A Land Safari

I went on my first safari a couple weeks ago. I never went on one last year, despite spending a month in Zambia. Anyways, this was a great introductory experience. I took loads of pictures. I was trying to figure out the manual settings on my DSLR (I know, I know--how have I not figured this out ages ago?!? So ashamed), so some of the pictures are blurry/underexposed/overexposed. I don't have time for wishy-washy nonsense like editing photos right now, so you're getting the raw deal. Cons: Some bad photos on the post. Pros: There are photos in this post. 

Oh my goodness, are there photos in this post. So many photos. I couldn't help myself. Of COURSE, I need to include three photos of elephants. And that bed in our bungalow! Just wondrous! What a beautiful gazelle. The VIEW! That sunset! More warthogs! And so on and so forth. I apologize for my excessive enthusiasm.

I tried to cut it down a bit. I was mildly successful--I only included a couple of the best photos of the animals we saw, and a fraction of the photos I took of the landscape. Or perhaps I should say I was wildly successful, seeing as how I went from 275 photos to 80 potential photos to a mere 21 that are actually included in this post.

Anyways.

We drove all the way from SAFI to Liwonde National Park, which is in the southernish part of Malawi. After we entered the national park, we drove to a grassy parking area next to the river and parked the minibus. A girl at the dock radioed for a boat, and a boat transported us to Mvuu Lodge. 

The rest of the first day/safari is told in the pictures. It's faster that way, and I've got lunch in 15 minutes. No worries, I've got some great photo captions going on so you can figure out what's going on.

Sitting on the boat, waiting to get taken to our lodge across the river. Excuse my gross hair.
So on the very left is Camille. She's a PEAT intern, but she's basically part of the family. Then Whitney and Renee--they're both food science interns. They're both so great!! And then there's me.

The rest of our group! There's Adam on the very left. He's an anthropology major. Then Camille, who's the other PEAT intern. John is on the right, and' he's a food science intern. These people are also fab. 

Snapped a shot while we were waiting for our boat transportation. Pretty place, eh?

Snapped while we were on the boat.   It's so beautiful! And that river--so crocodile-ridden! Enchanting and terrifying at the same time. There's supposedly a 10% chance of survival if you fall into the water (disclaimer: our boat driver may or may not have just been trying to scare the living wits out of us in order to make us sit down and remain sitting down on the boat ride. I couldn't tell if he was serious or not).

Home Sweet Home for One Sweet Night.
It was magical.
I had a most wondrous shower while I was there--as hot as I could possibly stand. 

Our bungalow from the outside.

The view outside our bungalow. Hippos come up at night to graze, so we couldn't leave our bungalow at night.
I was actually up really late the one night we were there, and I looked outside my window and saw an elephant eating tree leaves within twenty feet of my window. It was great, although slightly alarming.

After we settled in, we went on our land safari (we went on a boat safari the next morning). This was the first animal we saw on the safari! Shamefully, I can't remember what any of these animals are called (except for the elephants--I know those ones).

Look at those horns! They're tres epique. 

Multiple Pumba's. All from Lion King.
Warthogs.

It's the best when they run. They're extremely graceful, and it's beautiful. 

The trunk of a baobob tree. The elephants mutilate the trunks. Supposedly, they can push the trees over if they really try. We're trying the fruit of the baobob tree sometime this week. I hear they're not that great. Dr. Steele told me they coat your mouth, which makes me think it's going to be something like a persimmon. I find eating persimmons highly unpleasant, but I shall keep you updated on how the baobob fruit-eating experience goes.

A noble creature, indeed.

ELEPHANTS. OHH EMM GEEE ELEPHANTS.

BABY ELEPHANTS.
okay. all done with the all-caps.
They were the cutest.

Driving away from the elephants. Shooot. They were awesome.

Sausagefruit. 

Made sure to keep an eye out for Lupin. 

Beautiful.

At the end of the night, we stopped to just sit and admire the sunset. 

 After the sun went down, we started the night portion of the safari. The assistant sat in this chair on the hood of the vehicle and shined his light back and forth (it lights up the eyes of the animals). We saw mongooses, baboons, monkeys, and lots of hippos that were grazing on the banks of the river. There's one lion in the park, but he never graced us with his magnificent presence. Pity.

We got back to the Lodge and ate a delicious dinner, before we all headed off to our bungalows.

Great safari, great day.

Africa, guys. It's got amazing animals and breathtaking views.