Hello there. Here we are again… hope that you have had a splendid weekend. This week we are once again joining Fern and her family as they head to Pumulani for some more relaxing beach time after the South Luangwa Safari. So, Fern once more over to you:
“After a very busy 6 nights in the South Luangwa, we headed to Malawi for a bit of rest and relaxation at our ‘beach’ property, Pumulani. The kids were struggling to get their head around the sheer size of Lake Malawi, even when I explained that in length, it was the same as the distance is from Edinburgh to London and that it is as wide as the distance between Reading and London, they could still not grasp it, and they were sure they would be able to see the other side!
Upon arriving at Pumulani, we were met with the stunning view of water as far as the eye could see, and suddenly the kids got it! We had a beautifully spacious room, with lots of room for us to not be on top of each other. It took a day or so to ease into the ‘relaxing’ feel of Pumulani after the ‘business’ of safari.
Due to the heavy rains the water was pretty high, but this just made the walk to the water shorter! We went on the paddle boards and kayaks and spent quite some time as a family having fun playing in the shallows!
Black was our guide while we were at Pumulani, and he established a great rapport with the kids and us. He took Jeff and Noah fishing, which they loved, while under David’s expert tuition Casey and I learnt how to play Bao! We enjoyed it so much that we bought the game from the gift shop and regularly play it at home!
We boarded the tuk tuk and headed to the local village, where we visited the primary school. For the kids it was a big eye opener as in Casey’s school they have 8 classrooms and approximately 200 students, but at this school there were 8 classrooms and 1300 students! Casey and Noah could not believe it! Watching their facial expressions change as their minds worked processing and understanding this new world they were seeing, was something that will stay with us for a long time, and hopefully with them too. Noah commented how tough the children were as they were chasing the tuk tuk with enthusiasm and enjoyment and no shoes!
The sunset cruise on the traditional dhow boat that evening was fantastic, it is so calming to be out on the water, watching the sunset with a sundowner. As it was too windy to put the sail up, so we slowly headed along the shoreline, seeing the village from the water. It was a different way to see the village that we visited earlier that day. It was also a great way to see how many people use the lake as a source of survival with fishing and as a water source. Both Noah and Casey enjoyed seeing all the local fisherman heading out on their canoes carved from wood trees.
By far the biggest highlight for all of us was going on the snorkelling trip from the lodge. We boarded the speedboat at 9.30am ready for a 30-minute speedboat journey to West Thumbi island where we would be snorkelling. Aside from the scenery being completely stunning, the water was crystal clear. After anchoring we jumped in where we were surrounded by hundreds of beautiful cyclid fish! We were blown away at the beauty of the fish and how they were so close to us! They even eat the bread straight from your hands, it was an incredible experience! Kids will be kids and when they had swum with the fish for a while, they began jumping off the boat, this entertained them for a couple of hours!!
On our way back to the lodge, we stopped and fed some fish eagles, that was yet another incredible experience! The rest of the day was spent playing in the top pool, enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of the lodge. The food was fantastic – even catering for our very fussy daughter!
The kids had a fantastic time on our holiday with Robin Pope Safaris, we can’t thank the staff and teams in both Zambia and Malawi enough! We are already looking forward to coming back soon!”
Wonderful, thank you so much Fern for sharing your trip with us! How fabulous for you to be able to do this together. I am going to leave the Luangwa tales for next week, so shall bid you a very fond farewell and have a fabulous week ahead with plenty of smiles and laughter and don’t forget to look after one another.
