Lake Malawi is remarkably Malawi’s true jewel and if you want to discover what this country holds for the world then don’t miss to pay a visit to this Lake. The Lake is believed to have been discovered by David Livingstone more than 50 years ago. In most cases, it is popular as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique.
It is Africa’s mighty Lake and southernmost Lake in the East African system that is shared between Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi. This Lake is the 9th largest in the world and 3rd and the 2nd deepest in Africa.
This magnificent waterbody features several water species compared to any Lake with over 700 cichlid species. On Mozambique side, this Lake has declared a reserve and Malawi side comprises of Lake Malawi National Park in the extreme southern side of this waterbody.
This waterbody is a Meromictic Lake denoting that its water layers never get mixed. The permanent stratification of Lake Malawi water and the oxic anoxic boundary is kept by moderately small chemical and thermal gradients.
This Lake stretches for about 560 and 580 kilometres and has a width of over 75 kilometres. Its surface area covers over 29600 square kilometres. It makes up one of the main mighty rift valley Lakes and ancient Lake that was created due to opening of the East African rift in which the African tectonic plate broke into 2 parts what is termed as a divergent plate tectonics boundary. This freshwater Lake features beaches of golden sand which are not just very scenic in nature but also offers amazing and exciting water sports avenues for some of you who are interested in relaxing experiences.
This Lake inhabits a vast number of fish species and several fishing villages are widely distributed on its shores and practices have always attracted tourists to this area. It can be reached via the main road that takes visitors up to the beach area. Lake Malawi is ideal for kayaking, snorkelling, scuba diving, sailing, water skiing and many more. It is a must-visit to explore the interesting fishing-villages while on your safari in Tanzania, Republic of Malawi and Mozambique in southeastern Africa.
The available species that thrive in this water body and protected area include African fish eagles, hippos, monkeys and crocodiles as well as fish species like the subgenus Nyasalapia, Kampango catfish, Lake Malawi sardine, cichlid and non-cichlid species. Besides, there are also molluscs plus over 28 freshwater snail species, nine bivalves, unionid.
The endemic freshwater snails that are inhabited in this Lake include the bellamya, lanistes, melanoides, gabbiella and many more. It inhabits about 4 species of snails and several crabs, shrimp a mention but a few.
Access to Lake Malawi from Tanzania side is possible if you rent a car in Dar-es-salaam and drive southwards while exploring other national parks in the southern part of Tanzania.
Accommodation facilities in Lake Malawi
For visitor overnight stay, there are some available accommodation facilities especially around Mangochi Lakeshore where there is Sunbird Nkopola Lodge, the Norman Carr Cottage in Lake Malawi National Park.