Blantyre 2 - Majete Wildlife Reserve

This is a forest area in Chikwawa district which is the in southern region of Malawi. Like the other forest areas in Africa this also comes under the African Parks. African Parks is an NGO which has taken over most of the wildlife reserves in Africa and protects animals from falling prey to poaching.  It is responsible for the rehabilitation and long term management of the national parks working in partnership with government and local communities.

Majete is a 70,000 hectare of forest land. It took a 1.5 hour drive from Blantyre to reach Majete. We have to drive down the mountain region of Blantyre into the valley to get into a village area which leads to the wildlife reserve. Our vision on the mountain path was blocked by heavy hue. Two check posts were to be crossed during this drive. One of the check post is near the local market where vegetables for sale were grouped in bunches. The path towards Majete is a sandy road and mostly deserted. Since its the summer season  here, most the perennial rivers on the way were dry and river beds are used for making bricks. We can see men carrying charcoals on cycle backs all along the way, for many households here charcoal is the fuel for cooking.

We reached Majete early in the morning so that we can spot animals before we went on hiding during the day. Unfortunately it had rained the previous night and weather was still chill in the morning too. At the entrance we had to pay the fee before our cab was let in. Its $20 per person to enter and $25 per person to drive in their safari vehicle with the driver doubling up as the guide too.

A land rover was modified with just the top covered and open sides and passenger seats were elevated for better view. As soon as the drive started we got an amazing look of the forest, it just resembled a painting. There were a view shelter were one can have a view of the Shire river with an island usually visited by the elephants here. Our safari driver was along the Shire river and one cannot help wonder about the rich nature of Africa. Many trees here have fallen to forest fire and hence could see black logs all along. Our guide cum driver Osman says the reserve is monitored closely with latest technology and forest fires are put down immediately. Slowly is started raining and with the raincoats Osman had for us, we continued the safari. The hippos in the water side was a treat to watch. Apart from them we came across - antelopes, forest pigs, impalas and baboons only. The BIG FIVE as they are called in Africa were never to be seen due to the weather.

Impala are medium sized antelopes, reddish in color and only males have horns. While large antelopes have straight horns facing upwards. Elephants looks very gigantic than what we see in India with long flexible trunk and tusks. Rhinos are seen in black color with two horns on the muzzle. Hippos are barrel shaped and stay aquatic. Nyalas are slender, male ones turn grey in color as they grow up while females stay reddish brown. The baboons have distinctly long tail, half of it stays upwards while the remaining hangs down, greyish in color.

Baobab tree

Different areas are marked in the reserve, for eg. there is the Hall Martin road area here which leads to the Kapachira falls. Majete also provides accommodation here for visitors and officials working here. There is a restaurant, swimming pool and curios shop inside the reserve.

Totally a must visit site for the natural beauty of the reserve and to get a feeler of Malawi country side. Even though we have made a forest visit already in Nairobi National Park, this was an altogether different experience.