Travel

While others race up as many peaks as possible I like to have an easier day after the tough ascent to the plateau of Mount Mulanje. While there are many great things to do on that great island in the sky one of my favourites is exploring the numerous streams, waterfalls and pools on that beautiful mountain. 

Some of the pools are very well known and close to the mountain huts and paths. Others are probably almost completely unexplored. The largest pool (not pictured) on the mountain has a length well beyond an olympic pool with a sandy island we camped on. The early morning first light view of the high peaks surrounding is quite beautiful. While it's the only pool I know up there will an island suitable for camping, other pools have sandy beaches.

The most rewarding experience can be finding pools during the exploratation of a stream. A determined walk upstream under over-hanging trees led to the emergence of a pool at the bottom of a high waterfall with steep...

Read more

A mixed group go on a trip trip to Frances Cottage, Chambe on Mulanje Mountain. I first published this blog post here in 2011. Does a small group of young adults and a young family work for a trip like this? Why not?

.........................................................................................
The first step, well the first step for me at least, is to find people to climb Mulanje with. One reason for that is the number one rule on Mulanje - don't climb alone. Also, the point of climbing Mulanje is to enjoy it, so therefore best to share the fun.

If you don't have anyone you know to climb Mulanje with and don't have time to wait for the right person to come along, then climb with a porter and / or guide. Mike Petzold in 'The Peaks of Mulanje Mountain' lists 59 peaks and tops. He says that he has been on the top of all but three of them, some of them several times, 'but NEVER alone.' If one of the most experienced Mulanje people is NEVER alone up there -...

Read more

I have been asked by someone whether Lilongwe is a worthwhile stopover point on a return journey between Europe and South Africa. The idea is easy access to Lake Malawi from Kamuzu International airport in Lilongwe.

I’d rather not give a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer to that question as the truth sometimes requires a bit of work. Surely the truth and nuances are friends? As this same potential visitor did say to me, sometimes when you dig a bit, you strike gold. Furthermore, why give one person a lengthy enough answer to do justice to the question when one can write something roughly similar for a blog post and therefore benefit a wider audience.

Let’s start off with some assumptions with regard to the situation of the potential stop-over visitor. The assumptions are as follows: 1/ the visitor has some inkling of the magic of the Lake of Stars, probably the best Lake in the world, 2/ the visitor has four nights to spare, 3/ they are interested in a backpacker style,...

Read more

We have decided to add car transfers to our list of services on this website and I hope that this post helps to explain why it may be useful for some.

This has come about after various conversations with lodge owners and also visitors. A number of people have expressed the view that it has been quite difficult to find out in advance about getting from a to b within Malawi. Of course many people have contacts or organisations who assist them but others wish to make their own plans.

I was visiting Senga Bay last week and where I was staying there a visitor was telling me that he was flying out of the country the next day. Therefore he had arranged transport by car from Senga Bay to Lilongwe airport. His alternative would be to get a minibus from Senga Bay to Salima and then change there for another minibus to Lilongwe. Once in Lilongwe he would again have to change for the airport.

The next morning I got up early as the owner of the establishment had asked me to...

Read more