Majete WR - a remarkable recovery

[AfricIan]

Many thanks for bring back all the memories we have of our trip back in 2017 @Anthilltiger, its also nice to see the contrast between wet & dry season.

 

I was taken aback a bit by your comment that hardly saw buffalo as they were very common when we were there (in June) and were regular visitors to the Thawale Lodge waterhole as well as being seen out on our drives - clearly the availability of water being one of the key drivers here.

 

We were also lucky with the Majete lions, almost certainly we saw the "Shire pride" having, as you also referred to, located them via baboon alarm calls has we looped round the riverside roads between the Kapichira & Hamilton falls trying to pin them down. We also found the two original males out to the West of Thawale Lodge, do you know if they are still running their pride?

 

 

 

[AKR1]

@AnthilltigerThanks for an excellent report on a country I know almost nothing about. Your photography is excellent and many of pictures are superb compositions. Good work!

[Anthilltiger]

4 hours ago, AfricIan said:

I was taken aback a bit by your comment that hardly saw buffalo as they were very common when we were there (in June) and were regular visitors to the Thawale Lodge waterhole as well as being seen out on our drives - clearly the availability of water being one of the key drivers here.

 

We were also lucky with the Majete lions, almost certainly we saw the "Shire pride" having, as you also referred to, located them via baboon alarm calls has we looped round the riverside roads between the Kapichira & Hamilton falls trying to pin them down. We also found the two original males out to the West of Thawale Lodge, do you know if they are still running their pride?

Yup, we were surprised by the lack of buffalo sightings as well; we're told the big herds are down south but right now the grass is so high I may miss a herd in there  so we're waiting for the dry season to check them out.

 

I haven't heard any reports of lions to the west of Thawale; there are definitely lions south of the lodge as we've heard roaring from there.  There were 2 older males, but they were translocated to Liwonde some time ago.

[Anthilltiger]

8 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

Am i right in saying the male lion is collared? is that part of the AP  monitoring efforts? 

 

 

 

Yes, the male and 2 females are all collared and regularly monitored.  The subadult male in the pride has also just been collared as there are signs of him about to be kicked out the pride, so I'm sure they're keen to track his movements.

[Anthilltiger]

Leopard

 

Now of course leopards are always hard to find - they are shy, elusive and masters of disguise.  The photos that we’d seen of Majete leopards all seemed to be from night drives so we weren’t expecting a lot in terms of these spotted cats.  But still, outside of Nyika NP (a high altitude park that covers the Nyika plateau), Majete is the only place that we can see leopards in Malawi after about 6 were introduced over the years from 2011. It was a long shot, but one that has paid off and what kept us going back

 

We’d spoken to one of the guides who had told us that the new bypass road was the best place to look for leopard as one had been spotted near the main bridge.  Okay, that’s at least a good place to start.  Then we happened to run into someone that we’d met at Liwonde.  Samwel had been a freelance guide and had often camped at the same campsite we would while his guests stayed in the lodge.  When we met him at Majete he’d just started working there as a guide and told us that he’d seen not one but 3 leopards! That had been the previous week and it was a mother with 2 subadults around the same area that the other guide had told us. 

 

This was a better lead than we’d thought so we decided to head out that afternoon just after a heavy rainstorm and scout the area. We checked around but couldn’t find anything and knowing the lead was actually a week old, decided to head back to the campsite and make coffee.  We’d just had our coffee when Sam rocked up to get some guests for a game drive and asked us if we’d seen the leopards.  Thinking that he was asking a general question, we responded that we hadn’t.  “No, no - they’re there now!!” What?! He’d come to pick up his guests early since he’d spotted them near to where he said he’d seen them last.  

 

So he suggested we follow him and not long after that we got our first sighting of a young male leopard.  Unfortunately the other 2 had already disappeared into the bush, but he seemed quite brave and posed while watching us for a while before following the other 2 leopards.   We caught them later as well walking amongst the trees, but were never able to get them all in the same frame, so that now remains our mission.  

 

We’ve actually caught them a few times since then, and they are the main drawcard for us returning there week after week - we're trying to get a photo of all three in the same frame  The young male seems to be the most comfortable with cars, he’s the one we see most often, so that bodes well for the future that he is getting habituated to cars.  There is also another leopard that seems to hang around the campsite - we’ve heard him at night a few times and he’s been spotted by the guides dashing across the road, so hopefully one day we’ll catch him too.

 

Our first leopard sighting in Majete (and Malawi):

 

The young male is a bit of a poser:

 

Mom is not as bold:

 

The young male and his sibling:

 

Found at the bridge, where we were told to look:

 

Already acting like he owns the road:

 

Handsome boy:

Edited March 29, 2021 by Anthilltiger

[AfricIan]

1 hour ago, Anthilltiger said:

There were 2 older males, but they were translocated to Liwonde some time ago.

 

Ah yes, I remember that - hadn't  one of them started chasing the rangers on their little motorbikes?

[Biko]

woow that’s a handsome leopard boy indeed. How lucky you are to live in Malawi and be able to go back to Majete so often.

[ForWildlife]

Very cool! What's actually happening in the other AP park in Malawi, Nkhotakota? Fences put up, lots of elephants and other animals moved there, but I've lost track of news from there. At the time there were rumoured to still possibly be a few lions around in that park, but I don't think AP could confirm that when they had taken over.

[inyathi]

@ForWildlifeI haven't seen much news regarding Nkhotakota, but your comment prompted me to look at the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserves Facebook Page, I'm not on Facebook and I've not looked at it before, perhaps the most interesting news I saw, was from 2019

 

Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve

 

 

Quote

We have some exciting news from Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve – a roan antelope was recently captured on camera! Although this quirky looking species historically occurred in the area, it was thought to be locally extinct as not one sighting had been recorded in a number of years. The discovery of this individual is extremely positive news for Nkhotakota and the U.S. Forest Service who, in partnership with African Parks, have deployed a number of camera traps throughout the reserve as part of a larger wildlife monitoring survey.

 

Roan were not amongst the species that AP have reintroduced, so there must be a surviving population, albeit a very small one, I hope perhaps in time they can get an idea as to just how many there might be in the park, and then decide if reinforcement is required or if they can recover unassisted. Otherwise it seems they were collaring elephants in September, the last post sent me to the following website 

 

Lilongwe Wildlife Trust ELEPHANT COLLARING: A VET’S EYE VIEW

 

 

@AnthilltigerNice leopards, they should help to bring in a few more tourists, when people can start to think about travelling again. 

[Kitsafari]

a very handsome young leopard indeed! still so lucky to catch all 3, if not in the same frame. 

[Zubbie15]

Really enjoying this TR @Anthilltiger... And really jealous that you're able to do weekend trips to such a park! 

[Anthilltiger]

Cheetah

We’re not sure how many cheetahs there are in Majete, just that there are.  It did range from 1 to 5 depending on who you talk to One kept crossing the river and escaping - I think they’ve sent him off to Liwonde and brought a couple from there into Majete.  However many there are, until recently they’d mainly settled down in the South where it is more open and less accessible.  

 

But we can confirm that they do have because we have had a quick glimpse of one disappearing into the bush early one morning.  Now she was one of the 2 females that they translocated from Pilanesberg (South Africa) in about February.  And these 2 females have been separately seen on a few occasions recently, leading us to believe they’ve settled in the main tourist area.  Although we go to Liwonde to chase cheetahs, it’s great to have another spotted cat to look for in Majete.  

Hyena

It took us over 6 months for us to finally get a photo of a spotted hyena in Malawi.  There seems to be very few of them around in the national parks, and our only encounter with them was a skittish one that came around our campsite one night in Liwonde NP.

We hear them now and then at night and had heard them from the Majete campsite, but we finally found one that was relaxed enough to be photographed one morning when we were looking for leopards.  The hyena was actually on the same road the leopard frequents - I think he may have been looking for the leopards too

Other predators

We assume there are jackals on the reserve as well, but there hasn’t been a trace of one so far except for a few spoor that could possibly be them.  There have been a couple of servals that have been released recently that were rescued as pets and rehabilitated, so we may have a chance of seeing them, but we’re not holding our breath    

 

Our first hyena sighting in Malawi:

Very calm but soon disappeared:

[Anthilltiger]

On 3/26/2021 at 11:02 PM, AfricIan said:

 

Ah yes, I remember that - hadn't  one of them started chasing the rangers on their little motorbikes?

An interesting observation we had regarding these quadbikes:  We were watching the 3 subadults of the Shire pride next to a road one day.  They were very relaxed and hardly moved when a car drove past them.  A while later though, they all suddenly got up and were on high alert.  We couldn't understand why until we heard it too - they sound of the quadbike that the rangers use to do patrols. The lions were definitely very alert when the quad drove past but didn't do anything, maybe due to the speed that the rangers drove by or the fact the ranger lifted his gun as they drove by.  

 

The quad stopped out of sight and switched the engine off, only then did the lions appear to relax a bit but still on alert.  About 10 minutes later we heard the quad switch on again, and so did the lions - instant reaction - they all got up, stared nervously down the road towards where the noise of the quad was coming from and then disappeared into the bush.   It was interesting to see the reaction, especially as we'd heard of the story of the lions chasing the bikes.  In fact, we heard later that they'd chased a few rangers up a tree a few months previously, so they've had to shoot a few warning shots in the air - I think the lions may now be associating that with the quads and hopefully that has stopped them chasing these poor rangers! 

 

[Anthilltiger]

Birds

 

Surprisingly we haven’t had as much luck as we’d expected in the birding department.  Considering the big trees along the riverbank, we’d thought that we’d be seeing many more birds than we have. The river flows too fast to have the shore birds that would normally occur, but we have seen a few specials - including the uncommon Racket-tailed roller which was a lifer for us and one that we'd been targeting.  Over the migratory season we’ve also seen a few old favourites like the Bohm's bee-eater, Broad-billed roller and a couple of Southern carmine bee-eaters.  

 

We’ve found the best place to bird is actually the campground with its big trees and nearby waterhole.  We’ve spotted some really cool birds there, including a Narina trogon, a resident Red-headed weaver, and 2 lifers for us - a Black cuckooshrike and a Black cuckoo.  In fact, we’ve heard a number of cuckoos in the rainy season - Black, Red-chested, Diederik’s, Klaas’ and African Emerald - but hearing them is always a lot easier than seeing (or photographing) them!

 

The racket-tailed roller, a bird we'd targeted in Liwonde but finally found in Majete:

 

Black-bellied bustard:

 

Arnot's chat:

 

This red-headed weaver spent the summer building 3 nests, but we never saw a female with him:

 

Bohm's bee-eater is a common sighting in the park:

 

Always special to see a Martial eagle:

 

Speckled-throated woodpecker, a campsite special:

 

Another campsite regular, Striped kingfisher:

 

Crowned hornbill:

 

Retz's helmet-shrike:

 

African cuckoo-hawk:

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by Anthilltiger

[Anthilltiger]

Accommodation

 

Logistically, there are 3 accommodation options in the park: 

 

Camping:  the community run campsite is about 10 minutes from the entrance and is between the airstrip and the Thawale lodge.  It is fenced and has plenty of space for a number of campers with designated braai spots.  You can also hire a tent from them and they will set it up for you, or stay in one of their chalets (shared ablutions with the campsite).   There is a clean ablution block with hot water showers!, a big boma to sit in and even a kitchen for cooking that has a stove and a fridge.  It is very well run with knowledgeable and friendly staff - highly recommend.

 

Lodge:  There are 2 lodges in the park. Thawale Lodge is about 15 minutes from the entrance as the same road as the campsite and appears quite popular.  We haven't seen it but believe it's a good alternative if you don't camp.  They also have a waterhole that comes into its own in the dry season, you can check them out here. 

The second lodge is Mkulumadzi Lodge and is situated in its own concession in the north of the park, run by Robin Pope Safaris.  We haven't seen it, but you can check it out here. 

 

There is also a lodge (with a campsite) which is just outside Majete in case you arrive when the park is closed called Ng'ona Lodge.  It's right opposite the park entrance, you can't miss it.  We keep meaning to check it out, but haven't got around to it yet, so can't vouch for it.  You can check it out here

 

Overall

 

Majete was always going to be our alternative reserve to visit if we couldn’t go to Liwonde, but the reserve is really holding its own.  The cats that we’ve seen have actually been a pleasant surprise, the elephants have been more plentiful than we were anticipating and the overall game diversity and sightings have been  great.  If we think back to what this reserve must have been almost 20 years ago and what it is now, the transformation is amazing and a real testament to the commitment of AfricanParks and the Malawian government to rehabilitating the park.  And the real bonus for us is that it's it's only 1.5 hours from Blantyre, giving us an easy weekend away option.  So overall, we will keep going back and enjoying the sights the park has to offer.

 

Majete campsite with boma on the right:

 

The trees make for good shade in the summer heat:

 

Lioness sits just outside the fenced campsite - you can see the chalets in the background:

Edited March 31, 2021 by Anthilltiger

[wilddog]

What a really informative trip report and with so many lovely images. Thanks for sharing it with us.

just a feeling a touch jealous,  as we all cross our fingers for long hoped for trips to the bush in 2021.