A little piece of paradise

I had the great pleasure one night last week of staying at the Norman Carr Cottage on the shores of Lake Malawi. The late Norman Carr’s name lives on, not just as a result of his devotion to conservation in the Luangwa Valley in Eastern Zambia, but also at his lakeside cottage in Monkey Bay on the shores of Lake Malawi, now transformed into a delightful eight bedroom lodge.

“A little piece of paradise” is the marketing pitch. On approaching the entrance to the lodge, off a dusty marram road through the yellow and grey of a Southern African winter, there is little to suggest the green oasis paradise ahead, dominated by its great sycamore fig tree.

But then, a warm welcome from Taffy and Jenny, the South African proprietors, always on hand to entertain their guests.

A sundowner boatride on the clear and bottomless waters of the lake; the western sky on fire; the only sounds of children playing by the beach and of two hippos wallowing in the reedy shallows.

More drinks by the lake while Taffy regales his guests with the story of Bentley Palmer, who went for an afternoon’s boat trip on Lake Malawi with his wife and mother-in-law, suffered engine failure and miraculously washed up, unharmed, over two weeks later some one hundred miles further north on the Tanzanian shore.

A superb dinner on a raised platform; the lights of fishing boats out on the lake dwarfed by the Van Gogh-bright starry sky.

An uninterrupted and dreamless sleep followed by a warm morning shower in the roofless bathroom.

A magnificent breakfast: strong tea and fresh fruit followed by brown toast buttered with fresh avocado and topped with thick slices of back bacon. The breakfast would be excellent anywhere, but in the bright light of a Lake Malawi morning, it is close to perfection.

The Norman Carr Cottage is a great big piece of paradise.