Last year, Emily and I traveled to Lake Malawi from Zambia. I wanted to share a write-up Emily did of our itinerary for anyone who's interested in doing the same trip.
Day 1: Lusaka -> Chipata -> Lilongwe
- Bus from Lusaka to Chipata on Johabie (K150/pp). Buy the tickets a day in advance at Intercity.
- Take a taxi from Chipata to the border (shared taxis are K20/pp or K80 for the whole taxi).
- Border crossing is very easy and fast.
- Take a taxi from the border to Mchinji (2,000 MWK/pp).
- Take a minibus from Mchinji to Lilongwe (3,600 MWK/pp).
- We spent the night here: Mabuya Camp. Cheap backpackers that was fine for a transit night. We shared an A-frame that was $25/night.
- We had dinner at Latitude 13, a really nice/ fairly fancy place to have dinner that I would highly recommend! ($20-30/pp).
- We also bought all our groceries when getting in, so I would take the earliest Johabie bus at 5am to make sure you have enough time to cross the border, buy groceries, have dinner, etc. We arrived at Shoprite just as they were closing!
Day 2: Lilongwe -> Monkey Bay -> Cape Maclear -> Domwe Island
- We took the 7am AXA bus from Lilongwe to Monkey Bay. You don't need to buy tickets in advance. You do want to get there a bit early to ensure you get a seat, as they will fill it with standing customers as well. It is a big bus that acts more like a minibus, so a ride that should be ~3 hours took us 6-7 hours because it kept stopping. On the bright side, it was really cheap (I think equivalent to $2 pp). An alternative to this, especially if you're short on time, is to hire a private car, but expect to pay around $200.
- We then took a shared taxi from Monkey Bay to Cape Maclear. We weren't quite sure where to get off, there was a few false positives, so it's helpful to ask. Once we disembarked, someone waiting at the bus stop called us a taxi as there weren't any waiting around. It was roughly $10 pp when filled with 4 people. If you're planning to kayak out to the island you should try arrive in Cape Maclear at least 1 hour before sunset.
Day 2-5: Domwe Island
-We stayed at Domwe Island, which was amazing! We kayaked out to the island and had a tent platform that overlooked the water. You have to bring all your own groceries to cook, but they can catch fresh fish for you every night and they bake fresh bread in the morning. There's no electricity there, so they use solar lanterns at night (headlamps are also good to bring). There is an ice chest you can use to store perishables, and a gas stove to cook on. We brought our own tent but hired bedding and a mattress from them, since we were carrying all our groceries and luggage. Important to note that the island has little to no phone service, so try to coordinate everything you need to before you get there.
- Activities there included: hiking to the top of the island (really pretty views), catamaran cruise (highly recommend), kayaking, and snorkeling (not sure how good this would be in murky waters around the island).
- I think you should stay at least 2 full days here to make it worth it, 3 or 4 would be ideal. You probably don't need any more days than that.
Day 5-7: Malawi -> Lusaka
- Going back to Lusaka, I would recommend trying to go all the way to Chipata the first day, spend the night there (Dean's View is a good, cheap place to stay), then taking the Johabie bus back from Chipata to Lusaka the next day (good to purchase the tickets the night before when you arrive in Chipata).
- To get from Domwe Island back to Lilongwe is harder because the AXA bus leaves Monkey Bay too early for you to take the boat transfer from island and the taxi from Cape Maclear and make it. We planned on hiring a taxi from Cape Maclear (we made a plan with the taxi who brought us there when he originally dropped us off in Cape Maclear- phones don't work on the island!) and taking that taxi to Salima, the nearest town with minibuses to Lilongwe. Our taxi ended up needing to go back to Lilongwe anyway, so we got a good deal and took him the whole way. The drive took ~2.5 hours.
Day 1: Lusaka -> Chipata -> Lilongwe
- Bus from Lusaka to Chipata on Johabie (K150/pp). Buy the tickets a day in advance at Intercity.
- Take a taxi from Chipata to the border (shared taxis are K20/pp or K80 for the whole taxi).
- Border crossing is very easy and fast.
- Take a taxi from the border to Mchinji (2,000 MWK/pp).
- Take a minibus from Mchinji to Lilongwe (3,600 MWK/pp).
- We spent the night here: Mabuya Camp. Cheap backpackers that was fine for a transit night. We shared an A-frame that was $25/night.
- We had dinner at Latitude 13, a really nice/ fairly fancy place to have dinner that I would highly recommend! ($20-30/pp).
- We also bought all our groceries when getting in, so I would take the earliest Johabie bus at 5am to make sure you have enough time to cross the border, buy groceries, have dinner, etc. We arrived at Shoprite just as they were closing!
Day 2: Lilongwe -> Monkey Bay -> Cape Maclear -> Domwe Island
- We took the 7am AXA bus from Lilongwe to Monkey Bay. You don't need to buy tickets in advance. You do want to get there a bit early to ensure you get a seat, as they will fill it with standing customers as well. It is a big bus that acts more like a minibus, so a ride that should be ~3 hours took us 6-7 hours because it kept stopping. On the bright side, it was really cheap (I think equivalent to $2 pp). An alternative to this, especially if you're short on time, is to hire a private car, but expect to pay around $200.
- We then took a shared taxi from Monkey Bay to Cape Maclear. We weren't quite sure where to get off, there was a few false positives, so it's helpful to ask. Once we disembarked, someone waiting at the bus stop called us a taxi as there weren't any waiting around. It was roughly $10 pp when filled with 4 people. If you're planning to kayak out to the island you should try arrive in Cape Maclear at least 1 hour before sunset.
Day 2-5: Domwe Island
-We stayed at Domwe Island, which was amazing! We kayaked out to the island and had a tent platform that overlooked the water. You have to bring all your own groceries to cook, but they can catch fresh fish for you every night and they bake fresh bread in the morning. There's no electricity there, so they use solar lanterns at night (headlamps are also good to bring). There is an ice chest you can use to store perishables, and a gas stove to cook on. We brought our own tent but hired bedding and a mattress from them, since we were carrying all our groceries and luggage. Important to note that the island has little to no phone service, so try to coordinate everything you need to before you get there.
- Activities there included: hiking to the top of the island (really pretty views), catamaran cruise (highly recommend), kayaking, and snorkeling (not sure how good this would be in murky waters around the island).
- I think you should stay at least 2 full days here to make it worth it, 3 or 4 would be ideal. You probably don't need any more days than that.
Day 5-7: Malawi -> Lusaka
- Going back to Lusaka, I would recommend trying to go all the way to Chipata the first day, spend the night there (Dean's View is a good, cheap place to stay), then taking the Johabie bus back from Chipata to Lusaka the next day (good to purchase the tickets the night before when you arrive in Chipata).
- To get from Domwe Island back to Lilongwe is harder because the AXA bus leaves Monkey Bay too early for you to take the boat transfer from island and the taxi from Cape Maclear and make it. We planned on hiring a taxi from Cape Maclear (we made a plan with the taxi who brought us there when he originally dropped us off in Cape Maclear- phones don't work on the island!) and taking that taxi to Salima, the nearest town with minibuses to Lilongwe. Our taxi ended up needing to go back to Lilongwe anyway, so we got a good deal and took him the whole way. The drive took ~2.5 hours.
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