Malawi travel guides

May to October is the dry season, and the later months are best for safari as animals concentrate around water. Lake Malawi is at its clearest for diving and snorkelling from September to December. The rains run from December to April, turning the highlands green and bringing the best birdwatching but making some park roads impassable. Nights on the Nyika Plateau and Zomba can be genuinely cold from June to August.

Yes, and it is the main reason many people come: clear freshwater, sandy bays and more species of fish than any other lake on earth, mostly colourful cichlids that make snorkelling worthwhile. Bilharzia is present, so the practical advice is to swim in deeper open water away from reedy shallows, dry off promptly, and take the standard single-dose praziquantel treatment a few weeks after your trip if you have been swimming. Most lodges will discuss the local situation frankly.

Better than its reputation suggests. Large-scale wildlife translocations over the past decade have restocked several parks, and Liwonde and Majete now both hold the Big Five, with Liwonde's elephant and hippo populations along the Shire River being the standout. Nkhotakota and Nyika offer wilder, quieter experiences. Malawi will not match Tanzania or Botswana for sheer density, but parks are uncrowded and considerably cheaper, and it pairs naturally with lake time.

Most nationalities need a visa, obtained either as an eVisa through the official immigration portal before travel or on arrival at the main airports and land borders. Applying online in advance is faster and avoids queues at Lilongwe or Blantyre. A yellow fever certificate is required if you are arriving from a country with risk of transmission, which includes several neighbouring safari destinations.

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