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Mlambe Golf ClubMalawi's premier lakeshore resort is now also a premier golf address.
Mlambe Golf course (Mlambe means baobab in Chichewa) located alongside Club Makokola, offers nine holes of golf in a unique African setting which golfers will find as challenging as it is beautiful.
Mlambe offers an ideal blend of water (including a stream which links the water traps and flows the full length of the course), trees (in this case giant Baobab trees, some of which are hundreds of years old) and sand.
It definitely proves a course does not have to be long to be good. The 1.3 km par three course is characterised by being technically very difficult, with seven holes presenting water hazards. Strategically located bunkers and Baobabs make the Course even more challenging. The longest hole is 145 m the shorts 84 m. The ever-changing lake breezes present added challenges and every game on the course will offer a new experience. Five of the nine holes have double tees.
All the vegetation is indigenous. Frequent glimpses of malachite and pied kingfishers, lilac breasted rollers, grey herons, hamerkops, weavers, white pelicans and even African fish eagles are all part of the Mlambe experience. It is not uncommon to share the course with the shy dik dik, an always busy mongoose or squirrels.
Mlambe Golf Course has its own clubhouse, changing rooms and pro shop. All hotel guests automatically become golf club members for the length of their stay. You will have to pay only the green fees at Mlambe.
Every year the Club hosts the Lake Malawi Pro-Am Golf Tournament. top
Cruising on M.V. SunbirdThis 24 meter long cruiser is available for charters, but also has scheduled sailing dates from Club Makokola down the Shire River to the Liwonde National Park. The boat can carry 20 passengers and can sleep eight in three cabins or on matterasses on deck if preferred under mosquito nets. The fully equipped kitchen serves excellent buffet style meals in the lounge and the bar facilities provide cold drinks, tea and coffee throughout the cruise. The Sunbird has a great sun deck and is equipped with a diving platform making it ideal for scuba diving cruises or simply to use for swimming at the various islands that dot the lake. Cape Maclear is a full day cruise. It takes about four hours to sail there, the boat then anchors at one of the islands giving the guests a chance to swim and see the famous cichlid fish of the Lake Malawi National Park. The lunch is served as the boat heads back towards Club Makokola. It arrives in front of the hotel as the sunsets behind the hills. Mangochi Town is the district headquarters and an old colonial town. The Sunbird takes about three hours to get there. Guests can disembark and visit the old town and the little museum near the riverfront before setting back to the hotel. Two-day cruise to Liwonde National Park are the most popular excursions the Sunbird does. It sails through the southern end of the lake into the Shire River, past the town of Mangochi into Lake Malombe and then again into the river and the Liwonde National Park. The only place in Africa where you can sail from a great African lake through a river into a National Park. Half-day charters are available to Boadzulu Island situated in front of Club Makakola for snorkelling of for a simple booze cruise around the bay. Morning cruises to local fishing villages are also popular. The guest has a chance to disembark and visit the villages to see how Malawians live along the lakeshore. top
Excursions to Mua MissionMua Mission, is about an hour and half by car from Club Makokola. The mission is located at the foothills of the Dedza range that delimit the Rift Valley. The Catholic White Fathers founded it in 1903.
At the mission the old buildings erected by the first missionaries are still standing. They are probably the best-conserved colonial buildings in the country and can be visited. Different to most colonial buildings in Malawi, they are in the French Provencal style as the first fathers were from France.
The attraction of Mua is the Kungoni Art Craft Centre and the Chamare Museum. The centre was founded to encourage local talent to express themselves through the traditional media of woodcarving. You can see the artists at work and buy their sculptures.
The Museum is located in buildings representing traditional huts. In the first room there is an exhibition explaining the history of missionaries in Malawi. In the second room you can see part of the vast collection of over 1,500 masks. Along the walls of this room a photographic exhibition shows the major passages of Chewa life starting with birth and going though initiations, marriage ending with death and burial practices. The Chewa is the dominant tribe of Malawi and understanding their concept of life is important. In the third room an exhibition of sculptors and photos will explain other two main tribal groups of the country, the Ngoni and the Yao. Connecting the three rooms is small passage where Iron Age artefacts and rock paintings are on show.
On the out side of the building a series of frescos portray the history of the area starting with the creation of the world according to Chewa folklore to the arrival of catholic priests at Mua.
A picnic lunch is had in the well-kept grounds before a visit to the shop to buy a memento of the visit or simply to look around. top
Excursions to Liwonde National ParkAt about 110km south of Club Makokola along the banks of the Shire River is the Liwonde National Park. The park covers an area of 450sq.km, the Shire is the only river that flows out of Lake Malawi.
The Park is relatively small by comparison to other African parks, but its habitat makes it an interesting place to visit. It changes from marshy plains covered in reed along the banks of the river into open savannah to then become thick mopane forest as the ground starts rising into the foothills of the Shire Highlands. The park is home to hundreds of different bird species; some of them are very rare.
The major attraction of the park is the boat safari which lasts a couple of hours. It is possible to see many of the birds fishing and nesting along the riverbanks. The boats usually have some resident swallows that make their nests under the shade canopy. Sunbathing on the sand banks are crocodiles of all sizes, from the babies a few weeks old to giant monsters over five meters long. Hippos are everywhere both in the water and on the banks. In the clearings heard of antelopes come to graze on the fresh green grass. The most exiting thing is to see the large herds of elephant come to drink and play in the water.
The route to the park is along a tar road that passes by the town of Mangochi before going southwards along the shore of Lake Malombe passing though small fishing villages which live from drying and smoking the lake fish. At the town of Ulongwe, we take a turn off onto a dirt track. We then drive though rural villages and fields, past women pounding maize, building houses or attending to the fields until we reach the river. On arrival at the park, a boat collects the visitors and ferries them across to Mvuu Camp on the other side. After checking in and a drink the boat safari starts followed by lunch at the camp. On the return trip it is possible to stop and buy a variety of baskets, tablemats, hats, toys and loafas, the natural vegetable sponges that grow in great abundance in this region. top
Excursion to Cape MaclearThe Cape Maclear peninsula divides the bottom of the lake into two. The peninsular ends in a picturesque bay, protected by a number of islands. The bay has beautiful golden sandy beaches delimited by a granite outcrop of Otter's Point to the west and the Ilala Gap separating the mainland from Domwe Island to the east. It is the heart of the Lake Malawi National Park, created to protect the cichlid fish of the lake and to preserve the natural beauty of the spot. In recognition of its uniqueness UNESCO has declared the place a World Heritage Site.
Cape Malear is a scuba divers paradise, and will not disappoint even the most sophisticated diver, but to see the fish you don't need to dive deep, a simple swim with a mask will be sufficient to see clouds of coloured fish come towards you. Throwing some breadcrumbs on the surface of the water will be enough to attract them.
Cape Maclear is also a historical site; it was here that in 1875 Dr. Laws with his team of Scottish missionaries built the first Livingstonia mission.
The first missionary graves are still visible and a visit to beautiful Otter's Point rocks is a must. Local folklore believed that this was the dwelling of the spirits. This place was also used by the Imperial Airways to land their flying boat service on the Johannesburg to Southampton route.
There are two way to get to Cape Maclear, one it by car following the road to Monkey Bay the main harbour on the lake, and then taking the dirt road that winds it way thought the hill to Cape Maclear.
If there is sufficient number of people the best way to get to Cape Maclear is by the MV Sunbird, the hotel's 22-meter boat. A four hour cruise along the lake gives the chance to see the changing scenery and to sunbathe and relax on the boat. On arrival the boat will go through the Ilala Gap and stop at one of the islands to enable guests to swim or to explore the surroundings. At about 2 o'clock a buffet lunch is served as the boat heads back for the hotel getting there as the sun sets. top
Excursion to MangochiThe town of Mangochi is about 30 km south of Club Makokola, it is the district headquarters and the largest town of the area. Sir Harry Johnston founded it in 1893, it started life as a military base from which to control the slave trade.
The base was called Forte Johnston, only taking its new name of Mangochi after independences. The town developed along the riverfront and today we can still see a few of the old remaining colonial buildings. In front of the police station the original canons still stand guard! This little town was also the main navel base for the Navy activities on the lake. From here the Gwendolyn set off for her victorious navel encounter with the German boat. It was the first naval battle on World War I, in fact it was a bit of a farce.
Today we can see the cannon that fired the famous shots on the river front.
In Mangochi there is a little Lake Malawi Museum, it is and interesting old building which explains a few fact on the geography, history and geology of the area. It does help give a better understanding of Malawi. Interesting is a visit to the old colonial cemetery, a reminder of a period that has passed.
The most interesting feature of a visit to Mangochi is a walk through the market. This is an extremely colourful place. You can find just about anything, from food to stereos and cloths. Some incredible deals have been got at the second hand cloths stall. Here bales of cloths are sold and you get excellent designer cloth coming out of them as well.
The most interesting stall are the traditional healers one's. All their ware of roots, leaves, bones, powders and bits of animals are on show. The "Doctor" will be only to happy explain to you how his science works. I would advice a visit to Dr. Champion's stall, his stall is the biggest one along the road, and after having talked to him you can purchase a luck bean. A rather large seed that you must keep with you at all times and put in your bath water every time you wash. Does it work? Well maybe…but it's a good memento of your visit. top
Excursion to Bwazulu IslandIn front of the Hotel is the island of Boadzulu, it is the southern most part of the Lake Malawi National Park and home to many birds, monitor lizards and other reptiles. It has a large resident fish eagle population. These birds are used to taking fish that is thrown to them from boats. This gives the opportunity to take some exceptional shots of fish eagles swooping down to catch fish. The waters around the island are rich in coloured tropical fish.
It is possible to get to Boadzulu in two ways, ether on the MV Sunbird, for a sunset cruise. The most popular way is to take a morning cruise on the Hotel's sailing catamaran. It takes about half an hour to get to the island with a good breeze. The catamaran then anchors in a little cove to swim and snorkel.
The boat also provides a bar service. Sailing on the catamaran is a very relaxing experience. You can lay or sit on the canvas deck and sunbath with just the noise of the wind in the sails and the water rushing against the hull!
A trip to Boadzulu is a great way to pass a relaxing lazy day on the water. top
Visit to villagesThere are a number of villages near the hotel that can be visited and it can be arranged for someone to take you to show you around.
These are genuine fishing villages where people live the normal life of rural Africa.
They are not geared up for the tourist but will welcome visitors.
Walking through them gives you the possibility to see how they lead their lives; fishermen repairing nets and drying fish, the women going about their daily chores, children playing. A lot depends on the time of year and what happens to be going on in the village, there may be a funeral or there may be a wedding or it may be market day!
Mostly people don't mind having their pictures taken but most of the villagers are Muslims and some take exception to this so we would ask you to be discreet in your visit. top
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Club Makokola 
