FURTHER INFORMATION ON MALAWI

GETTING TO MALAWI
Most visitors arrive by air, landing at Lilongwe or Blantyre. Lilongwe International Airport lies some 26 km (16 miles) north of the capital and Chileka Airport is just 13 km (8 miles) outside Blantyre.
For intercontinental flights from Europe, the only direct flight is offered by Air Malawi, once a week between London and Lilongwe. South African Airways operates connecting services through Johannesburg most days of the week. Kenya Airways has a similar frequency connecting through Nairobi from London; also operating in conjunction with KLM from Amsterdam through Nairobi. British Airways has a weekly service connecting through Nairobi as well as operating with Air Malawi via the regional hubs of Johannesburg, Lusaka, Dar es Salaam and Harare. Air Zimbabwe, Ethiopian Airlines offer similar connecting services through Harare and Addis Ababa respectively.
Regional links between Malawi and Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe are provided by Air Malawi. Links from neighbouring countries are also provided by an air charter company based in Malawi, the Nyasa Air Taxi. There are also road routes into Malawi from Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique.

VISAS
A full valid passport is required for entry into Malawi. For tourist visits, visas are NOT required by citizens of most Commonwealth countries, the USA, most European Union countries and certain other countries. Please refer to your nearest Malawi diplomatic mission/high commission.

In the United Kingdom, The Malawi High Commission is situated at:
70 Winnington Rd
London N2 0TX
Tel: +44 (0)20 84555624
Tel (visas): +44 (0)20 32351077
Email: malawihighcom@btconnect.com

BEST TIME TO VISIT
For most people the dry (winter) season is most attractive (i.e. April/May to October/November). However, some of the best birdwatching can be had from November to April and the orchids of Nyika are best seen from December to March/April.

CURRENCY
The Malawi unit of currency is the kwacha (abbreviated to MK internationally; K locally). The kwacha is divided into 100 tambala. Practically speaking, only the kwacha is used. Banks in the towns are open weekdays from 0800 to 1300. Mobile banks operate along the Lakeshore and in more remote areas (check days/times locally). US dollars is however the most preferred currency (cash and travellers cheques) There is no limit to the amount of foreign currency brought into Malawi but it must be declared and accounted for on departure. Only MK200 may be exported.

CLIMATE
Malawi’s tropical climate is moderated across much of the country by altitude. Two seasons can be recognised; the dry season lasts from April through to November while the wet season lasts some four months, December to March. Squeezed in between these two seasons is a hot and rather humid period which generally characterises November and early December. Over the last decade or so, the wet season has often been delayed. Rains which used to start in early December now, quite regularly, don’t occur until the New Year.

Even in the so-called wet season, the rains are usually short-lived storms, as is typical of the tropics, and at no time does the climate seriously inhibit the traveller. Much of the country is at an altitude which keeps potentially high temperatures down to very acceptable levels. Only in the Lower Shire Valley can temperatures become unpleasantly high, and then only in the summer months.

Although the period May to October is often described as the ideal time to travel in Malawi, the rainy season is attractive for the displays of orchids on Nyika Plateau, for birdwatching in some of the Reserves and for seeing Malawi’s vegetation at its most lush. The main drawback of a visit in the wet season is in driving the dirt roads including those within the game parks. It also has to be borne in mind that, as everywhere, game viewing is best towards the end of the dry season.

Temperatures vary from below freezing (at night on the high plateaux in July) to 38°C/100°F (in the Lower Shire Valley in December). To generalise is difficult but through much of the year, and in regions visited by travellers, temperatures during the day are usually in the mid-20°C/mid-70°F. In the short hot season, November-December, maximum temperatures may rise to the lower 30°C/upper 80°F. Lake Malawi’s surface temperatures vary from about 24°C/75°F to 28°C/82°F.

Rainfall varies greatly. Some years in the early 1990s were exceptionally dry. Really high figures are rare. Parts of the Lakeshore can receive 50 to 60 inches (1270 to 1525 mm) a year but Lilongwe’s and Blantyre’s figures are less than half that. Much of the rain falls in short but heavy bursts.