Cape Maclear is a situated on the Nankumba Peninsula at the far southern part of Lake Malawi. I was meeting another volunteer, Yvonne, who arrived in country at the same time as myself and is living in Blantyre. During that first week in Malawi, we decided that we would meet up at Cape Maclear and kayak around the 2 islands Thumbi and Domwe just off the coast.
As we headed out of Lilongwe town we pass by the ‘tire market’. This is an open area just along the road where used tires are sold - and there are rows and rows of neatly stacked used tires in all sizes for sale. I am constantly amazed at the resourcefulness of the people here. They see a need and will set up shop along side the rode – from car mechanics, plumbers, electricians, telephone bureaus…to used tires. Interesting to see, but since our tires were fine we continued on south towards Dedza on the M1. I have been on this section of road many times now and I still enjoy seeing the mountains around Dedza. Just before we reached Dedze we took a turn off the M1 and before we descended off the plateau we had a great view of the lake and spotted the mountains on the peninsula in the far distance.
Fast forward to the Cape. (saw more baboons on the road just before Cape Maclear )
Cape Maclear is a long stretch of beach along the northern tip of a peninsula. There is an actual and active village Chembe Village at Cape Maclear. The houses are located right on the beach alongside a number of little lodges. We stayed at a place called Fat Monkeys at one end of the village, so it was a little quieter than some of the other places. Since the menu did not include fish that evening, I bought a fish off a local fisherman, had the kitchen staff cook it up and enjoyed fresh fish with a few Greens watching a beautiful sunset with friends. Note – Cape Maclear is one of the few places that you can see the sunset on the lake in Malawi, as most of the other Malawi beaches face east, giving you great sunrises but no sunset over the lake. So the sunset here was real treat!! Note 2 – The local brewery here in Malawi sells a heavy beer with a brown label and a lighter beer with a green label. So when you order your beer you ask for either a ‘Brown’ or a ‘Green’. I take mine green.
That next morning we walked down to Kayak Africa to rent the kayaks for the day. The fella there drew us a map of the island and all the good snorkeling spots. Lake Malawi is filled with fish that are specific only to this area. You will not see these fish living and swimming anywhere else in the world! So with lunch, snorkel stuff and kayak we headed off for a day of paddling around the island and snorkeling in a number of sweet spots. Oh it was good to sit in a boat again with paddle in hand!!
A few specifics on this area…
1. Much, if not all, of Cape Maclear is located within Lake Malawi National Park, the first freshwater underwater national park in the world.
2. Lake Malawi is the 4th deepest in the world, deepest depth in lake is 2,300ft; is the 11th largest lake in the world, and the 3rd largest in Africa.
3. Livingstone’s 1st missionary was built at Cape Maclear. However malaria forced the silly white folks to move on to higher ground.
Beach at Cape Maclear:
Sunset over Mumbu Island:
Looking back at Cape Maclear from Thumbi Island:
Kayaking and snorkeling around Thumbi Island:
View down on Cape Maclear and Thumbi Island:
