Malawi – Leisure at the lake

September 17

Hello everyone!

Malawi’s main selling point is its lake. Technically it shares the body of water with Mozambique (which calls it Lake Nyasa) but over here it’s known as Lake Malawi.

The lake takes up about 20% of Malawi’s land area, the eastern part of its long, thin land mass. It is the third largest lake in Africa and the ninth largest on the planet.

The lake has many nicknames, with the most intriguing being the ‘Calendar Lake’. This is due to its dimensions, which are 365 miles long and 52 miles wide.

From Lilongwe, the most accessible resort at the lake is called Senga Bay, approximately 120km away. An easy drive east, with only one turning and a few speed bumps, takes you to a completely different world.

In spite of the country being landlocked and thus not near the ocean, the shores of the lake are made up of pristine white sand.

As I suggested earlier, the lake is rather large. Though fairly narrow, the eastern shore is not visible at all. Sky and sea are separated by a single horizontal line, with only the occasional island in between.

This particular atoll is called Lizard Island, which we took a rickety wooden boat around. We also stopped at the island to do a bit of swimming and snorkelling. Lake Malawi is famed for having more species of fish than any other lake but there are far better places to see them than at Senga Bay.

Having quick and easy access to sandy beaches and a shimmering sea were major reasons for us moving to Malawi. I am sure that this will be the first visit of many to the Calendar Lake.

Love you all

Matt