Noises in the night
Laura Marsham, Destination Expert
I had been walked back to my tent by my guide after supper and I had just put my head on my pillow when suddenly I heard a rustling behind my tent. The noise was getting a lot louder as whatever it was coming closer to my tent. After a few minutes of just waiting, I plucked up the courage to look through out onto my decking in front of my tent and to my surprise there was a huge elephant just munching on a Mopane tree, just metres away from me.
I watched him from the safety of my bed for about an hour happily chewing on the branches, when he had finally had enough he very carefully turned himself around to face the way that he had come from. It was extraordinary to watch him walk away from my tent for he had to weave himself through the trees and he lifted his gigantic feet so gracefully over the wooden decking almost determined not to break anything or to make too much of a mess.
When driving through Malawi, our journey took us through the most beautiful countryside and along the side of the lake. By day my eyes were glued to the changing landscape and the lake that seems to go on forever and by night my ears were wide awake with the sounds of the night, particularly one night when I was staying at The Liwonde National Park.
The next night I was staying at a lodge on the lake. For supper we had a delicious bbq on the beach under the stars. As the sun went down suddenly the lake was lit up by what looked like hundreds of little fireflies. As the time went by noises started carrying over the water, people were laughing and shouting and when shouts went out, suddenly all of the lights converged. It was the local fishermen who had all afternoon been sorting out their nets and their paraffin lanterns which they attach to the end of their dug out boats. The light attracts the fish to the surface of the water and the shouts and screams are simply the fishermen telling all of their friends that they are in the right place at the right time. It was a sight and a lot of sounds that I will never forget.
