The lake, third largest in Africa and eighth largest in the world, is situated between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania.

The lake’s tropical waters teem with more fish species than any other lake on earth, and offers wonderful snorkelling and diving experiences. The fish also support the local people, who depend on the lake for survival, using dug-out canoes to set out long nets. There are many different ethnic groups living in the vicinity, and many different dialects are spoken. Many are Christians, as a result of the numerous missionaries that passed through the area, while many have retained their traditional belief systems.
In 1859 David Livingstone reached Lake Malawi, when he was trying to put an end to the slave trade. He then returned in 1861 accompanied by seven missionaries. They opened a mission station in the south lake area, but suffered from malaria, illness and conflict with slavers. In 1864 the surviving missionaries withdrew to Zanzibar. Livingstone then returned to the region in 1866 as part of an expedition to find the source of the Nile. In 1869 he pushed north and was out of contact for two years. He was found by journalist Henry Stanley on the banks of Lake Tanganyika in 1871 and Stanley uttered the famous words “Dr Livingstone I presume”. Livingstone continued on his mission and died at a village called Chitombo in Zambia in 1873.

His death rekindled a desire in missionaries to come to Malawi and eventually, after setting up missions in various bad malaria areas, they set up a mission called Livingstonia in the highlands of the eastern escarpment (with no malaria).It is still in operation today and visitors can hike to the mission. The walk is quite strenuous and you should be reasonably fit especially if it’s hot. It’s about a 6 to 8-hour round trip.