MALAWI TRIP PART 3

For our trip we wanted to take something for the WAG rangers. In communicating with Lynn she suggested we bring some ‘beanies’ or what we call stocking caps. Winter in Malawi can get cold, especially at night when the rangers are on patrol or stationed at one of the satellite camps throughout the forests. We contacted a local company to produce these with the Elefence logo on them. A couple of our loyal supporters stepped up to fund the purchase. We passed them out to as many of the rangers we encountered and left the balance from the original 50 with WAG. The rangers seemed to appreciate them and some even wore the on a couple of warm days.

On our second day in camp we went on a pangolin feeding bush walk with the rangers. A description of our walk is in an earlier post in the blog. While we were on the walk a radio call came in telling us to come back to camp because MR. M was coming. We did not know who he was but figured he must be someone of importance. We jumped into the Land Cruiser and bumped our way back to camp where we discovered MR. M was an elephant, so named because he had what looked like a M on one ear. I could not see it. The video below was shot from my hut. I remembered that I had heard something big outside my hut in the middle of the night but I elected not to go out and check. Of course my grass hut would not offer much protection as an elephant could walk through it without any trouble.

One afternoon while we were in camp a tip came in that a poacher was operating in Thuma forest. A team of rangers were called up to investigate. They suited up and we ferried them out into the area where he was reported to be operating. The rangers carried large packs and they were to spend three days in the forest patrolling and watching for the poacher. They caught him on the second night and he was brought in for trial. Unfortunately he had already killed a warthog but he will be going to prison for a long time as Malawi courts hand down some severe penalties for poaching.

We made several trips to the lodge being built to attract tourists to Malawi. Lynn is directly supervising the design construction and it will be beautiful when complete.

We went to one of the ranger satellite camps in the forest and spent a night. These camps are even more spartan than the base camp but it gave us more appreciation for the dedication of the rangers.

We went to the local market in Salima. It looked like there was a great deal of produce available but Lynn reminded us that this was right after harvest so things looks pretty good. Unfortunately there is little in the way of preservation so what is not consumed quickly will go to waste.

We left Malawi with a much better appreciation for the work being done by WAG. The crushing poverty we saw was depressing but it was offset by the spirit of the Malawi people. For much of the time Dick, Lynn and myself were the only white people we saw but I never felt any animosity from the locals. As we rode along through the villages the people would wave and the children would run out to the road and jump and clap. Malawi is called the “Warm Heart of Africa” and I can see why.