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You can sit on the beach, walk a trail, do all kind of watersports, but the nicest thing to do is making a boattrip organised by the local people to one of the islands in the Lake Malawi National Park.These trips include a fish barbecue. Every resthouse offers these trips, but it can be useful to shop around an ask other travellers for recommendations.We made an halfday trip from 1 pm till dusk for a few dollars per person.
The Lake Malawi National Park covers most of the peninsula Cape Maclear, the surrounding lake and nine off-shore islands.This park is the most important freshwater fish sanctuary in Africa.Several fishing villages, like Chembe, remain unprotected enclaves within the Park .From the Golden Sands entrance gate and the Park headquarters a small path leads to the hills overlooking the bay. After a few hundred meters you see first the small graveyard of the missionaries. After the graves the path goes uphill. There are several routes. The shortest one, we did, was one and a half hour. It's a nice walk to do early in the morning.
Cape Maclear was the first site of the Livingstonia Mission, established in 1875 and abandoned a few years later, due to the high incidence of malaria in this area. Several of the missionaires die of malaria.A small group of graves of three Europeans and one African can be seen.
Lake Malawi is one of the main attractions of the country. At the southern end of the lake is the Nankumba Peninsula and Cape Maclear is the tip.From Monkey Bay, the boatferries- and bus- terminal, you can easily reach Cape Maclear penisula. Cape Maclear is a very popular spot with travellers, been described as backpackers Mecca and the African answer to Katmandhu and Marrakech.We stayed in lovely roundavels at the beach with sun, sand, water and breathtaking sunsets in front, like paradise. What more could we wish?
The first day we strolled around in the old town, not far from our resthouse, and visited the market. At the market it was very busy. The African swinging music accompanied us. Everything for sale has its own area at the market: vegetables like cassave, fruits, thatch, wood , aluminum goods and so on.I liked it to walk around and to feel the atmosphere, the easiest and quickest way to be back with my both feet on the African soil.It was the first time my friend accompanied me. For him was Malawi a nice and friendly country to start his African experience.Malawi is also called "Africa for beginners"
Lilongwe is the capital of Malawi.Llilongwe has two centres, 3 KM apart, the Old Town and the New City, called City Centre. The old town has soul, in the new town not much happens.Most visitors arrive in the old town, so we did. The heart of the old town is the market. The old town with its vivid market is a pleasant place to stroll around. There are some bars and cheap hotels. In the Asian quarter are small shops selling clothes, household utensils and stuff like that.
From the market back to our resthouse (about 2 KM) we took a diagonal shortcut by 'bushpaths'', just by looking where all the locals were going. We passed a residential quarter with small houses and yards. We saw women with their laundry at the waterpump. All images I knew from other visited African countries. The smell of wood- or charcoal fire. I'm back "home'' in Africa. It's an open and green area with solid red mud paths. Also this area proved, Lilongwe looks more like a village with a very laid-back atmosphere than a big city.
One of the things you have to do is visiting a village and meet the local people.Visiting a village is interesting because you can see how the people live, you can talk to the people (schoolboys are guiding you around) and you can visit some buildings in the village.
Boating in the National Park near Mangochi. The River is full of crocodiles and hippos and they can be seen close up. I have seen a herd of elephants there by the side of the River decide to swim across and that was a fine sight with their trunks acting as snorkels !I have never seen so many crocdiles and hippos before. The bird life is also prolific with numerous types of Kingfishers diving for their supper.
Malawi is filled with great hiking areas. Something that I really enjoyed was the hike to get toLivingstonia, a former Scottish mission perched on the edge of an escarpment. Although there isthe rare truck that drives up there, most people choose a gruelling 16 kilometre uphill hike thattakes up a good part of a day. It isn’t impossible, and you don’t have to be in perfect physicalcondition, but don’t be fooled by those who would tell you it’s no more than a casual stroll. Itwas hard work, but it was worth it for the amazing views of Lake Malawi from the top. I was alsoabsolutely enchanted by the ice-cold waterfall; we were able to stand in a cave behind thecascading water, where all other sounds were drowned out. Once you arrive in Livingstonia, there are two guesthouses to choose from.
Sunbird Lilongwe Lilongwe
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Protea Hotel Ryalls Blantyre
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Sunbird Livingstonia Beach Salima
1 Review and 18 Opinions We stopped here for lunch on a trip through the area. It was a beautiful setting on a patio...
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Q: i need lots of information about malawi. i will be going there in the next 6 to 12 months . and stying for a few months.what is...
A: Suggest that you read some of the excellent VT pages on Malawi: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Africa/Malawi/TravelGuide-Malawi.html
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