Malawi

Visited: September 2025

Duration of visit: 11 days

Capital city: Lilongwe

Population: 21 million (2025)

Malawi travel blog reading time: 14 minutes

• Lilongwe – A capital city with few landmarks, spread out with the feel of a vast village.
• A serene environment complemented by the hospitality in Cape Maclear.
• Discovering the charm of Blantyre’s tea plantations.
• Trekking through pine forests, waterfalls and sweeping views across the Zomba Plateau.

Malawi was part of my three-months trip that also included Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Traveling from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean was one of my most enjoyable journeys in Africa. Along the way I encountered warm hospitality, reliable infrastructure, delicious cuisine, excellent value for money, and, thanks to perfect timing, I avoided crowds in many areas.

I arrived at the airport in Cairo 15 minutes after midnight and, after passing the first security check, began queuing at the Ethiopian Airlines counter around 12:30am. It took about an hour to reach the desk and start the check-in process.

The airline representative began the usual procedure:

“What is your final destination?”

“Lilongwe, Malawi.”

“Do you have a visa?”

“No, I don’t have an eVisa, because the payment system in Malawi hasn’t been working. However, I spoke with immigration officials at the airport in Lilongwe, and they assured me that Slovenian citizens can obtain a visa on arrival,” I explained.

And it was true. I had tried every possible way to get an eVisa, but none of my credit cards were accepted for payment.

“According to the Ethiopian Airlines policy you need a return or an onward ticket in order to board our plane to Malawi!”

“I’ll be crossing the land border from Malawi into Mozambique,” I told them, showing my flight reservation from Maputo to Milan.

“I don’t plan to stay in Malawi for more than two weeks.”

The airline representative returned me the passport and directed me to the airline executive:

“Talk to the supervisor. If he approves, you can board the plane, otherwise you’ll need to show me a return ticket.”

I immediately approached the big boss, who was surrounded by a dozen other passengers trying to convince him that they were eligible to travel to Addis Ababa or their final destinations. I quickly explained my situation, but he was extremely rude and formal.

“You cannot board the plane to Addis Ababa without a return ticket!” he said sharply.

There was just an hour left before the flight, and I still didn’t have the permission to board. The big boss clearly wasn’t going to change the official rules for me. He looked tired and irritated, surrounded by passengers arguing their cases.

I turned to another senior staff member, hoping for better luck. He made me wait about ten minutes, before finally taking the time to listen.

“Look at my passport. It’s full of stamps from more than twenty countries. Why would I want to stay in Malawi permanently? I also have a visa for Mozambique, which clearly shows that I’m continuing my journey,” I argued.

The supervisor finally said the magic words: “I’ll approve your boarding. You can go back to the counter where you started.”

I was exhausted but relieved, running to board the plane to Addis Ababa, later connecting to Lilongwe.

Lilongwe Airport didn’t appear very busy, since our airplane was the only one around, when we landed. The friendly immigration officers helped me filling out the visa form and stuck the visa sticker into my passport.

Buying a SIM card took a little longer. I only exchanged 20 US$, knowing that the black-market rate would be much better than the official exchange in a bank.

To my surprise, Quest Lodge, where I was staying in Lilongwe, was completely empty except for one other guest – a fellow Slovenian.

It’s not often that I meet compatriots while traveling, and in Malawi, where foreign visitors are rare, I certainly didn’t expect to meet one. Peter was there on business, but it was nice to chat in our native language, exchange opinions and share tips about places to visit and things to do.

To exchange US dollar banknotes, I was put in touch with a black-market money changer, Lafiol, through a reliable taxi driver. While the official exchange rate was 1,800 Malawian Kwacha (MWK) per dollar, Lafiol gave me 4,600 MWK for each.

This meant that the prices I paid for goods and services across Malawi were roughly 2.5 times lower than the usual rates.

Any prices quoted in US$ were converted to kwacha using the official exchange rate.

Sightseeing in Lilongwe is fairly limited and some landmarks are spread out across the city, if you can even call Lilongwe a city. I got around exclusively by moto-taxi, an inexpensive and fast way to travel at any time of the day.

My first stop was the craft market. Most of the things there were similar to what you see in nearby countries, but because of the black-market exchange rate, they were a lot cheaper. Still, since I didn’t have much space in my bag, I just bought the usual souvenir – a fridge magnet.

The lively streets were busy with small vendors: food stalls, fruit and vegetable sellers, and people selling all kinds of everyday stuff. The sellers were easygoing and polite:

“Hello, how are you? Take a look!”

When they noticed I wasn’t interested, they simply wished me a nice day.

When I walked around the World War I Memorial, the caretaker invited me to climb up the inner stairs and enjoy the city from the viewing point on the top.

“There’s no entrance fee, but we appreciate any donation,” he said kindly.

He asked me to sign the guest book first and then led me up the metal stairs.

The first part of the climb was easy, but the last two sections, where the stairs got narrow and almost vertical, were much harder. From the top, there was a full 360°view all around. On one side I could see the Capitol Hill with government offices, ministries, and the Parliament building; on the other side I spotted the football stadium – the two most recognizable landmarks in Lilongwe.

The Kamuzu Mausoleum is the resting place of Malawi’s first president, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who led the country to independence. He ruled Malawi from 1964 to 1994, first as prime minister and later as president. After taking full control, he turned Malawi into a one-party state and made himself the president for life.

At first, Kamuzu Banda improved the country’s infrastructure, strengthened the economy, and supported women’s rights, but over time his rule became one of the most repressive in Africa.

The guide spoke with respect about ex-president and explained the meaning of some of the architectural features of the white marble mausoleum. Tall columns and bright dome, decorated interior with national symbols and Kamuzu’s own words, are the main features. Four pillars surrounding the monument, represent his core principles: unity, loyalty, obedience, and discipline.

Lake Malawi is the third-largest lake in Africa, after Lake Victoria and Tanganyika.

It’s about 580 kilometers long, up to 75 kilometers wide, and around 700 meters deep. The lake has more than a thousand species of fish; more than any other lake in the world.

Its southern end was declared the world’s first freshwater national park in 1984 and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As the main attraction of the country, Lake Malawi offers a variety of things to do and it is a popular place to visit for international visitors, as well as wealthier Malawian.

After booking my stay at Thumbi View Lodge in Cape Maclear, I was offered a ride in a private taxi from Lilongwe to the lake. It was already mid-morning and I was still in my guesthouse in Lilongwe. I knew it would have been almost impossible to reach the final destination by public transport on that day. Therefore, I accepted the offer – not the usual choice for a backpacker.

I shared the taxi with an American traveler. The ride was long and tiring, and our driver had to navigate through endless potholes. Around midday we stopped at a small roadside restaurant.

It was a simple place, but served an amazing variety of freshly cooked and tasty food: vegetables, shima, rice, potatoes, chicken, beef and fish. I also paid for lunch for the driver and my companion. Altogether, it costed less than four dollars. It wasn’t the first or last time I ate great food in Malawi for next to nothing.

In general, food in Malawi is good and varied. Especially at around noon, when it’s freshly cooked.

In Lilongwe, I found one of the best Indian restaurants I’ve ever tried, serving only vegetarian dishes with original flavors at very reasonable prices. The fish from Lake Malawi was also excellent, and the rice was perfectly cooked.

I hardly saw any tourists during my three-day stay on the shores of Lake Malawi. Most of the lodges and hotels were closed in early September.

Every morning and afternoon during my stay in Cape Maclear, I walked from my guesthouse to the center of the village. The morning walk along the shore was a real pleasure to watch. Women were washing dishes or clothes, children were playing and cheerfully calling out to me, and men greeted me kindly with a friendly “Good morning”.

I asked one of the women if she could wash my clothes, and we quickly agreed on a price. When I picked them up a few hours later at her house, I couldn’t believe how she had managed to get my really dirty socks so clean that they looked like new.

I reached the section of the beach, where people were laying out small fish to dry on simple wooden racks covered with cloths. The fish dried from morning until late afternoon, when women collected and packed them into large bundles. Men were waiting to load them on their buses to be taken overnight to markets in bigger towns across the country.

Everything seemed so simple and orderly. For Africa, I noticed surprisingly little litter and almost no plastic waste.

Each morning, people swept the fallen leaves and any rubbish from in front of their houses, leaving the sand neat and clean.

After about two hours of walking, I came to the bridge connecting both riverbanks, but I still hadn’t found any big fish. I approached a group of girls who had greeted me cheerfully and asked them, where I could find larger fish:

“Everywhere I look, there are only small sardine-like fish. Where can I find bug fish?”

“Come back in the afternoon at 4:00pm and we’ll take you around. You’ll see the big fish!” they invited me to return later.

When I returned around 5:00pm, I couldn’t find the girls. Luckily, I remembered the name of one of them and asked for Caroline. Soon, we found Caroline and her sisters. We walked together to the shore, where fishing boats were landing.

We saw a few big fish, though far fewer than I had expected. Before saying goodbye, I bought them a medium-sized fish for about 3 US$. They were overjoyed and couldn’t wait to bring it home, where their mother would cook it with the inevitable nshima - a maize porridge, made by cooking corn flour with water until it becomes firm and smooth.

My return to Lilongwe was much more of an adventure than my trip to the lake, as I chose to travel by public transport. The first part was on a motorbike taxi, which worked well since my small backpack fit easily on the petrol tank. From the back seat, I enjoyed the open view of the countryside and the light traffic to Monkey Bay.

I quickly realized Monkey Bay wasn’t the best place to continue, so I jumped into the first vehicle heading to Mtakata Turnoff, hoping to find more passing cars there. I was right! Soon, a Land Cruiser offered me a lift to a junction where the M5 road to Lilongwe begins.

At the crossroads, I found a seat in a Toyota sedan going to Lilongwe. They loaded it with so much luggage that the suspension nearly gave in.

Eleven passengers squeezed into three rows, including the driver and his assistant. I sat in the middle of the front row; cramped, but with a great view of the road ahead.

After about an hour of driving, we stopped by the main road, where most passengers got off. I realized I also had to change vehicles. Luckily, I hadn’t paid in advance and only agreed to pay for the part I had traveled.

I moved into a packed van, where my new fellow passengers quickly stood up for me, when the driver tried to overcharge. On the outskirts of Lilongwe, we had to stop at a petrol station because we were running out of fuel. Because of the long line of waiting cars and motorbikes, it was clear that most petrol stations in the country had also run out of fuel.

Due to a shortage of foreign currency, Malawi sometimes runs out of petrol and diesel, causing long lines and angry drivers. Our driver bypassed the queue of waiting cars and managed to get enough fuel to reach the city. It seems that the public transport gets priority when supplies are low.

Malawi’s second-largest city doesn’t have much to offer in terms of places to visit or things to do. Still, compared to the capital, Blantyre is better planned, with a proper city center where banks, government offices, shops, and plenty of people come together.

One of the few landmarks is St. Michael and All Angels Church, built between 1888 and 1891. A friendly guard showed me around but he couldn’t find the key to open the main door. The church, made from about one and a half million handmade bricks and featuring twin towers, was built entirely without formal plans.

The area around Blantyre is known for tea plantations, the highlight of the southern area for me. I took a taxi toward Thyolo. After a short drive out of the city, the scenery changed completely.

All around me were hills covered with bright green tea bushes. The view was stunning, especially with all the shades of green.

I stopped at the Satemwa Tea & Coffee Estate, hoping to visit the factory, but it was closed since it was Monday. As I continued, I saw women walking along the road, carrying huge bundles of branches on their heads. Some were more than 4 meters long. They walked for kilometers with those heavy loads, while men on motorbikes or bicycles carried grass for cattle.

They told me that the wood is sold at markets. It’s incredibly hard work, but only enough for basic living. At the same time, it slowly destroys what’s left of Malawi’s forests.

Later, I visited two more tea estates, but both had the same schedule as Satemwa; closed for tours on Mondays. Therefore, I couldn’t see the tea production process or participate in a tea tasting.

My next stop was the former capital, Zomba. The main reason was hiking the Zomba Plateau, also known as the Zomba Massif, which rises to 2,087 meters above sea level. Together with a guide a took a taxi from the town at the bottom of the mountain up to the plateau. In just 20 minutes, we climbed from about 1,000 to nearly 2,000 meters.

We began a four-hour walk across the plateau from the luxurious Sunbird Ku Chawe Hotel. The trail took us through a mix of landscapes: from native forest to pine and eucalyptus plantations, and wide stretches of ferns. It was an easy walk with gentle slopes, giving us plenty of time to talk about nature, the plateau, Zomba and life in Malawi.

Our first stop was the Williams Falls, where water cascades down rocky steps surrounded by lush greenery. The water level was rather low. Therefore, I didn’t decide for swimming in a small natural pool under the waterfalls.

The Emperor’s View was named after Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, who visited the plateau in 1964. From there, I enjoyed a stunning view over the town of Zomba, lying below the steep cliffs.

Unfortunately, the misty sky hid Malawi’s highest mountain, Mulanje.

A short walk further brought us to the Queen’s View, named after Queen Elizabeth, who visited the plateau in 1957.

I descended through fields of green ferns stretching over the slopes. I crossed the Mulunguzi Dam, which serves as a water reservoir for the city of Zomba.

After walking on the dam, I arrived back to the main road, where two vendors of wild berries approached me offering freshly picked raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. I couldn’t resist and treated myself with delicious raspberries, before descending to the city by a taxi.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, where most people struggle to get by each day. Tourism is not a priority. Some national parks, though beautiful, cannot compare with the famous ones in neighboring countries, so I decided not to visit them.

Lake Malawi and the friendly people were the main highlights of my visit. Their warmth and hospitality toward foreigners are what I’ll remember most. I traveled without plans, met many locals, and was often drawn into friendly conversations.

It’s no surprise that Malawi, because of the kindness and hospitality of its people, has earned the nickname The Warm Heart of Africa.

When visiting some homes, I realized how simple life is. Apart from a phone, a few clothes, and a small cooking place, often fired by wood or charcoal, everything else is a luxury. Yet Malawians stay proud and hopeful, never complaining. So different from many nations that, despite living much more comfortably, people start begging immediately when they see a foreigner.