Ywaza National Park (Malawi)

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Getting out of of Likoma in the Ilala wasn’t all that bad compared to all my previous Ilala experiences. Of course it was late, very late! but this time in worked in my advantage. Instead of leaving at 5pm we ended up leaving at 1:30am which meant we (with my new friends Julia and Milan) would now spend the night in the Ilala and get to Nhkata Bay early in the morning and go straight to our next destination.

By then I had almost spent 3 weeks in Malawi so decided it was time to go to Kenya. I had 2 choices, to fly or to get on another bus adventure. I thought a lot about the two options and then made the decision to get back on the bus.

Why?!?! Money! It is almost always a money thing when you are traveling for an extended period of time. My motto is “I got time and got no money!”
The cheapest flight from Lilongwe to Nairobi was $200 with Ethiopian airlines and in Lilongwe there is some kind of taxi monopoly and the least you pay for a taxi to airport is between $25-35 and there is no public transport. Plus, I would get to Nairobi at 9pm and I would need to pay for another taxi out of the airport. The total for flying would have been around $250!

On the other hand, Crossing by land from Malawi all the way to Nairobi would be $92 including transit visa for Tanzania ($30 for 7 days), accommodation in Mbeya, and all the buses … The choice was easy!

So after Likoma I decided to take a matola to Mzuzu, then another one to Rumphi, and a motorbike to Ywaza National park and spend my last night in Malawi at Kazuni Safari Camp, a lodge inside a national park in front of a pond with hippos, elephants and many other animals.

After a long journey of transportation I finally arrived at Kazuni gate around noon and paid the 7,300kwachas park entrance for 24 hours and the 10,000kwachas for a night in a chalet.

The motorbike took me inside the park since there were some elephants around and dropped me off where the guards live and there I saw a boy with a home made truck... these people are very resourceful!

Home made car

I walked into the national park and went to the common area and found 4 indian families having lunch. As I entered one of the women said to me: “You are eating lunch with me” and gave me a plate! I was so thankful since I was starving!

Spent a couple of hours chatting with them and looking at the animals in front of us! It was so cool, elephants walked in front of us, we could hear hippos snoring in the pond, kudus walked by… A safari from a comfy chair!

Hippos sun bathing

I see a hippo!

Big snore!

Sunset was so beautiful!!

My cabin

That night I was the only overnight guest so it felt lonely. At 7pm it was dark and since there was no power I went to sleep until the next morning at 5am to go for a walk around the pond to spot hippos with the watchman!

Now off to Tanzania!

About Post Author

Andrea

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!