwa River, which was full of hippos and crocodiles, and in our first hour there we saw elephants across the river. In the park we saw more elephants (the South Luangwa Valley National Park is supposed to have the highest concentration of elephants of any-where in Africa), we also saw hippos, crocs, giraffes, zebra, wart hogs, baboons, antelope, gazelle and impala. We didn‘t see any lions or leopards but did hear lions across the river one night. The numbers of animals was amazing, and they were all very easy to approach – from the safety of the safari truck. The meals here were served in a large, thatched roof, open sided, dining area in the centre of the complex. We finished dinner one night and went to return to our individual chalets but we couldn‘t – there was a herd of twenty or so elephants grazing their way through the grounds. In this type of situation it makes sense to give “right-of-way” to elephants, so we waited. The trip to Zambia was perfectly timed to ensure that we didn‘t get bored with the lake or the fish. A few in the group were, at one stage, considering skipping this trip to stay at the lake, but they didn‘t and we all had a fabulous time and were as keen as ever to get into more snorkelling when we got back to Malawi. At the end of our trip we had a few days in which we had to make our own arrangements. So most of us went back to Cape Maclear and stayed at the “Fat Monkey”, a sort of motel and pizza bar, Malawi style. The rooms slept two and were five dollars a night. For that you got a bed and an electric light that went out when the generator was turned off at about 10:00pm. But it was on the beach! Just walk 20 metres down to the water and start snorkelling. Of the beach in front of the at the Fat Monkey we snorkelled over a sandy bottom with a fair covering of ”val” type plants. The fish here were mainly Nyassachromis species. I didn‘t see them but Paul (Simpson) and Steve told me that they saw Cyrtocara moorii (Blue dolphins) here. The pizzas at the Fat Monkey were good, but you had to pay up front so they could go and buy the ingredients then wait for the oven to heat up. They probably tasted so good because we were really hungry by the time they were cooked. But it was easy enough to keep busy while you waited, we learnt to play a local board game called “bow” (like a very early version of backgammon) which kept us amused – you just don‘t play the locals for money, they‘d wipe you out pretty quickly. Cape Maclear attracts few travelers, mainly backpackers, but I didn‘t see any other cichlidiots while we were there. We met four Irish nurses who had been working in a Malawi hospital on some sort of aid program and a couple of obviously well-off South African gents who had a bit of an arsenal in the back of their Range Rover (parts of Africa can get quite dangerous – and it‘s not just the animals). We finished our trip to Africa with a mini-bus trip (cosy with eleven of us, three “crew” and a heap of luggage and souvenirs) back to Lilongwe and a one-night stay at the Golden Cockroach (oops, that should read “Golden Peacock”) before flying back to Johannesburg and then on to Sydney. The trip was an experience of a lifetime, whether interested in cichlids or not. Lake Malawi is a beautiful and fascinating place, the locals are friendly and helpful, and Stuart and Esther Grant are wonderful hosts. And of course my eleven co-travellers helped make the whole trip fun. If you ever get the opportunity to travel to this part of the world grab it – you won‘t be disappointed! This was the final installment of Lee Miller‘s article.