Malawi

Introduction ix PART ONE GENERAL INFORMATION 1 Chapter 1 Background Information 3 Geography 3, Climate 4, History 4, Government and administration 22, Economy 22, People and culture 24 Chapter 2 Flora and Fauna 27 Vegetation 27, Conservation areas 29, Wildlife 31 Chapter 3 Practical Information 47 When to visit 47, Itineraries 47, Tourist information 50, Tour operators 50, Red tape 52, Getting there and away 52, Safety 55, Women travellers 59, What to take 59, Electricity 61, Money and banking 61, Getting around 63, Accommodation 66, Eating and drinking 67, Public holidays 69, Shopping 69, Media and communications 70, Cultural etiquette 73 Chapter 4 Health 75 Before you go 75, On the ground 80 PART TWO LILONGWE AND SOUTH-CENTRAL MALAWI 89 Chapter 5 Lilongwe 91 History 91, Getting there and away 94, Orientation 94, Getting around 95, Tourist information 96, Tour operators and safari companies 96, Where to stay 96, Where to eat 105, Entertainment and nightlife 107, Shopping 108, Sports and swimming 109, Other practicalities 109, What to see and do 111, Short trips from Lilongwe 113 Chapter 6 Senga Bay and Surrounds 119 Getting there and around 119, Where to stay 120, Where to eat 122, Shopping 122, Other practicalities 122, What to see and do 123 Chapter 7 Dedza and Surrounds 127 Dedza 127, Chongoni Rock Art Area 131, Mua Mission and surrounds 136 Chapter 8 Lake Malawi National Park 139 Monkey Bay 139, Cape Maclear (Chembe) 144, Inside Lake Malawi National Park 150 Chapter 9 Mangochi and the Southern Lakeshore 153 Mangochi 153, From Mangochi to Monkey Bay 156 PART THREE SOUTHERN MALAWI 163 Chapter 10 Liwonde 165 Liwonde Town 165, Liwonde National Park 168 Chapter 11 Zomba and Surrounds 177 Zomba town 177, Zomba Plateau 183, Lake Chilwa 187, Chikala Pillars 189 Chapter 12 Blantyre 191 History 191, Getting there and away 193, Orientation and getting around 194, Tourist information 195, Tour operators and safari companies 195, Where to stay 195, Where to eat 201,

Philip Briggs is a travel writer specialising in Africa. Born in the UK and raised in South Africa, he first backpacked between Nairobi and Cape Town in 1986 and has been travelling the highways and byways of Africa ever since. Published in 1991, his Bradt Guide to South Africa was the first such guidebook to be published internationally after the release of Nelson Mandela. Over the rest of the 1990s, he wrote a series of pioneering Bradt Guides to destinations that were then - and in some cases still are - otherwise practically uncharted by the travel publishing industry. These included the first dedicated guidebooks to Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Ghana and Rwanda (co-authored with Janice Booth). Philip has visited more than two dozen African countries in total and written about most of them, whether it be for guidebook publishers or for specialist travel and wildlife magazines including Africa Birds & Birding, Africa Geographic, BBC Wildlife, Travel Africa and Wanderlust.