Road trip | Lake Malawi | Malawi
Lake Malawi is a tranquil, unspoilt paradise
Text | Anninka Kraus
Photography | Tobias Kraus
Malawi
We knew we were on our way to Kande Beach on Lake Malawi – Africa’s third largest lake and the ninth largest in the world covering a fifth of landlocked Malawi’s territory – rumbling down dirt roads that petered out into less distinct unbeaten tracks, but we were still unprepared for a ribbon of soft white sand stretching for miles against the backdrop of turquoise water.
The untouched dunescape was seldom interrupted by huts of locals who smiled broadly as our bus jolted past. When we arrived at the campsite it was the only one far and wide and no other tourists in sight.
After being stuck on a bus for weeks with no exercise (except scrambling up Dune 45 in the Namib Desert) we yearned to move, and even though others in the group called us crazy, we set out to run barefoot along the beach, hugging the water’s edge where the sand was soaked and firm.
location & visitor information.
Malawi is considered one of the poorest countries in Africa, and Joe, our guide, explained, not helped by the recent expulsion of the British high commissioner by the Malawian president which led to the UK consequently suspending all budgetary aid.
Other countries followed suit by suspending or drastically reducing aid money to the country, plunging them into a self-inflicted existential crisis. Following this, for the first time in Malawi’s history a woman, Joyce Banda, has been elected President and struggles to re-stabilise the economically depressed nation.
At first glance Malawi actually appears wealthier than Zambia or Zimbabwe, its traditional huts in better repair in rural areas, and the malls and supermarkets tidy in the cities.
But we were told this was an impression of affluence only, as the country was living on credit. In Mzuzu, Joe headed for a supermarket parking lot with an ATM he knew was more likely to dispense money than others which were empty. The modern supermarket itself consisted mostly of empty shelves, supplies were scarce, and a long queue of cars and men with plastic containers formed at petrol stations when after weeks of no fuel diesel was available again for a few hours.
Abandoned shells of buildings stood by the wayside completely dilapidating, while hundreds of mostly young people sat at the roadside seemingly frozen in enforced idleness, waiting for the country reawakening. The poverty had kept away most other tourists and there was not a single fair-skinned local in sight. I have never been more aware of my own paleness.
Where is Lake Malawi: Lake Malawi is an African Great Lake and one of the deepest lakes in the world. It is located in in southeast Africa and lies between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania.
Top 5 Things to Do at Lake Malawi
Swimming Lake Malawi’s freshwater averages 28 degrees and the waves lap gently on the long, deserted sweeps of white sand.
Snorkling and Diving The crystal clear water makes it easy for divers to see some of the hundreds of fish species, many which are native to these waters. Lake Malawi is famous for its incredible diversity of freshwater species, especially Cichlids*.
Horse riding Horse riding along the beach and through the local villages is a popular activity at Kande Beach. I can’t remember the last time I actually sat on a horse so I gave this activity a miss, but it did look fun.
Visit the local primary school at Kande Beach The teachers and children were very happy to let us sit in on a class. Donations are very welcome, especially pencils.
Chill and relax No sub-tropical island paradise is more stunning than Lake Malawi. Take at least a day in a hammock on the beach.
*Lake Malawi Cichlids – Cichlids are a very diverse family of freshwater tropical fish found mainly in Africa, Central and South America. Lake Malawi is home to many hundreds of colourful cichlid species and new species are discovered every year.
Kande Beach
We passed a woman and four small children squatting in the gentle surf while they did their washing. The mother vigorously scrubbed the clothes, working up a lather, which the little ones then rinsed off by dragging them through the lake water. Judging by the size of the dirty and laundered piles they must have been on washing duty for the whole tribe but they seemed happy, laughing and waving at us as we jogged past.
After 20 minutes we were painfully reminded that a few weeks without exercise was enough to have greatly diminished our stamina, but at least I was already flushed a deep beetroot red when we came upon a group of young men covered in soap lather from head to toe, and nothing but, washing it off in the lake. They grinned broadly and called out, “You marry me?” Tobi and I looked at each other, both wondering which one of us had just been proposed to and simultaneously turned on our heel. It seemed Malawians are overtly outgoing and cordial.
The quest to find the perfect beach is a tough one. The Mediterranean Sea is near perfect in my opinion – warm, reasonably calm, and fringed by beautiful beaches, however those beautiful beaches generally disappear beneath the thousands of tourists that make the yearly migration from all over Europe.
This is rarely a problem in Australia where beaches are generally wild and unspoilt, but there you unfortunately have the increased odds of making undesirable acquaintances with sharks or stingrays (though fresh water holes aren’t much better – the friend of a friend of mine was sadly killed in the Northern Territory in Australia in 2002 when she and her buddies went for a moonlight swim – okayed by their guide – in a salt water crocodile infested fresh water hole.
I definitely wouldn’t count on a croc being able to tell the difference between salt water and fresh water, and it seems you can’t trust the guides either).
Here, Kande Beach, however went a long way to fulfilling my quest for the perfect beach. Lake Malawi’s freshwater averages 28 degrees, it is home to hundreds of fish species (many native to these waters), and its water is whipped up by the hot winds into waves that crumble into white spray at the shore.
map of Lake Malawi, located in in southeast Africa and lies between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania.
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