Malawi is a nature lovers delight, and possesses as rich a variety of large mammals as most African Countries; including the big five – buffalo, elephant, lion, leopard and rhinoceros. There are over 170 species of mammals and some 649 recorded species of bird. As with everywhere, human population demands have meant that most of the big game species are now constrained to game reserves and national parks. Although these reserves are not as famous as some found in other East African countries, they offer excellent game viewing.
Tip: To get the most out of a game viewing expedition you will need to take into account the climate. The best times of the year for game viewing are during the dry season August to November. Some parks will be closed or impassable without a four-wheel drive vehicle during the raining season, particularly Jan – March
–Nyika National Park — the first (certified in 1965), the largest (over 3,000km²) and the highest (average height 1,800M)
Nyika national park, the oldest national park in Malawi was created in 1965. It is also the largest, covering 3000 square kilometres. It has a dense pine forest, wonderful views and a climate and landscape unique to Malawi and rare to Africa.What makes Nyika special is that you can explore the wildlife through various means – On horseback, bike riding, and on foot.The animals to be seen include bushbucks, reedbucks, zebras and roan antelopes, and you may also spot warthogs, klipspringers, jackals and possibly hyenas and leopards.
▪ Kasungu National Park — situated approximately 165km north of the capital city, Lilongwe, this is, at over 2,000km², the second largest of Malawi’s parks
Covering just over 2,316 square kilometres, Kasungu is Malawi’s second largest park. Situated on Malawi’s western border with Zambia, Kasungu became a National Park in 1970. It was viewed as the best game park in Malawi, but unfortunately, the park has seen a huge loss in its number of animals. There was once over 2,000 elephants and now there are estimated just 150. This is mainly due to cross-border and local poaching. However, there are still animals to be seen, such as eland, buffalo, zebra, kudu, roan, sable, puku, hartebeest and even leopard, lion and the mysterious painted dog.
▪ Lake Malawi National Park — designated a National Park in 1980 to protect the unique diversity of tropical fish living in Lake Malawi, some not found anywhere else on earth.
Lake Malawi National Park is a national park located in Malawi at the southern end of Lake Malawi. It is the only national park in Malawi that was created to protect fish and aquatic habitats. Despite this, Lake Malawi National Park still has a fair amount of land, including several small islands in Lake Malawi, and is home to other animals such as baboons. A large baobab tree, purportedly over 800 years old, is said to have been a favourite of Dr. David Livingstone as a place where he could give sermons and speak with other missionaries. The graves of five early missionaries are also found in the park. The many endemic fish species make it a key example of specialized evolution. For this characteristic, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984
▪ Liwonde National Park — situated 120km north of Blantyre, on the banks of the Upper Shire River.Liwonde can be found at the southern end of Lake Malawi besides the Upper Shire River and borders Lake Malombe. It has a very diverse landscape including riverine swamps, open grassland, deciduous woodland and even mopane woodland. This diversity means that Liwonde has the most scenic game viewing in Malawi and allegedly the best bird watching in Southern Africa. Despite a huge amount of visitors, Liwonde is still peaceful and uncommercialised.
▪ Majete Game Reserve — in the South West of Malawi, with an area of 691km²
Majete Wildlife Reserve is 691km.sq, and lies at the low attitude of about 100m. The Shire River forms part of the eastern boundary. It was gazetted as a Game Reserve in 1955, 50 years ago. Further extensions occurred in 1969 to include dry season water sources, and in 1976 it was extended to include the full width of the Shire River. In 1988 there were estimated to be over 200 elephants in Majete, but by 1992 all had been exterminated.
After years of heavy poaching African Parks Network took over management in 2003. Since then a lot has changed. The Reserve is completely fenced, has over 250 km of good roads, has a very professional Law Enforcement team and is restocked with over 4,000 animals including, elephant, rhino, buffalo, zebra, eland, hartebeest, kudu, nyala, waterbuck, impala, warthog, hippo et cetera. Soon the big cats will be reintroduced; cheetah, lion and leopard. The park is also appreciated for the Shire River, especially the Kapichira Falls, which are situated close to the park entrance. It is a wilderness area where bird watching is very favourable and, provided you are escorted by a game scout, you are allowed to walk around.
▪ Luangwa National Park Zambia
Very close to Malawi we could not leave South Luangwa national park off the list, which experts have called one of the greatest wildlife sanctuaries in the world, and with good reason: few parks can match this phenomenally high game density. What’s more, three-quarters of this wild and remote 9050 sq km park is still largely unexplored.The concentration of game around the Luangwa River and its oxbow lagoons is amongst the most intense in Africa. All the big predators are there, as well as four of the Big 5 (the notable exception being the rhino, which was sadly poached to extinction).The South Luangwa has become famous as the home of walking safaris. Although other parks have now caught up, the South Luangwa stands out as the best reserve to see big game on foot: elephant, hippo or even lion. The South Luangwa is well known for the extremely high standard of guiding. Many of the guides grew up in the area, and have been guiding for 10 to 20 years. In addition to exceptional guiding, this is one of the few safari destinations where you can find true African bushcamps in remote wilderness areas. The word bushcamp is quite misleading though, because while you’re far from any other sign of civilisation, you won’t be expected to give up any of your creature comforts.
Malawian Style offers fantastic Safari Packages, to check them out click here