THE TRIP TO NYIKA NATIONAL PARK

Wasambo Boys High School students, especially those in forms 1 and 3, had a trip to Nyika National Park. This trip taught students many things. On their way to Nyika, they had a game ranger with them who was educating and asking questions.

On the first day of the tour, students learned about some places like Bembe and Chipome Bawsoli. This gave them a chance to learn about the culture, history, and beauty of these areas. Experiencing the local environment helps them understand and appreciate different communities. As they went deep into Nyika, three things changed: the weather turned cold, the altitude became high, and the vegetation became grassland.

Some of the animals that students saw at Nyika National Park are porcupines, genets, roan antelopes, elands, jackals, zebras, and many others. Students were eager to see an elephant; unfortunately, they only saw its dung.

Mr. Misika, Chief of Wildlife Research, highlighted Nyika National Park as Malawi's first and largest national park.

Nyika National Park gives students many beautiful sights, like thick forests and wide grasslands. The cool weather is also nice, making it a great place for exploring and enjoying nature. Students went to an iron smelting site where they saw a furnace, learned its history, appreciated how it looked and worked, and believed that it had. Mr. Kalagho, the biology teacher, was surprised because the chief was known to be the best. He had a lot of knowledge in geography, agriculture, biology, physics, and history.

Form 3 students had a biology lesson with their teacher whilst at Nyika National Park since it was a good site for biology research, and one of the experiments that they had was quadrat sampling.

The trip was very long but enjoyable, and all students arrived back to school healthier than they were. The school hopes to have more trips like this in the future.