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MALAWI Image courtesy of Roger de la Harpe www.africaimagery.com The Great Rift Valley runs across eastern Africa like an ancient scar from the Red Sea in the north to the Zambezi valley in the south. Malawi has two rift lakes - Lake Malawi and Lake Malombe - as well as Lake Chirwa and Lake Chiuta, which lie outside the Rift system. In all, over 20% of Malawi is covered by water. The Shire River, the only outlet from Lake Malawi, joins the Zambezi river in Mozambique, thence to the Indian Ocean. In the north the Rift Valley Escarpment rises steeply from the Lake, reaching altitudes of 2500metres, even more across the Lake in the Livingstone Mountains of Tanzania. Mountainous areas in the north include the beautiful Nyika Plateau and the forested Viphya Plateau. in the south the mystical Mulanje Mountain towers through the mist. Although Malawi has not yielded much in the way of hominid remains (to date, only one jaw bone dated around 2.5 million years) it is in the region that the earliest ancestors of humans lived. The roots of language, story and communication were formed here. Before recorded history, movements of people swept through Central Africa and national boundaries were not recognised. Only with the colonial influx were borders and nations established - often with little reference to the people who lived there. Africa was involved from earliest times in trade with places as far away as Arabia, India and China. Slave taking and the exchange of gold, ivory and other tropical products took place long before travellers arrived from Europe. There is a strong Islamic influence, especially around the lake, from these early contacts, which predated a powerful Christian initiative into the region through missionaries like David Livingstone and many others. During the colonial period, the country was incorporated into the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, achieving independence in 1964 with Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda as Prime Minister, Later (life) President. In 1994 Malawi held democratic elections for the first time since independence, and the current President, re-elected in 1999, is Dr Bakili Muluzi. Blantyre - the commercial capital of Malawi - is older, and it shows. There is however a peculiar charm about this bustling city, especially at jacaranda time when many of the old roads are lined with lilac-blossomed trees with pools of petals at their feet. The site of the city was attractive to the missionaries and traders who built it, at a higher altitude that the surrounding land and ringed by scenic mountains. Blantyre houses the headquarters of the older and bigger Malawi businesses while Lilongwe is the seat of government. Blantyre can be hot and muggy during the rainy season (November to March) with rain most days. If you travel here after a time at the lake, the shops will be an attraction. There are hundreds of curio sellers on the streets, but their prices are higher than those in the rural districts, and they are much harder bargainers! Visit the Central Africana Gallery and Bookshop on Victoria Avenue where there is an extensive collection of Africana - including prints, books and maps. If you want to see something of old Africa, visit the Shire Valley in the southernmost region of Malawi. It's real baobab country and in the rainy season the heat and the mosquitoes can deter the less adventurous, but there is plenty to see and do. The Shire River - where a very large hydroelectric dam has just been completed above Kapachira Falls - is an attraction in itself. Here are three National Parks and Wildlife Reserves - Majete, Mwabvi and Lengwe as well as the superbly photogenic Elephant Marsh
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