Lake Malawi

by Lucy Kublikowski

Lake Malawi, runs almost the entire length of yes, you guessed it - Malawi! The Lake forms a natural border with Malawi on the west coast and Tanzania and Mozambique to the east. The Lake, with its sandy shores & clear warm water has developed over the years as a holiday destination for expats living in the neighbouring counties.There are resorts along along the coast line down as far as Cape McClear, a designated national park, most offering diving and tuition.

The Lake is 450m above sea level so the lure of our first fresh water dive at altitude was too strong to resist. We stayed at a resort called Kande Beach, a campsite for overlanders, which also offers bungalow accommodation as well as having a restaurant and bar. It is a busy and popular location with overlanders and therefore numerous activities from diving to horse riding.

The dive centre is called Aquannts, reasonably small, but able to offer PADI courses and diving from thier own RIB. We opted for a single dive with the option to do another should we feel inclined. The Lake is famous for its unique inhabitants, a species of freshwater fish called 'Cyclids'. These brightly coloured fish constitute a large proportion of the fresh water fish found in fishtanks around the world.

Our dive took us to one of the many granite islands off shore, where we moored to a bouy and dropped in over the side. Never having dived in freshwater before, our first surprise was that there was no need for a weight-belt. The second was that, despite a depth of 12m, the water temperature was a constant 28 °C, at every depth.

The visibility was a disappointing 6m and the water had a familiar murky greenish hue - we later discovered this was mostly due to the extraordinary amount of fish poo, deposited by the cyclids. The fish themselves came in
every size and colour, living in and around the granite boulders. There were large swim-throughs and on the lake bed there was an old German army jeep, a remnant from the war. Our Divemaster opened up the bonnet to reveal a thronging mass of baby cat fish hiding out underneath.

The last bonus of the diving in freshwater was of course not having to wash our gear afterwards! The dive cost us U$35 including equipment, one was enough to satisfy our curiosity, and we wnjoyed it tremendously. It was very relaxing, very different from our usual dives of waves, weight belts and currents. I would thoroughly recommend trying it once!

However! Lake Malawi has Bilharzia, something that they try to play down. This is a disease carried by snails that feed on the reeds in the stiller areas of the Lake. Kande Beach is in an area with light waves on the shore line and we were told this means that Bilharzia is not able to exist there. It doesn't seem to deter the other tourists we saw all the way along its shores, swimming in the lake, but we resolved to get ourselves tested once we get home. (Most advice recommends after a 3 month period.) Bilharzia is treatable if caught early but if left can be fatal.

Malawi is not the easiest spot to reach or visit. Food of every type can be in short supply but the people are friendly and the country has lots to offer, not only the Lake, but as a safari destination. You can fly direct to Lilongwe from the UK but I would recommend travelling with a tour operator rather than a DIY holiday.

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