Out of the frying pan...

October is the hottest month of the year in Niassa Reserve. It is known, politically incorrectly, for its ability to drive inhabitants to despair, as ‘suicide month’. It’s no teeming East African savannah but the wildlife is easiest to see through the trees at the end of the long, punishing dry season. So the promise of a buffalo sighting should be one reason to stay alive during the 13-hour drive from Lichinga to our base in the Reserve. During the journey I really struggled to stay awake after the second 3.30am alarm on the bounce, and even that short slumber had been interrupted by some urgent bowel movements. Even so it was a more pleasant journey than the same 15-hour journey in May.