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Travel and Tourism in Malawi
Travel alerts, currency, climate, transit, health, and safety information for visitors to Malawi.
Practical Information
Travel alert status, currency, climate, and transit details.
- Travel Alert Status
- Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
- Time Difference
- UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
- Currency
- Malawian kwacha (MWK)
- Climate
- Malawi has wet and dry seasons. The wet season is from November to April; the heaviest rainfall occurs between December and March. The dry season begins in May and lasts until November. It is hottest just before rains begin. The capital, Lilongwe (altitude 3,400 feet) is in a high, central plateau area. The average daily temperature in Lilongwe during October is 84.6°F. June, July, and August are the coolest months, and nights can be quite chilly when temperatures drop to between 41°F and 57°F. Frost occasionally occurs in Lilongwe. During the dry season, particularly September and October, high winds and some dust occur. The annual mean temperature in Lilongwe is 67.4°F, and the annual rainfall is 31.9 inches. Nights are generally cool and pleasant in Lilongwe, even during the hottest weather. Dry season days are generally sunny and warm; rains during the wet season are brief. The Blantyre area is more mountainous, and its weather more humid. The climate is also more hot and humid around Lake Malawi.
- Ethnic Groups
- Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuka, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, Ngonde, Asian, European
- National Holiday
- Independence Day, 6 July (1964); note - also called Republic Day since 6 July 1966
- Geographic Coordinates
- 13 30 S, 34 00 E
- Location
- Southern Africa, east of Zambia, west and north of Mozambique
- Airports
- 42
Destinations
Regions and cities, top sights, national parks, UNESCO sites, and festivals for visitors.
Liwonde National Park and the Lower Shire
Liwonde National Park sits in the Upper Shire Valley, where the Shire River flows out of Lake Malawi's southern end and begins its journey southward toward the Zambezi. The park covers approximately 548 square kilometers of ecologically rich savanna, riparian woodland, and palm-fringed riverbanks, and it is organized around the Shire River in a way that makes the river itself the defining experience of visiting. A boat safari down the Shire, moving quietly through channels where hippos submerge and surface just meters from your craft and crocodiles slide off sandbanks into the water at your approach and elephants come down to drink in the late afternoon light, is among the finest wildlife experiences available anywhere in Africa.
African Parks took over management of Liwonde National Park in 2015, the same year it began managing Nkhotakota, and the transformation that has occurred since then represents one of the most compelling conservation success stories on the continent. When African Parks arrived, the park had been severely depleted by poaching and inadequate management. Elephants survived in reasonable numbers but were chronically stressed and in conflict with surrounding communities whose agricultural fields were regularly raided. Other large mammals were scarce.
Health and Safety
Medical facilities, vaccinations, disease risk, and sanitation conditions.
Medical facilities in Malawi are rudimentary and do not meet U.S. standards of medical care. While all health workers have some degree of English proficiency, communication can still be difficult. Medications are not consistently available and many U.S. medications are not available at all. Travelers should bring adequate quantities of medications to last the duration of their stay. For any major medical problems you should consider obtaining medical treatment in South Africa, where advanced medical care is available.