Malawi

Malawi is a landlocked country located in south eastern Africa. It is bordered in the North and East by Tanzania, on the east, south and southwest by Mozambique and to the west by Zambia. The country lies within the Great African Rift Valley system. Lake Malawi, a body of water some 360 miles long and about 1,500 ft above sea level, is its most prominent physical feature. As European exploration of Africa increased, the British established the protectorate of Nyasaland in 1891. In 1964, Nyasaland became independent from British colonial rule and quickly renamed itself Malawi. For almost 30 years, President Hastings Banda ruled, what can only be described as very firmly, but to his credit he achieved considerable progress in both agriculture and industrial development. Then, in 1994, multiparty elections were held under a new constitution.

For such a small country, Malawi presents a true African experience in terms of scenery and wildlife, including all of the "Big Five". Lake Malawi National Park contains the largest number of fish species of any lake in the world. In addition, wildlife is common across the park. Nyika National Park is great for mountain biking and trekking. Large herds of antelope are common in the park that also contains one of the highest densities of leopard in Central Africa. Finally Liwonde National Park has some of the most scenic game viewing in Malawi and reputedly the best bird watching in Southern Africa. It's also a popular destination for enjoying a photo safari.

Many of our guests like to conclude their game viewing experience with a few days of relaxation on a tropical beach. Although Zanzibar is our destination of choice here, Lake Malawi (not an ocean destination, but equally idyllic) is also very popular, especially with visitors to land-locked, and neighbouring Zambia. Its only drawback is the incidence of the unpleasant disease, Schistosomiasis (caused by the bilharzia parasite), in its waters, although, with care, areas can be selected that do not suffer from this.

The latter beach option aside, Malawi is not currently a destination in which we offer a general tourism product, although it is certainly on the list for future consideration.