People: Malawians are known for their friendliness, and we can only confirm that! However, we did find them sometimes quite slow in understanding even simple questions, and we do not think it was necessarily the language barrier… We stayed at some typical backpacker places again, so met some more people than the last few months. We also hung out with an older Canadian couple for a few days, who are travelling Africa in their own car. Retirement goals!?

Food: It was a hit or miss. Even at the same restaurant, it could be great one day and very average next day – even if you ordered the exact same dish. Very odd. In general, food at hostels was more expensive than expected and we often felt that it was overpriced for what it was. That being said, we also had some great fish and tacos in Malawi!

Weather: Dry and sunny throughout, with some clouds here and there. The nights were often chilly. In Nkhata Bay, we caught a rather rainy day and decided to move on quickly after looking at the forecast.

Costs: We only spent 24€/person/day in Malawi – making it one of the cheapest countries of our world trip. We saved lots of money by camping instead of taking expensive double rooms, however food was pricey. We didn’t spend a lot of money on activities, but rather relaxed a lot on the shores of Lake Malawi – which also contributed to our low spending.

Accommodation: We mostly camped and slept in our tent in Malawi which made accommodation very cheap. A dorm bed would usually cost around 10€pp whereas camping was always 4€pp. Doubles would have been way too much, starting at 30$ for a very simple room without bathroom. Only in Cape Maclear, we stayed in a hut for 12,5€, but regretted that, moving back to our tent next day. During the hikes in Mulanje, we slept in very simple huts on not so hygienic looking mats.

Infrastructure: We traveled around Malawi on busses and minibusses. The latter were often very crammed and exhausting, whereas the bigger busses were quite nice for African standards. Sharing normal cars is also quite common, where you’re expected to squeeze with 4 people on the back seat.

Illnesses: All good once again.

Safety: Always felt safe.

Itinerary: We followed a typical backpacker route along the lake shore, with a detour to Mulanje in the end. Unfortunately, visiting Likoma Island didn’t fit our schedule as the boat only goes on certain days. Also, we skipped Livingstonia as it sounded like too much of a hassle to get there for what it was. I regret a bit not stopping by Zomba Plateau for a day, but we were a bit tired of travelling and changing places a lot by the time we entered Malawi.

Highlight: Cape Maclear.

Lowlight: The big cities – Lilongwe and Blantyre – where we only passed through.

Click on the photos below to see our full photo album of Malawi: