Liwonde Hotels

Hippos wallow: Quiet accommodation :s

This is a v.v. quiet place located on the Shire river. We were there in the rainy season but we were the only people there, so if you like it v quiet come here. We were backpacking, so we caught a minibus taxi to Liwonde and then walked to hippos wallow which took a long time. If you come here get off the taxi just before the bridge (if coming from Zomba direction). Then u have to turn right down a dirt track (v slippery if raining) and carry on, past the Mvuu boat pick up carry on carry on and eventually you will see a sign for it. They were doing renovations when we were there. We were put in a double ensuite (think it's all they have) in roundavel houses. It was v spacious and had mosquito nets but looked pretty untouched. It was a bit overpriced at 1250 kwacha each and once u've gone that far you don't really fancy turning round and finding somewhere else! They do offer breakfast and dinner (we had dinner of fish, rice and vegetable stew which was a better price) but our fish was a bit overdone!
If you can't afford to go into the national park in the wet season(like us) you can go on a river safari which the nice men at the Mvuu pick up will arrange it for you - but be warned this is not a professional safari and the guy (Captain something) will also be doing his shopping for dinner (ie buying fish from the boys). It was interesting and we saw hippos and crocodiles but he didn't actually take us that far and at $60 for the boat it's certainly overpriced for 2. I would recommend splashing out on a night or two at Mvuu or trying to get a safari boat from the lodge on the other side of the rive (we weren't told they did safaris but I think if you go there u might be able to join one).