Getting to Vwaza National Park took some serious skill. I only closed my eyes on two separate occasions, certain that we would get stuck in the mud if I left them open. I promise I’m getting better at trusting my truck and driver, but these roads are gnarly! The roads are so inspiring to me that I plan to do a complete separate blog post and a whole Instagram story on them, or at least I told my sister I would anyway. African roads are a very special thing. And Africa in the rainy season is another level up.
We took the long way around to get to the little-travelled entrance of Vwaza National Park to go for very specific birds, namely White-winged Babbling-starling and Chestnut-backed Sparrow-weaver. Most birders/tourists would come in the dry season when the road straight through the national park is passable. During the rainy season it is completely underwater. We had initially inquired at the main campsite, but even the campsite was partially flooded this time of year! The only way to get to where we wanted to go, was to go to the other entrance. To go through rocky sections, steep sections, and deep mud. And pass over three or four small stream crossings. To drive on a road so overgrown you might not even know its a road at all. You know, to use the four wheels on our four wheel drive vehicle.
But we made it and when we arrived, we were fortunately allowed to camp where ever we wanted, so we chose inside the fence of course. We have a rooftop tent and the theory is that a rooftop tent keeps you elevated and therefore safe from the animals that wander below. Elephants are big, yes, and if they wanted, they could do some damage, but even they would have to take a step onto the car to reach the tent. And they aren’t going to do that. They’ll likely just take the wide open road next to the car instead of exert all of that energy. Unfortunately we didn’t even see an elephant. The rainy season means plenty of food and water and they are scattered all over foraging.
The real things to watch out for are the little guys. The mosquitos and the ants. I tell people that all the time. Don’t worry about the big animals, they really don’t want anything to do with you. But those little guys, they can do some damage, as Ross found out for at least the third time this trip when he stepped onto an ant mound and was soon covered in places no one wants to be covered with ants. Oops. We couldn’t stray far from our vehicle for safety reasons, but even still, found multiple roosting birds such as Miombo Scrub Robin, Chinspot Batis, and Brown-crown Tchagra only a stone’s throw away.
The night was comfortable and early the next morning we were escorted by Ceremony, an armed guard, so we could walk the nearby forest. We wandered through the miombo (the type of forest) and found two flocks, and in one most certainly heard our target sparrow-weaver. The bird responded but we never could find it before it moved on! At least when we stumbled upon a large flock of White-winged Babbling-starlings, our other main target, they hung around for great views. A bit of rain meant the recording gear was not available to take recordings. Stopping here proved productive, even if the road in was so overgrown and not signposted at all, that had it not been for satellite imagery we may not have known how to get there! It was a good stopover before we headed in to Nyika National Park, arguably Malawi’s best national park and overall best birding destination. Time to go to Nyika!
