如果你觉得在非洲看动物只能是漫长的驱车颠簸,马拉维的利翁代国家公园(Liwonde National Park)会刷新你的认知。这个占地大约548平方公里的保护区位于马拉维南部,距离商贸中心布兰太尔(Blantyre)大约150公里。这里最迷人的地方不在于陆地,而在于贯穿公园西侧的希雷河(Shire River)。清晨五点半的河面还冒着热气,当你乘着平底船滑过厚厚的水草,河马就在几米外打着响亮的响鼻,那种近距离的压迫感和生命力是坐在越野车里完全无法比拟的。
说起利翁代,不得不提非洲公园组织(African Parks)。在2015年他们接手管理之前,这里的情况相当糟糕,偷猎陷阱随处可见。经过近十年的铁腕治理和社区合作,工作人员清理了超过4万个钢丝陷阱。曾经绝迹的掠食者被分批送了回来:2017年迎回了猎豹,2018年狮子重新入驻,2021年又引入了野犬。现在的利翁代已经实现了非洲五霸的回归,不仅动物数量回升,生态链也变得完整。如果你运气够好,甚至能在茂密的莫帕尼(Mopane)森林里看到行踪诡秘的黑犀牛,2019年有17头黑犀牛从南非搬家到了这里。
利翁代的面积在非洲动辄数万平方公里的国家公园中确实不算大,但这恰恰是它的优势。动物密度非常集中,尤其是希雷河沿岸。为了解决象群数量过载导致的人象冲突,2016年到2017年间,这里进行了一场人类历史上规模空前的大象搬家。当时大约有500多头大象被麻醉并跨越数百公里搬到了马拉维北部的恩科塔科塔野生动物保护区。即便如此,现在你在利翁代河边漫步时,依然能随手拍到几十头大象排队喝水的壮观场景。这种对生态承载力的科学调控,让利翁代成了非洲野生动物管理的典范。
船游(Boat Safari)是利翁代的金字招牌。说真的,要是你只在陆地上转悠,那可真是亏大了。希雷河不仅是生命线,更是一个天然的观景台。最精彩的戏码莫过于大象过河,成年大象会把长鼻子伸出水面像潜水通气管一样呼吸,小象则紧紧贴在母亲身边。河岸边成百上千头河马张着巨大的嘴巴打哈欠,鳄鱼则一动不动地趴在泥滩上晒太阳。在河上观光能让你从侧面甚至略低的角度观察动物,这种视角带来的画面冲击感非常强,尤其适合摄影爱好者捕捉河水溅起的瞬间。
如果你是个观鸟控,利翁代简直就是天堂。这里记录在册的鸟类超过400种。最让观鸟者兴奋的莫过于罕见的佩氏渔鸮(Pel’s Fishing Owl),它们喜欢躲在河边巨大的树荫里。除了这种难得一见的明星,你还能看到非洲海雕(African Fish Eagle)从高空俯冲抓鱼,或者色彩鲜艳的丽莲氏情侣鹦鹉(Lilian’s Lovebird)成群飞过莫帕尼林地。对于新手来说,哪怕分不清种类,光是看那些像蓝翡翠一样闪闪发光的翠鸟在水面穿梭,也足够赏心悦目了。
选对季节比选对酒店更关键。每年的5月到10月是旱季,也是看大象和大型食草动物的最佳窗口期。这时候灌木变得稀疏,水源枯竭,动物们不得不密集地出现在希雷河畔,你根本不需要费力去寻找,它们就在岸边等你。到了9月和10月,气温会升得很高,午后可能会超过35度。如果你更喜欢翠绿的景色和候鸟,那么11月到次年3月的雨季很漂亮,但要注意有些土路会变得泥泞不堪,甚至需要四驱车才能通行,不少营地在最潮湿的月份也会选择性歇业。
钱的事儿得算清楚。目前利翁代国家公园对国际游客收取的门票大约是每人每天30美元。如果你是自驾进入,车辆还需要额外支付大约5美元的入场费。从布兰太尔开车过来大约需要3到4小时,路况整体还可以,但在快到公园大门的最后十几公里会有一些颠簸的碎石路。如果你不打算住在园内昂贵的顶级奢华营地(如Mvuu Lodge),公园门外其实有很多性价比很高的Safari Camp,每晚几十美元就能搞定舒适的帐篷。到了公园门口可以现场聘请社区向导,他们对动物的出没地点了如指掌,比你自己盲目乱转要划算得多。
园内的主要干道维护良好,但在雨季建议一定要驾驶高底盘的4x4越野车。非洲公园组织在整个保护区周边建立了超过120公里的电围栏,这大大降低了大型猛兽误入公路的概率,但园内行驶仍需严格遵守限速并严禁下车,因为象群经常会横穿马路。
如果你是日间游客,通常可以直接在公园正门购票。国际成年游客目前的日票价格固定为30美元,且只能使用现金或当地借记卡支付。如果你计划在园内的高端营地住宿,建议至少提前三个月通过邮件预订,因为像Mvuu这种热门位置在旱季非常抢手。
利翁代的船游相对稳缓,非常适合家庭游客。大多数正规营地提供的游船都有遮阳顶棚,能有效避免暴晒。只要孩子年龄在6岁以上,通常都能参加,但由于船只离河马和鳄鱼较近,家长必须时刻看管好孩子,严禁伸手入水或在船上大声尖叫干扰动物。
由于利翁代地处低海拔湿热地带,全年都有疟疾风险,出发前务必向医生咨询并携带抗疟药物。此外,早晚温差较大,即便下午很热,清晨五六点出发巡游时建议穿上防风的长袖外套,既能保暖又能防御蚊虫叮咬。
Silvia Strangis Good park. I would suggest that the park's organizers would be more organised. No information can be obtained on the park entrance and fees before getting to the park. Fees: Entrance to the park: - 15$ SADC - 30$ International SAFARI FEE: 25$ for everyone
Eglė Masevičiūtė We went there just for a day in order to have boat trip and game ride. Before visiting the park I was trying to find some information, tips and prices but it was not easy to find it, so now I want to write all my experiences about it. The entrance to the National Park is 25$ per person (international), when next year the price is going to be 30$. Boat trips are for the mornings and evenings, the best for the boat trip is the morning when the boat departing at 8 a.m. Duration is 2,5 hours and price is 25$ per person. During this trip we saw many species of animals, buffalo, hippos, elephants, crocodiles, antelopes, birds and it is highly recommended to visit during the dry season, when all animals are coming to drink some water to the river. (We even saw how elephants were crossing the river just in front of us!) About game ride, the price is the same, 25$ per person while duration is 3,5 hours. Its departure is at 6am and 2pm. My personal experience for this ride was not so good, we went afternoon and we haven’t seen animals, probably all of them were close by the river or it was just the thing of luck.
Philipp Epp A beautiful park. Great variety of animals. Amazing wildlife. But unfortunately no heart for the people who live next to the park. It is obvious that this park offers everything you can imagine for rich tourists. One sees regularly small airplanes landing in the park, there are expensive safari camps etc.. But unfortunately no safe fence that prevents the elephants from destroying the fields of the incredibly poor people who live next to the park. Animal welfare is important, but here it seems to be just an opportunity to make money. And this at the expense of the black population around it. It is not understandable why no proper elephant proof fence surrounds the park. Such a thing would be easy to accomplish with reasonable effort. It is a pity. The park earns so much money and does so much good for the animals in the park. But for the people in the direct neighbourhood it would be better if this park did not exist.
Thiran Udawatta Liwonde national park is situated about 40 km north of zomba. This national park is a popular destination for tourists. There is a entry fee to the park which is about 14590 kwacha. They do accept us dollars as well as major credit cards. You must sign a waiver to gain entry to the park surrendering liability. Several safari companies operate through the liwonde national park but you can enter by yourself. If entering on your own accord a suv or all terrain vehicle is recommended. All of the roads through the national park at dirt roads. You will see plenty of wildlife including impalas, warthogs, many different birds, hippos, bucks, and water buffalo to name a few. Liwonde National Park does have cheetahs and I was fortunate to see one while I was there. Unfortunately, lions are much harder to spot and I didn't see any during my time. The national Park is beautiful and worth spending time there if you're visit Malawi.
Kudzai Cleopatra Kandiero Lovely place with really friendly staff. I loved the boat safari and safari drive. You can hire a guide for as little as ten dollars. And boat safaris for 35 buck a person. Beautiful.