Malawi

“It’s really beautiful. It feels like God visits everywhere else but lives in Africa.”
* Will Smith

Malawi is a stunning country, known as the Warm Heart of Africa, is home to the most friendly and welcoming people, everywhere you go smiling faces greet you with a warm welcome, as well as wonderful hospitality.

In recent years, Malawi has become a serious holiday and safari destination thanks to extraordinary conservation success and the crystal waters of Lake Malawi, the sustainable tourism and conservation practice, with the reintroduction of Big Five wildlife across its national parks, make Malawi a successful story.

Malawi is a small country wedged between Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia, it is dominated by the vast Lake Malawi that covers approximately a fifth of the country and is characterized by a stunningly varied terrain, a number of well-run national parks, and, of course, its extraordinary lake; Malawi is something of a very well-kept secret.

The stunning Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi, known as the Lake of Stars, is an inland freshwater sea, it is home to the world’s greatest number of lake-dwelling fish species with over 1,000 different exotic, cichlid fishes and was one of the first large areas of freshwater to receive the national park status; it’s characterized by crystal-clear waters, pristine sandy beaches and fascinating rock formations.

Lake Malawi is the third largest lake in Africa, in some point up to seven hundred meters deep, it is a watersport paradise with windsurfing, sailing, boat trips, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, scuba diving and snorkeling.

A number of beautiful islands dot the Lake and picturesque villages animate the shoreline, Likoma Island is the larger of two inhabited islands on Lake Malawi, it has pristine sandy beaches and it offers some of the best diving and snorkeling experiences in Malawi.

Tasting tea at one of the plantations in a truly experience in Malawi, in the Mulanje area the landscape is stunning with pretty tea fields, cascading waterfalls, lush farmland and thick forests.

Malawi is an off-beat-tracks destination and, beyond the lake, it offers an excellent opportunity to enjoy a wildlife safari, in the South of Lake Malawi there are two beautiful protected areas: the Majete Reserve and the Liwonde National Park.

Safari in Malawi

The Majete Wildlife Reserve is a tale of a park rising from the ashes of a flourishing heaven for Africa’s most iconic wildlife after a huge effort to revive the park through a series of species reintroductions.

The restocking of the park, with more than 2,500 animals reintroduced including black rhinos, elephants, lions, leopards, sable antelopes, impalas and buffalos, has led to Majete becoming a ‘Big Five’ reserve, and Malawi’s premier wildlife destination.

The Majete Wildlife Reserve offers beautiful scenery of riverine forest and miombo woodlands.

The Liwonde National Park lies on the banks of the Upper Shire River, South of Lake Malawi, it boasts the largest population of elephants as well as an impressive concentration of crocodiles and hippos.

Bird-watching safari is upstanding thanks to Malawi’s 650 indigenous and visiting species that it is possible to spot; boat safaris are equally exciting.

The Nkotakhota Wildlife Reserve is another wildlife heaven famous for the greatest elephant translocation in human history, with the relocation of 500 elephants and 1,000 other animals in 2017.

The Nyika National Park is the oldest and largest park in Malawi, it includes much of the Northern region’s Nyika plateau, the vistas in the park are immense with endless rolling hills, valleys filled with evergreen forests, high-altitude grassland is the most obvious feature of the stunning Nyika Plateau.

The Nyika National Park is a botanist’s delight in summer with alpine flowers especially during the rainy season when the orchids flower.

The park is home to a large variety of animals and houses the largest concentration of leopards in the country; above all approximately 400 bird species occur in Nyika making it a key birding destination in Africa.