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A bit of background: Rice University has an excellent program, Rice 360 Institute for Global Health that we have supported for several years. Part of the program involves a neonatal unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi. We were invited to come to Malawi to see the program in operation. When we received the invitation, we were in southern India on a birding trip. We asked the leader, Dion Hobcroft, “Any thoughts on birding in Malawi?” He replied, “I'm working on an itinerary for 2019.” We fired off an email right away to grab a spot.
Dion's tours are always sold out quickly, and we were lucky to snag a spot for the two of us.
The trip to this small, land-locked country with a large interior lake turned out to be excellent, with many good photos.
Malawi is not the easiest place to get to. Some investigation turned up the shortest duration flight, surprisingly, on Emirates via Dubai and Jo'burg, then on to Llongwe, the capital city. I thought the price a bit high, though Emirates is worth paying extra; it's one of the best airlines in the world. When I looked later, they pulled the usual trick and upped the price now that they knew I was interested. We jousted for a few days until they dropped the price below the first offering. Some people use incognito mode, aka porn mode for airline searches for this reason. I may have to try that next time. Even though this was the shortest duration, it still tied our record for the longest uninterrupted travel at 44 hours door-to-door. We arrived at a very nice lodge about 30 minutes outside the city in time for a meal and a nap before setting out to see what we could find.
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It has been a while since we were in Africa, and we puzzled over common birds that we had seen before until Dion arrived the next day. In addition to Dion, we had the services of Abasi, a local guide. He proved to be a terrific asset, with an excellent knowledge of the wildlife as well as the best places to see them.
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After a couple days in the Llongwe area, we set off to Nyika NP, a long day-and-a-half drive. The final drive from the entrance to the lodge where we were to stay took hours, even though it was not a long distance. When we finally got there, a sign by the side of the road stated, “You're home. The drive was worth it.” Indeed it was! Besides many birds, we saw some great mammals, including a Honey Badger during a night drive. Alas, it was too dark, and the Ratel too quick for a decent photo.
After a short sojourn on the shores of Lake Malawi, we proceeded to Liwonde NP, famous for its wildlife. This proved to be well worth the effort to get there. Lots of antelope, including the difficult to find Sable Antelope.
Then, we wound up in Blantyre, where we did finally visit Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the supposed purpose of our trip. The neonatal unit was jammed with mothers and infants. We learned that despite laws to the contrary, many young girls were married before the age of 18, an teenage births are common with the complications that often entails.
We saw so many good birds and mammals on this trip that it's hard to pick a favorite. Our favorite photo was the picture of the two of us by the big tree, a 2500 year old Baobab, maybe the biggest tree of all our big tree photos. For bird photos, we selected this lovely Yellow-throated Apalis, a Malawian endemic, that we saw near the end of the trip. It was easier to choose a mammal, this stunning Male Sable Antelope.
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As usual, have lists for the serious birders: