The country of Malawi is situated in south east Africa. Malawi is considerably smaller than its neighbours, Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania, though its attractive national parks and cities are popular tourist attractions all the same. As a country which gained independence from Britain, English is the official language.
Malawi welcomes flights to two of its main airports: Lilongwe (airport code: LLW) and Blantyre (airport code: BLZ). Flights to Malawi's Lilongwe airport from South Africa are indirect requiring one connection. Airlines such as Air Zimbabwe, South African Airways and Kenya Airways offer one stop flights to Malawi from South Africa. These airlines fly via Harare or Nairobi. Direct flights to Malawi's Blantyre airport from South Africa are available through South African Airways.
The capital city of Malawi is Lilongwe, and though an attractive city it isn't high in tourist attractions. This is a nice place to spend a relaxing few days enjoying the city's green, open spaces or going shopping before heading off to the country's popular national parks. Lilongwe has shopping malls as well as a craft market that is particularly popular with tourists as a place to buy traditional hand made Malawi arts and crafts.
Known as both Lake Malawi and Lake Nyasa, the lake which runs almost the entire length of Malawi's eastern border is the third largest lake on the continent, and the ninth largest in the world.
Lake Malawi National Park is one of Malawi's five national parks. This park is popular with visitors and is also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the large numbers of endemic fish species here. The park protects the fish and their environment from over-fishing and over-use of the water resources. Visitors may also spot baboons in the park, plus the 800 year old baobab tree is a popular spot too.
Nyika is the largest of Malawi's national parks and is situated in the north of the country. Nyika is particularly well known for the blooming orchids, during the wet season, when over 200 different types of orchid come into bloom. The park is also popular for trekking and mountain biking.
Visitors who want to see more of Malawi's wildlife will find there's plenty to see in Liwonde National Park. This park is an excellent place to spend several days or more because the park has its own accommodation and safari tours are regularly available. Animals most often seen here include buffalo, crocodiles, elephants and hippos.
In addition to Lake Malawi, there is one other UNESCO World Heritage Site in Malawi, Chongoni Rock Art Area. This area has the highest concentration of rock art in Central Africa and is located in the hills of Central Malawi.
Being situated closer to the equator Malawi has a hot climate that becomes more temperate in the highlands. Between November and April the country is hot and wet, experiencing equatorial rains, and from late March it becomes drier until September.