Michael Muyafula

Mike was born in the village Chinukha in Chitipa and completed his secondary school education in 1994 at Chitipa Secondary School. Following his graduation, he moved to the town of Lilongwe to look for a job. In 1995 he got married and started working at a tobacco company called Central Leaf. He was involved in the shipping department and helped transport tobacco to South Africa and other countries. In 1996, he was promoted to work as a personnel clerk; and was involved in the selection and employment of tobacco labourers. In 1999 he left the tobacco industry and embarked on pursuing a personal business for two years, when it failed to take off, he got back on the job market. Mike then started working at J&K Car Hire as a driver, Wilderness Safaris to this day still hires vehicles from J&K. Chris Badger came to know of Mike from the excellent feedback he received from the guests who had been driven by him. Several guests spoke so highly of Mike that Chris took notice and approached him to join the Wilderness Safaris team in 2006. Mike began his journey at wilderness, driving guests in 2006. By 2008 Chris was impressed with his efforts and sent him to complete a guiding course in Liwonde National Park. Mike completed his training as a guide and now leads mobile safaris across Malawi (working with a variety of international guests (over his years at Wilderness, Mike has toured with nearly 1000 groups). Mike really likes his soccer and he has four sons to share this interest with- Michael, Wachisa, Stephen and Andrew. Mike's son Andrew was born in 2007 when he was on one of him most memorable expeditions to Mozambique. In 2010 Mike accompanied Scottish writer Julie Davidson in her search for Mary Moffet's grave, Mary was the wife of the famous British explorer David Livingstone. After two days of searching the North of Mozambique, Mike located Mary's grave near the Zambezi River (the area was a former centre for the slave trade which the missionaries managed to stop before turning the area into a mission). One of Mike's fortes is helping guests explore and discover various cultural and historical aspects of Malawi. One of his all-time favourite locations to guide guests through is Mount Mulanje; he enjoys all aspects of guiding on the mountain and enjoys sharing the mysteries that surround it. One of Mike's other all-time favourite places to take guests is Lake Malawi. Cape Maclear and Nkhata Bay in particular are his favourite Lakeshore destinations-Particularly due to the historical importance of these areas (David Livingstone went to Mumbo Island in Cape Maclear to escape getting malaria from mosquito's and the mission his followers continued was based in Nkhata bay for a short while). Liwonde National Park is also one of Mike's favourite areas to show guests as it is ideal for game activities. Mike considers visiting Liwonde like killing two birds with one stone; you get the best of the Shire River and the surrounding woodlands too. Mike enjoys the entire guiding experience. According to him, "If a guest is happy with his tour then I am happy, if I meet all the guest's needs and they have an incredible tour, then I'm happy."