M&M - not just delicious candies!

[mungopark]

Malawi and Mozambique - two of Africa’s lesser known and under-appreciated safari destinations - seemed a match made in heaven for a grand safari adventure.  
 

The genesis for this trip lay in some most excellent trip reports on this site from @Pictus Safaris, whom I ultimately selected to guide and organize the trip.  
 

My itinerary was as follows:

 

Fly Ethiopian airlines to Atlanta  - then onwards to Bole airport in Addis Ababa for a connecting flight to Blantyre 

 

Road transfer to Liwonde NP for 4 nights at Mvuu Lodge

 

Road Transfer to Lilongwe to catch a flight into Nampula, Mozambique and a subsequent connecting flight into Beira, where we would overnight.

 

Road transfer the following am into Gorongosa NP for 4 nights at Wild Camp

 

Road transfer back to Beira for onward flight home, via Addis on Ethiopian airlines.

 

As will be seen, things did not all go according to this seemingly straightforward plan…

[mungopark]

I first visited Malawi in 2014 on a trip whose itinerary included Majete GR and also the lake.  I had intended to visit Liwonde instead, but my travel operator insisted that Majete had more to offer (I'm certain the term "big five" must have been thrown around by them in order to convince me).  After getting a real taste for safari, I traveled to a variety of countries and parks and thoughts of a trip to Liwonde faded into the distance.  

 

Entering 2023, fresh off a trip to the Zambezi region of Namibia (see my trip report on the same) I began to look into possible destinations for my next safari.  After reading some excellent trip reports on Mozambique/Gorongosa NP on this website, I began looking into the possibility of making that my next target.  Anticipating a trip of between 10-14 days, it seemed obvious that I was going to need to include another destination to combine with Gorongosa, and logistically including a park in Malawi made much sense.  For example, the countries are neighbors and there are (or should have been, as will be seen) direct flights between them to make a combined itinerary feasible.  It was then that I remembered my prior desire to visit Liwonde and, after reading up the park, it seemed in many ways to be a great complement to Gorongosa in terms of minimal overlap regarding species to be seen, types and varieties of landscapes, safari activities offered etc.

 

I reached out to @Pictus Safaristo help craft a desirable itinerary that would include both Liwonde and Gorongosa.  The month chosen for the trip was July, and I think it was  a wise one, as we had splendid weather throughout.  Regarding lodging in Liwonde, the initial plan was Mvuu Camp, located deep within the park, but I was later upgraded to Mvuu Lodge, their sister camp located along the same stretch of the Shire river.  My itinerary would include 4 nights there, which i hoped would give me ample opportunity to explore the park.

 

I used a local travel agent to arrange my international flight from the USA to Malawi.  Booked in October, a few months later I was informed that my flight had been canceled due to Ethiopian airways no longer flying out of Atlanta.  Undeterred, my agent was able to re-book me out of Washington Dulles and still get me into Blantyre in plenty of time, the only difference being an overnight stay in DC.

 

As the months wore on, I received frequent updates from @Pictus Safarisregarding the trip, including detailed info about the lodges, transfers, etc.  As luck would have it, both Malawi and Mozambique did away with Visa requirements for US citizens, significantly uncomplicating my preparations.

 

Less than a month before my trip, the Vice President of Malawi was killed in a plane crash, quite an unfortunate event.  This did briefly cause me to become concerned that political unrest and safety issues might interfere with my travel plans but, fortunately that turned out not to be the case.

 

Then, less than a week before my trip, I received notice that our flight from Nampula to Beira had been cancelled (the itinerary called for us to leave Malawi via Lilongwe to Nampula, then onwards to Beira for an overnight, followed by a drive into Gorongosa).  I was assured by @Pictus Safaristhat flight alternatives were being explored and to not worry myself.  The trouble it would take to get to my destination(s) would only make me appreciate them that much more!!!

 

[mungopark]

So the day for my trip finally arrived.  I had an uneventful flight from Salt Lake City to Washington DC and a pleasant overnight stay in a hotel near the airport.  The following morning I got to the airport plenty early to check in for my Ethiopian Airways flight from DC to Addis.  I got sandwiched between a husband and wife couple who, for reasons known only to them, refused my offer to swap places with one or the other of them so that they could sit together.  The flight was otherwise generally uninteresting and I made it into Bole airport with enough time to charge my phone, situate myself, etc.

 

Next came the 4.5 hour flight into Blantyre, Malawi.  I thought that I lucked out when they gave me an emergency row seat, as the leg room is copious.  Unfortunately, my meal table was one of those mini-tables that pops out of the arm rest and rests right up against your stomach.  They served a meal and then didn't come by to collect meal tray and garbage for an hour and a half afterwards, so I had to sit there with the table full of stuff right up against me and unable to change body position for a significant portion of my flight.  kind of lousy customer service quite frankly....  But no matter - I'm finally on safari and about to explore the wonderful wilds of Malawi!

 

I arrived at Chileka International Airport on time, and customs was a breeze.  All luggage accounted for, I exited through security and was met by Tom Clode from Pictus Safaris and our  local driver as well.  The drive from Blantyre to Liwonde NP was uneventful and by mid-afternoon we were at the gates of Liwonde NP.  Let the adventure begin!

 

 

Edited August 12 by mungopark

[mungopark]

The main geographical feature of Liwonde is the Shire river, a tributary of the mighty Zambezi.  One of the hallmarks of a safari in Liwonde is to include game activities by boat, which gives a very different perspective of the park.  Otherwise, the not-so-extensive road network barely skirts the riverfront, and includes more thornbush and woodland-type areas.

 

One of the benefits of staying at the Mvuu Lodge is that it is already located in the game-rich area of the park.  But first we had to get there!

 

After gate formalities, we entered a wooded area and were rewarded right away with some birdlife - a wooly-necked stork, yellow-billed stork and some type of heron ( gray heron?) were looking for frogs and snails in a nearby pond.

 

 

Next we would encounter the first of several Southern ground hornbills

 

[inyathi]

Good stuff, I visited Liwonde way back on 2001, if I recall, but that was in the green season and Southern Africa, Mozambique and Malawi were experiencing serious floods, so game drives were a bit of challenge, there wasn't so much wildlife some game had been reintroduced and there probably a handful of Black Rhinos in the Rhino Sanctuary, the first pair named Justerini and Brooks, were brought in in 1993, the Scotch Whisky company who make J & B Rare, had set up a charitable conservation scheme, called Care for the Rare to help endangered species and they provided the funding, hence the Rhinos' names. This was all before African Parks took on Liwonde, I think we saw the sanctuary but couldn't go in and didn't see the rhinos, and I don't know what the actual number of rhinos would have been. Remarkably I thing the last native Black Rhino in Malawi was killed in the Mwabvi Reserve in 1990, or that's the suggested date of extinction, so they were reintroduced to the country just 3 years later.

 

You're wrong about the heron it's not a Gray Heron it is a Grey Heron   

Edited August 14 by inyathi

[mungopark]

Thanks for the input @inyathi.  Reintroductions into parks such as Liwonde are necessary not only to re-establish some semblance of the original ecosystem, but perhaps just as importantly, to help attract tourist dollars to help in the long term sustainability of the park.  This is true particularly of popular species, like rhino.

 

As will be seen in my trip report, much effort was expended by our guide in looking for the black rhinos in Liwonde.  I won’t tell yet whether we were successful or not

 

For those who care, wild dogs have just recently been re-re-introduced into Liwonde.  We did not see them, and I was told they were in an inaccessible area of the park - whether by design or happenstance I don’t know.  
 

But certainly, Liwonde must have changed much for the better since 2001.  I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and I think no itinerary to Malawi should neglect to include Liwonde.

[mungopark]

Moving on, we were delighted to see our first elephant of the trip.  Having read of the skittishness of Gorongosa’s elephants, I kind of hoped to get my ellie fix in Liwonde in case we had poor luck in Mozambique.  As it turned out, we had better elephant sightings in Gorongosa than in Liwonde.  But this guy was particularly photogenic, and a first sighting in a trip is often the most memorable… 

 

 

Moving on, we encountered impala, bushbuck, waterbuck, hippo and buffalo before finding a nice spot along the riverfront for sundowners.  Finally nearing camp, we also encountered a pair of lions to top of our inaugural game drive.  Reaching camp just after dark, the typical arrival formalities took place after which we settled down for a nice dinner.  I didn't really get a good look at the camp until the following afternoon, but this is as good of a place as any in my trip report to comment on it.

 

Mvuu Lodge lies along the Namagogodo Lagoon of the Shire river system.  Each tent is private and has a good view of the lagoon - in fact, probably one of the most scenic room views I've ever had on safari!

 

 

The lodge had a raised common area and a separate dinning area that could ordinarily be accessed by a foot bridge over the river, but which at the time of my visit was under water.  Here are a few shots from around the lodge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 17 by mungopark

[mungopark]

Our daily routine at Mvuu was as follows.  Up at 5:40 am or so for an early start to our morning game drive, swinging by to pick up Tom at Mvuu Camp, where he'd been banished to after the arrival or more paying guests at the Lodge.  A light snack in the bush around 8:00 am or so and then back to the Lodge by 10:00 am for a formal breakfast.  Naps, journal writing, exploring camp etc until 12:30 pm. when lunch was served.  Then more R&R until around 3:00 pm for our afternoon game activity.  Back at sunset for dinner, and then off again for a night drive that would last until after 10:00 pm or later.  Three game activities per day made for a very full and fulfilling schedule!

 

I have poor notes from our night drives, but sufficeth to say that we saw marsh mongoose, white-tailed mongoose, Meller's mongoose, more than a dozen porcupines, scrub hare, elephant shrew, civet, rusty spotted genet, side-striped jackal,  and on several occasions, lion.  Our first night drive we encountered a large male from the local pride who serenaded us with his loud roar not a half a dozen meters or so away.  It was very impressive!  I suck at night time photos so I'll just post one for now, which I find is satisfyingly mysterious... Any wages on what this critter is?  

 

 

 

Edited August 17 by mungopark

[mungopark]

Up at dawn the next morning, we embarked on our first full game drive.  We encountered lions just outside of camp, having heard them roaring in the night.  Light was poor, but the sighting seemed a good omen for the remainder of our drive.   

 

 

Next we came upon a small scenic waterhole with a lone hippo and some cape buffalo slaking their thirst in the morning's first light.

 

 

 

 

The further from camp we went (ie the further from the riverfront) the thicker the bush became.  The thick vegetation was to become a thorn in my side the entirety of my stay in Liwonde.  Animals were hard to see and even harder to locate in the first place.  Furthermore, once seen, it was hard to get good photographable angles and it was easy for the animals to simply melt away into the bush.  Here are two representative examples from this first game drive of the challenges I faced in getting quality photographs.

 

This first one is of a buffalo.  Short in supply on this trip, this was to be one of my only few encounters with them during the daytime.

 

Certainly more plentiful, but no less difficult to photograph, were sable antelope.  I can say without reservation that Liwonde is a prime park in which to see sable.  We saw them on every drive, and sometimes in very large herds.  What a majestic and splendid antelope!

 

 

Anyways, as can be seen in the two photos above,  which are quite typical of the type of dense woodland we encountered throughout, finding animals in the park was going to put our guides to the test!

 

Continuing on our drive, we saw a variety of ungulates and plains species including zebra, waterbuck, impala and a large herd of sable which we had to off road to to get within range of.  Keen-eyed Tom also spotted a lone hyena emerging from a previously unmarked den...

 

We saw hardly any zebra on this trip, so i count this as one of my favorite sightings from the game drive.

 

 

I hesitated to include a waterbuck photo here, as they will play a much more substantial role in my Gorongosa trip report.  But they are are rather photogenic, so why not?

 

 

Female kudu with some ox-peckers thrown in as a bonus!

 

 

As noted above, we saw several herds of sable on this trip, including this one of at least 20 or more individuals.

 

Edited September 8 by mungopark

[inyathi]

I'd wager your nocturnal beast is the Marsh Mongoose that you mentioned, nice to see a Crawshay's Plains Zebra (Equus quagga crawshayii"), I didn't see any zebras during my stay at Mvuu all those years ago, I assumed they must be Crawshay's which I have seen in Nyika NP up north, but having not seen zebras in Liwonde I wasn't completely certain, your shot confirms my thought, that all zebras in Malawi are probably Crawshay's, like that animal they have narrow stripes over the whole body, down to their hooves. Shame, you couldn't. steal a few and take them with you to Gorongosa, they need a lot more of them over there.   

[mungopark]

@inyathi Thank you for the additional information.  It’s fortunate that the photo captured their legs to help establish their ID based on the leg stripes.  I didn’t ask my guide in Liwonde whether zebra were fairly commonly seen on game drives, but we did not see any more in Liwonde after that.

 

 As for in Gorongosa,  we in fact were delighted to see a herd of zebra on our last game drive and if I’m not mistaken, our guide said he had not seen any for a year.  Funny how an animal so commonplace and often ignored in one area of Africa can become a source of excitement in another.  

 

All part of the reason for visiting as many different places as you can, I suppose, to help put into better perspective how precious and important  each species truly are…

Edited August 18 by mungopark

[mungopark]

Mvuu Lodge surprised us with a bush breakfast along the banks of the Shire.  We enjoyed omelets, toast, juice, bacon and sausage while listening to the cry of fish eagles and the grunting of hippos.  I'm always a sucker for landscape photos, so this was ample opportunity for the same.  Here are a few shots showcasing the many varied tree and succulent species, including baobab, fever trees, borassus palm and candelabra.

 

 

 

 

 

The big and spectacular trees were never far from the riverfront.  We would have an even better view later that afternoon on a boat cruise.  But first we had the rest of our game drive to look forward to.

 

Leaving the site of our bush breakfast, we were delighted to encounter a solo one-tusked elephant who was keen on getting a snack of seed pods, leaves, branches and anything else he could get his trunk on.

 

 

Let's give this a try... Hmmmm tooo high maybe.

 

 

Let's try this tree instead...

 

 

Just in reach!!!

 

 

Elephant calisthenics!!!!

 

 

Edited August 18 by mungopark

[mungopark]

Arriving in camp in the late morning, I enjoyed a siesta and wrote in my journal while looking out over the lagoon.  I was excited for our afternoon activity, which was to be by boat, given that my favorite animal is the hippo.  I've been on many prior safaris with limited or poor hippo sightings, so I was hoping Liwonde NP would satisfy my fondest wishes to have up close and personal hippo encounters.  We left at around 3:00 pm, leaving from the dock at Mvuu Camp and heading upstream.  Right away excellent animals sightings began to occur, by far one of the best water safari experiences I've ever had!  Here are some of my favorite photos from the excursion, which lasted until the sun went down.

 

Hippos were seen right next to camp, not 1 minute after we'd embarked.  Particularly pleasing was seeing a cute youngster with mum.

 

 

 

 

No less spectacular (yes hippos are spectacular) than these river horses were the many large crocs we encountered sunning themselves anywhere there was room.  My past experience with crocs has been that they are shy and flee as soon as they see you.  Not so these big guys, who seemed to look back at me with a gleam of defiance in their eye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One amusing incident occurred.  Next to one of these monsters we noticed a terrapin.    It seemed overtly bold to be in such close proximity to an animal that may choose at any moment to snack on it.  We then realized that it was caught up in some tree roots.  The nearby croc plopped into the water as we neared and our guide was able to, with some effort, free the terrapin from his predicament.  It's entirely possible that the croc who had just decamped was waiting right under us, ready to bite the terrapin in half as soon as it was freed.  But a quick death in the maw of a crocodile would still be better than a slow death by dehydration and starvation!  

Edited August 18 by mungopark

[mungopark]

Hippo and crocodile were at the top of my wish list for this excursion.  After that, everything else was just one huge bonus!  Like this guy, the very definition of huge!

 

 

 

 

And look at this guy - he leaves no doubt in anyone's mind why they are called waterbuck!  He did leave a doubt in my mind as to what he would do if a large crocodile decided to join him on his little island...

 

 

From the previous picture you can see how the many termite "islands" are frequented by birds, as evidenced by the quantity of bird poop on the tops of the mounds.  From a distance they almost looked like miniature snow-capped mountains!  Here is a sampling of some of the many birds that were seen.

 

Yellow-billed storks and African spoonbills

 

 

No introduction needed!

 

Open-billed stork

 

 

White-breasted cormorant?

 

 

Darter? snake-bird?  Kinda blurry so I'm not sure.  My attempt (completely unintentional) at BIF

 

  

 

As the sun set over my first full day in Liwonde, I felt blessed to be in this great wilderness and extremely pleased with all of the day's happenings.

 

 

 

 

[mungopark]

Our boat cruise was followed by a night drive in which we saw lion, side-striped jackal (a new animal for me and one I'd really been hoping to see), common duiker, porcupine, civet, genet, buffalo, sable and hippo.  Quite the productive night drive.  I tinkered with the settings on my camera during the night drive and whatever it was that I did, all of my photos the next day came out somewhat out of focus and fuzzy.  So unfortunately, for the next few entries into this trip report my photos are not up to scratch, but I include them here nonetheless to help at least show what cool stuff Liwonde NP has to offer prospective visitors.

 

Up again at dawn, we were off looking for new adventures.  Leaving camp, we passed by an elephant who was lying down, seemingly asleep.  Not unusual behavior I suppose, but something I'd never before witnessed.  We came upon the local pride of lions - subadults and females but no males - who quickly moved away from us after a minute or two.  And then we were out of the area of camp and back into the main game loops.  Our plan for today was to look for black rhino in an area of thick bush in the south-eastern portion of the park around Nanyani Hill.  There was a new hide recently built on the hill that we would also check out.  Along the way we passed by a very cool-looking tree (actually two trees, one being a strangler fig and the other I'm not sure of), which was the site of a former village.

 

 

 

 

En-route we saw some raptors as seen here.  Happy to have someone help with the ID, as I don't have my notes in front of me at this moment.

 

 

 

Many antelope were seen along the way, including impala, waterbuck, kudu and even a noble eland, the only one of the trip...

 

I kind of like the indistinct outlines on this photo - it almost makes it look like a painting!

 

 

a great variety of antelope, and all out in the open, but camera trouble spoiled the lot ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

We reached Nanyuni hill, and took a winding road full of switchbacks until we reached the hide.  Unfortunately, not much action was going on in the small glade that it overlooked.  There was a common duiker lurking in the shade of a tree, which I took a shamefully lousy photo of just to document it.  Baboon and several water birds, including egrets and herons, rounded out the sighting.  We then continued further up the hill until we reached a nice picnic spot with a braai.  We had some snacks and then began our descent.  along the way we spotted some more Crawshay's zebra in the distance and a single grumpy buffalo.

 

 

  

 

That brought to a close our game drive for the morning - a bit underwhelming, but enjoyable nonetheless.    At least we got to see a different area of the park, which was nice.  Our guide had chosen this route so that we could look for the elusive black rhino, but the downside (in addition to striking out in our quest) is that the areas they frequented were characterized by extremely thick bush, which meant anything smaller that an elephant or a rhino we would simply pass by without detection.  Anyways, no time for disappointment - the plan for the afternoon was to head north, to visit what turned out to be one of the highlights of my trip!!! 

 

Edited August 19 by mungopark

[mungopark]

for the afternoon drive we headed north from camp, skirting the river as we headed toward lake Malombe.  Game sightings were few and far between.  Had a good sable sighting and saw a few other antelope as well, but the highlight was seeing (albeit briefly) a herd of elephants as we neared our destination.

 

 

 

 

So what was to be our destination???

 

 

This special baobab, known as Livingstone's baobab, right on the riverfront!  Unique in many ways, not the least of which is due to there being a large strangler fig which tried in vain to envelop the giant.

 

 

Also unique due to there being a large hole in the side which allowed us to climb inside of it!

 

 

 

 

There were bats roosting at the apex.

 

 

It was an extremely enjoyable way to end the day with this awesome tree.  Not all special sightings have wings or four legs ...

 

 

 

Edited August 27 by mungopark

[mungopark]

After another productive night drive in which we saw white tailed and dwarf mongoose, common duiker, four-toed sengi, civet, genet  and lions it was time to hit the sack.  Up early the next morning, we encountered a herd of elephant at Mvuu Camp, silently passing amongst the tents.  They were probably there trying to tusk one of the several baobabs that are on the property.

 

Soon on our way, our guide indicated that he wanted to look for rhino again.  Some guests who had only just arrived the day before for a one night stay had seen rhino on their first game drive, so maybe our luck was due for a change?

 

We encountered sable and more sable.  Though seemingly common here, it was hard not to get excited with each sighting as these are very majestic antelope.  These were our best Liwonde sable sightings yet, but better was still to come!

 

 

 

 

 

Next we had a splendid encounter with a species which was new for me - the palm nut vulture.  if this trip report has been light on birds, its because we never really looked for them.  This individual was really hard to miss though, up on top of a dead tree, surveiling the land in the early morning sunshine.  Surprisingly, this would not be our last encounter with the palm nut vulture, as will be seen in the thrilling climax to my time at Liwonde ...

 

 

 

Moving on, we saw more common fare including yellow baboon and impala.  Since both species have been grossly neglected thus far in my report, here they are!

 

 

Much like people, baboons often seem to be busy doing something with their hands...

 

 

Add caption of your choice to these two clownish impalas!

 

 

Stopping for tea along the riverfront, we enjoyed a nice sighting of a pod of hippos crowding around a submerged termite mound.

 

 

As the sun was now high, we began driving slowly back towards camp.  It was then that we had what was, up until then, my favorite sighting of the trip.  Lichtenstein's hartebeest, named after a German traveler in the Cape Colony in the first decade of the 19th century, had been at the top of my list for species I was hoping to see on this trip.  They had eluded me  - until now!  As is often the case in something that you want badly, rather than a perfect or ideal sighting I had to settle for  a somewhat distant and all too fleeting glimpse of this wonderful animal.  But despite its brevity, it remains one of my favorite sightings of the whole trip.

 

Here we have several individuals, with one of them engaging in what i think is typical LH behavior, rubbing secretions onto its flanks from its periorbital glands

 

 

 

And just like that, time to walk away!

 

 

Fortunately (for me) I would have additional hartebeest sightings in Gorongosa later on in the trip.  But the first sighting is always the most memorable, and I was satisfied with the results of this otherwise slow morning for having seen the hartebeest.  Alas and alack, the black rhino yet again eluded us.  We had been spending much game drive time looking for them with no luck, so for the afternoon we decided to change course and go on another boat activity.  More to come!  

[mungopark]

On our second afternoon boat ride of the trip, we again headed downstream for a bit, then made a wide detour, turning around and going upstream, giving me a look at Mvuu Lodge from the water, followed by sundowners overlooking a hippo pod.  It was very relaxing, but still productive in its own way.

 

we saw birdlife...

 

 

We saw many of the common suspects in beautiful surroundings ...

 

 

And enjoyed plenty of nice scenery and the quiet solitude of being on the river.

 

 

I can't emphasize enough how enjoyable the water activities in Liwonde were.  Being able to see wildlife from the river provided such a different and wonderful perspective, in addition to lots of stupendous birdlife.  This was such a nice way to end my final night in Liwonde.  But the park was saving the best for last!  stay tuned ...

 

[AndrewB]

We had a glorious few days (self drive camping) at Mvuu Camp in Liwonde in 2016.

Lovely place!

[mungopark]

@AndrewB Definitely a great setting - right on the Shire River.  Beautiful sunsets!

[Atravelynn]

Cute Title!  Fascinating tale of the terrapin and the croc.  Way to go on the   Lichtenstein's hartebeest!  So many sable.  I would have guessed some kind of mongoose on the mystery shot.  Staying tuned....

[mungopark]

Thanks @Atravelynn.  Liwonde served up quite a few surprises, including the episode with the terrapin.  I've definitely never seen such high densities of sable anywhere and i think Liwonde is the destination par excellence to see them!

[mungopark]

Our boat ride was followed up by an excellent night drive in which we saw at least 4-5 different porcupines, more sable, buffalo, genet, and bushpig.  It was pretty cold, however, so I wore the warmish poncho kept in the vehicle for such occasions and this prevented me from getting many photos.  I would rate the night drives in Liwonde and very excellent, however, based on the number of good sightings we had.

 

The next morning was to be my last in the park.  We left per our normal routine at 0600 in one final grand quest after rhino.  Heading in the general direction they had last been seen, not two minutes out of camp we received word that the other camp vehicle, which had gone in the opposite direction as us, had spotted a cheetah!  We raced to where they were, probably at a speed close to that of a cheetah, and found a single game vehicle stopped in the road, the occupants looking off to our left.

 

Straining to look into the shadows in the early morning light, I caught a brief glimpse of something spotted.  A cheetah!  Just when it seemed like it would head off into the bush, it changed course, heading the way we had come.  Our guide put the vehicle in reverse and as we began to back up suddenly Tom yelled out "It's on the hunt!!!!".  Reversing more rapidly, we backed up 10 yards or so, just in time to see the cheetah, in fast pursuit of a bushbuck, cross behind us and then tackle the poor antelope right in front of us to our right! (pardon the graininess of these images - it was still not very light)

 

 

Flabbergasted.  Overjoyed.  Delighted.  These words can hardly describe my feelings bearing witness to such a scene.  The doe took about 2 minutes to finally succumb and the cheetah remained attentive for a minute or so before collapsing in exhaustion.  

 

 

The other vehicle, the one who had originally told us about the sighting, had by then joined us, and then stuck around for maybe 3 minutes or so before inexplicably leaving (I think to go see a pride of lions they got word of), leaving the sighting all to me!  Amazing.  Simply amazing!  

 

The cheetah finally slowly began to feed, interrupting its repast occasionally to scan for danger.  In the meanwhile the sun continued to rise and the ight became more and more favorable

 

 

About 15 minutes into the sighting, the cheetah looked up in alarm.  What could it be????  Brrrrrrng Beeep beep along the track behind us slowly plodded a tractor which was grading and smoothing the road!  There were two occupants and one of them, a young guy, stared google eyed at the cheetah 20 feet away on its kill.  The driver however, just kept plodding along, as if this were a common occurrence!  Sharing a cheetah-on-a-kill sighting with a tractor - that definitely has to be unique in all the annals of safari-dom!

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed more than a half our at the sighting before deciding to leave the cheetah in peace and try our luck with the reported lion pride.  But this had been the single best sighting of the trip thus far and truly one of most amazing things I had ever seen on safari.  Thank you Liwonde!

Edited September 7 by mungopark

[Atravelynn]

I'm glad the tractor did not scare the cheetah off of its kill.  4-5 porcupines in one night is very exciting.

[michael-ibk]

A really awesome sighting for your last morning!