MALAWI
WHY TRAVEL HERE?
Known as ‘The Warm Heart of Africa’ for the friendliness of its people, Malawi’s main travel attractions centre around Lake Malawi, nearly 500km long and covering over 20% of the country.
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Being a World Heritage Site, the freshwater lake offers languid beach holidays at a variety of budget or luxury levels. A unique selling point is the 500 species of brightly-coloured cichlid fish endemic to the Lake, so snorkelling is a popular activity alongside kayaking.
A beach holiday is best combined with several nights in Liwonde, the country’s premier National Park on the Shire River. Just recently Malawi has regained ‘Big Five’ status with the restoration of these species and other wildlife into Majete Wildlife Reserve, one of Africa’s outstanding conservation success stories.
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Further afield Nyika NP offers a contrasting wilderness highland experience with its rolling plateaus and fascinating diversity of flora, a haven for horse riding, cycling & hiking. Wonderful ‘bush & beach” safaris are on offer combining South Luangwa NP with a Lake Malawi beach holiday.
SOME MORE TO EXPLORE
1. Cape Maclear
2. Chizumulu & Likoma Islands
3. Kasungu National Park
5. Lengwe National Park
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7. Majete Game Reserve
8. Mt Mulunje
9. Nkhata Bay
11. Cwaza Marsh Game Reserve
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INTERESTING FACTS
Size
People
Languages
Population
Per Capita GDP
Capital City
Currency
Exchange Rate
Time
Head of State
118 484 square km – about twice the size of Kruger National Park in South Africa
Main ethnic group are the Chewa – southern and central Malawi; Yao also in the south; Tumbuka in the north; others are Ngoni, Chipoka and Tonga and small population of Asians and Europeans.
Official is English with Chichewa being the most common local language and Chitumbuka in the north.
Estimated 16.5 million
US$211
Lilongwe
Malawi Kwacha (MK)
MK700 = US$ 1 (as at 2016)
GMT / UTC +2 hours
Peter Mutharika