MANDA BAY

TRAVELS ON THE

finger’s length of crystal- clear turquoise water is all that separates our plywood canoe from the treacherous submerged shards of the granite headland. Above WILD Awater, we glide past cormorants and egrets perched on jagged peaks, thick as orna- ments on a Christmas tree. The late- afternoon sun pumps amber and rose into the atmosphere, burnishing the lakeside’s sideIt’s a little-known destination. But thick green forest and temporarily calm- ing my anxiety over both the possibility those who find their way there of smashing our boat, and our uncertain are rewarded with a plethora location at this increasingly late hour. Having launched a canoe from ’s of treasures – water and forest, Likoma Island early this morning, Bruce exciting horizons, fearless wildlife, Anderson and I have been paddling Lake and the knowledge that their visit Malawi’s north-eastern waters for more than eight hours (the last four against an contributes to the wellbeing of increasingly fierce south wind). In the the 20 000-strong local commun- fast-dimming light, another empty stretch ity. ’s Manda Bay of lakeshore rolls south, and another bolt of hot pain shoots through my shoulder. Wilderness Reserve may really be And then, finally, a hint of white sand one of Africa’s last wild places, and … a dozen people playing volleyball? The canoe scrapes over a tideline of says Lee Middleton. smooth quartz pebbles the size of eggs and we pull up onto a blinding white TEXT & PHOTOGRAPHS BY LEE MIDDLETON sandy beach as the sun disappears behind Malawi’s mountains. ‘Welcome to Nkwichi Lodge,’ says a vol- leyball player, extending a hand. Set on the north-eastern shore of what most people know as (Lago Niassa in these parts), Nkwichi Lodge is the last western (in terms both cardinal and cultural) outpost of an unfenced and sparsely inhabited African wilderness extending east to Mozambique’s Niassa National Reserve and on to the Indian Ocean, and north via Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve almost to Dar es Salaam. Drinking what may be the most reward- ing ice-cold beer I’ve ever tasted, I tell Patrick Simkin, one of Nkwichi’s owners, how we ended up disturbing the staff vol- leyball match on this patch of powdery sand. 0

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It all started on the Ilala ferry. Having upon arrival at a river that boarded at Malawi’s , we flows deep and quiet. ‘This

intended to disembark at the lake town is Rio Lukambwe,’ Kam- Rovuma of Metangula in Mozambique, from wendo announces, indicating which point we would hike northwards, the jade-coloured milky water. Likoma Island camping along the lakeshore, until we The banks are green and shady Niassa NR reached the next ‘major’ town of Cobué, with huge stands of bamboo. A Cobué Nkwichi› Lodge or possibly Tanzania. The whole mission trumpeter hornbill flies over- Manda Bay was foiled when Metangula’s immigra- head and numerous butterflies Wilderness R tion officers wouldn’t let me disembark, flit through the dappled light. Metangula saying visas were only available at Cobué, Elephant trails furrow the riv- where the ferry no longer docks. erside and from now on they Lichinga Forced to travel onwards to Likoma will lead the way. Island, Bruce and I made the deck-side ‘What we have here at MOZAMBIQUE observation that our intended route Manda is original wild Africa. appeared flawed anyway: in the 50 kilo- An animal you come across Lake metres between Metangula and Cobué, will probably run, but it won’t Malawi the forest I had imagined as tumbling have a name, it’s not “George down to a largely uninhabited lakeshore the giraffe”. Game can move Monkey Bay was in fact sometimes as much as a kilo- freely,’ Simkin had said before metre inland from a coast that was dot- we left. ‘And that’s got value.’ ted sporadically with small huts and, on Not only is Manda part of one MALAWI occasion, villages. of the last great African wilderness- All was not lost however. On Likoma, es, it is the first Mozambican land the good people at Mango Drift back- claim where local communities have packers’ hostel hooked us up with a successfully petitioned for management canoe for hire and urged us to find rights from the government under new Simkin, the best go-to man for would-be legislation intended to encourage better explorers ‘that side’. local stewardship of natural resources. It’s day three of our trek, and we’ve he go-to man has just dropped just run into three African wild dogs in here ... an us off in Mandambuzi village, a stand of bamboo. As a fluffy canine about 10 kilometres inland from tail disappears into the forest beyond, I OPPOSITE, ABOVE Nkwichi Lodge is fringed on one Nkwichi. can’t help but agree with Simkin that side by the clear waters of Lake Malawi, and on the animal on T other by a tangle of forest. ‘Take this, it will be indispensable,’ says walking through wild Africa carries a Simkin as we part ways, handing us a unique thrill. It is true that we haven’t OPPOSITE, BELOW A lone fisherman fishes the lake’s your trek will panga, adding it to the compass, advice seen loads of game, but in a way that waters. It is hoped that revenue generated by the lodges in the community-managed Manda Bay and topographical maps already contrib- doesn’t matter. The animals are out Wilderness Reserve will help local villagers to improve probably run, uted to what will be a five-night expedi- there, and you never know what you’ll their lives. tion through the Manda Bay Wilderness see. There’s also the freedom of move- PREVIOUS SPREAD The author pauses in her paddling but it won’t Reserve. ment – we can walk wherever we choose, to admire the view. Having nixed the coastal hike concept, as long as we can, searching for the most have a name, we will instead trek through the riverine beautiful spot to make camp each day – forest and savannas of this 120 000- and the uncertainty it’s not ‘George hectare community-established reserve. i n h e r e n t i n t h i s In Mandambuzi we hire porters who type of unmediated the giraffe’ know the forest and spend the night ex-ploration is what FACT FILE camped by a pretty little pond. transforms a hike MOZAMBIQUE The next morning, we set off through into an adventure. 6gZV,..(-%hfjVgZ`^adbZ" the high grass. It is the cool dry season, The region’s tradi- igZh!Y^k^YZY^cid&%egdk^cXZh tionally low human but a smattering of clouds overhead pro- 8Ve^iVaBVejid vides welcome relief from the sun. The population is a result EdejaVi^dcBdgZi]Vc'(b^aa^dc path ascends into dry brachystegia of topography and CVijgVagZhdjgXZhB^cZgVaYZedh^ih^cXajYZXdVa!hVai! miombo woodland where unfamiliar pro- history. The quartz ^gdcdgZ!e]dhe]ViZ!\daY!XdeeZg teas and tiny pieces of broken quartz and ancient sediment- 8dchZgkVi^dcNZVghd[X^k^alVgVcYedVX]^c\]VkZ speckle the earth. Within an hour, signs ary rock that makes YgVbVi^XVaanYZeaZiZYl^aYa^[Z!WjigZhidgZY^ciZgZhi^c of people have vanished. Nkwichi’s beach so XdchZgkVi^dcVcYXVji^djhYZkZadebZcid[i]ZXdjcignÉh The porters Matheus Kamwendo and picture-perfect renders \VoZiiZYegdiZXiZYVgZVhhdbZ&&eZgXZcid[i]ZidiVahjg" Peter Mandala walk at fairly breakneck the surrounding land [VXZVgZVVgZ]Vk^c\Vedh^i^kZ!^[hadl!Z[[ZXidccjbWZgh# speed through the forest, finally slowing poor for farming. 0

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what has suddenly become a Meanwhile, with advice from Simkin footpath. Soon afterwards, we and the NGO partners he has brought in, pass a simple snare of plastic the communities have created the game cord, and then a few more. reserve, and though the rules around Less than an hour from the resource management are not always fol- first snare we come across the lowed, the fact that there are rules is a first cassava field. And just critical first step (Umoji actually expelled like that, we’re out of the police officials who were hunting illegally wild. with guns in Manda). We stop to pay our respects Finally, the lodge itself is a wonder of to the chief of Mcondece vil- green principles realised. Solar-powered, lage, an old man in tattered built with local materials where possible clothes who is far friendlier and employing all fathomable recycling than my preconceptions of a methods, Nkwichi has an almost zero car- chief would have him. Our bon footprint. And green does not mean guides regale him with tales uncomfortable: the lodge resembles a of our adventure while we all luxury grown-up version of your favourite gnaw on chunks of cassava childhood forest-fort. And, amazingly, its dipped in rock salt. structures remain almost invisible from The village is extremely the water, leaving its breathtakingly pris- spread out. Plots of cassava tine location – the most beautiful I have TRAVEL NOTES planted around charred tree seen on the lake – unmarred. stumps extend in all direc- jggZcian!i]ZdcaneaVXZd[[Zg^c\VXXdb" tions. We stop beneath a large t turns out that my earlier deck-side 8bdYVi^dc^cBVcYV7VnL^aYZgcZhh Mozambique’s civil war further depleted tree sheltering a bench and a pigeon coop impressions from the ferry were not GZhZgkZ^hC`l^X]^AdY\ZVWdkZ!l]^X] the region and distance from the capital of in a compound that strikes me as extra- entirely correct. Beautiful deserted egdk^YZhVXXdbbdYVi^dc[dg&)\jZhih^c Maputo has largely ensured that it has ordinarily organised and tidy. Eventually beaches do in fact exist between hZkZcX]VaZih!ZVX]l^i]^ihdlcZc"hj^iZ I WVi]gddb#lll#bVcYVl^aYZgcZhh#dg\ stayed that way. a man with a goatee appears. Extracting a Metangula and Cobué. However, having a When Simkin and his partners arrived dove from the coop, he hands it to canoe makes it much easier to find and ;dg^c[dgbVi^dcVWdjiigVkZaa^c\ in 1998, they were the first outsiders to Mandala and gives Kamwendo a huge access them. idBdoVbW^fjZ!XdciVXidjgigVkZa promote development and tourism in this smoked catfish. He turns out to be the Several days have passed ZmeZgihdc ',%'&,+''&-%dg seemingly forgotten corner of the country. secretary of Umoji (which means ‘as one’), since our trek concluded in BIRDING BOUNTY lll#V[g^XV\Zd\gVe]^XigVkZa#Xdb After meeting with and receiving permis- an association of individuals elected from Cobué. We bade farewell to Cdgi]ZgcBdoVbW^fjZ^hVbV\cZi sion from all the communities in the area, each village’s natural resource committee the porters there and walked [dgW^gYZgh!Vhi]ZVgZV]Vhcdi they applied to lease the land for Nkwichi to manage the Manda Bay Wilderness back to Nkwichi along the WZZci]dgdj\]anZmeadgZYVcY Lodge, and five years later were able to Reserve and their collective land claim. coastal path, a short journey i]ZgZÉhV\ddYX]VcXZd[hZZ^c\ begin operating. During this time, with The local communities established the that proved surprisingly cZlheZX^ZhjcYdXjbZciZY^ci]Z we glide past the help of a local NGO called União da reserve in order to multiply benefits like pleasant. Picking up our Xdjcign#7^gYhidlViX]dji[dgVgZ Camponesas e Assoçiacões de Lichinga, those they’ve received from Nkwichi. canoe at Nkwichi, we began eVaZ"W^aaZY]dgcW^aa!l]^iZ"l^c\ZY cormorants and Simkin also started the process of helping With their only livelihood options being paddling the wild side. VeVa^h!ZVhiZgcYdjWaZ"XdaaVgZY the communities to organise committees fishing, farming unproductive soil and With forest-covered hills to hjcW^gY!XZcigVaWZVgYZYhXgjW" gdW^c!bdjciV^cWVWWaZg!7ZgigVbÉh that collectively would have the power to selling firewood (mostly to deforested our left, we glide past stretch- egrets perched lZVkZgVcYOVco^WVggZYW^h]de# start making changes in their own lives. Malawi), the possibility of additional lodges es of clean beaches punctu- 7^gYZghk^h^i^c\BdoVbW^fjZVgZ on jagged brings the chance of income from land ated by small huts, the mast ^ck^iZYidhjWb^ii]Z^gdWhZgkV" t is day five when we arrive at the rental (Umoji has legal title to the lands of a dhow usually poking i^dchidi]ZBdoVbW^fjZ6iaVh7^gY peaks, thick as Mcondece River, the waterway Simkin here), the supply of materials and jobs. from reeds thick with cormo- Egd_ZXi!WZ^c\Xdbe^aZYWnK^cXZci suggested we should follow north- Simkin hopes that Nkwichi Lodge and rants, egrets and pied king- EVg`ZgVii]ZJc^kZgh^ind[8VeZ ornaments on a I wards. Clear tea-coloured water runs what is now known as the Manda fishers. Fish-eagles dive from Idlc#

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