majete wildlife reserve | cultivating joy

“Each day is one step further from birth, one moment closer to dismissal. How we travel this path is our own decision.” -Frederick A Babb

Every month we were given a four day break. Our first adventure was to Mt. Mulanje. We considered doing what many people do and actually climb it, but instead we found a nice little hotel with a great view. Rows of tea and mountains across the border in Mozambique were our backdrop.

We listened to the calls of the monkeys and toucans and just sort of recouped some energy. There was cool weather and rain – things I forgot existed. We took a nice stroll thru the field and sipped a few cups of good tea.

One weekend a bunch of us hopped in the truck to Majete Wildlife Reserve and had a quick little safari and camped out.

It was not the most spectacular in terms of animal sightings, but we had fun nonetheless. We went on a night drive where we saw one of the few lions in the park, zebras, hippos, elephants and crocs.

In the early morning there was a bush walk that was nice, but we mainly viewed antelope, animal tracks and termite mounds.

My favorite though was the boat ride. We had a dodgy few minutes when we got stuck on a rock but we made it back in one piece.

Our last break we took a few extra days and went up to Lake Malawi. After a crazy bus ride, another bus ride which broken down in the middle of the night, switching buses again, and finally we made it to Nkhata Bay.

We only stayed a couple nights before taking an overnight boat to Likoma, which is a beautiful little island in the middle of the lake with lots of baobab trees.

After all the travel to get there we were happy it was such a beautiful place. In hind sight I’m not sure it was worth all the travel.

But we swam and lounged on the beach and took lots of naps. Getting up at 4:30 is not an easy habit to break and by about 9:00 each night I was passed out asleep.