Party Strip: Cape Maclear

Party Strip:
Cape Maclear
Colourful fish that you can watch while swimming, facilities for every taste and purse,
a strip to explore and discover. Cape Maclear has a lot to offer to the visitor. Stunning
sunsets being an additional bonus.
C
ape Maclear used to be one of the more famous
hippie hubs in Africa. One of those places where
people with a distinctive vague sort of look, would
ask you: What year did you say it is? One of those places
where there was always someone with a guitar on the
beach, one of those places where green and other
goodies were always in abundance.
Nowadays Cape Maclear has a lot to offer all round, with
facilities of all sorts and prices.
The official name of the peninsula is Nankumba but Cape
Maclear is the name by which this tropical paradise is
known to Malawians and tourists alike. 250km north
from Blantyre, Cape Maclear is part of Lake Malawi
National Park while the main tourist facilities are in or
close to Chembe, a fishing village just outside the park
March 2010 - 21
One of those places
where people with a
distinctive vague sort
of look, would ask you:
What year did you say
it is?
Settlement on this side
of the lake dates from
long ago: It was named
Cape Maclear in 1861 by
Livingstone
borders. Much of the peninsula, the islands and the lake,
up to 100 metres off-shore, constitute the National Park,
as such being the first ever national park that was set up
to protect fresh water fish. For the same reason it is also
declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Settlement on this side of the lake dates from long ago:
It was named Cape Maclear in 1861 by Livingstone (after
a friend of the Livingstones, the astronomer Sir Thomas
Maclear, residing at Cape of Good Hope). A mission was
established in 1875 but the mosquito and tse tse fly once
again drove the missionaries away, further up north. In
the forties of the twentieth century BOAC (forerunner of
British Airways) used Cape Maclear as a stopping point
for their flying boats, a short lived service between the
UK and South Africa.
Substantial money and work has been invested on roads
in Malawi of the last few years, so that you may reach
Cape Maclear from all sides now over either brand new
or well maintained roads. That is, apart from the last 20
km. This still is a corrugated dirt road. For saloon cars this
road is always a challenge and is sometimes impassable
during the rainy season. Many of the lodges will be able
to assist you with transport from Monkey Bay where
you can park your car safely providing you contact them
beforehand.
The facilities at Cape Maclear are many and over the
years they have developed. Now there is something for
everyone at Cape Maclear, from the backpacker with
the small budget to the luxuriously spoiled water sport
costumer, looking for luxury and excellent food.
The shore of Lake Malawi here is granite, surrounded
by the rounded hills. Under water the granite forms an
excellent environment for the cichlids, Malawi’s famous
little colourful fish that end up in aquaria all over the
world. Scuba diving is great but not even necessary,
snorkelling or even swimming give you a good view of
the fish through the crystal clear water, especially if you
go to Otter Point at the northern tip of the cape (within
the National Park). Boats and other water sport facilities
are available at different lodges.
Cape Maclear is no exception to Malawi being renowned
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Tuckaways, Cape Maclear
for its amazing birdlife. In the National Park and also everywhere else at Cape Maclear (what do birds
know about boundaries after all) one will come across cormorants, fish eagles, hamerkops, kingfishers and
weavers. Away from the shore there are antelopes and rock hyraxes to be visited but the crocodiles and
hippos are not often seen by visitors.
For the visitor the best news about Cape Maclear is that it is some sort of a beach strip, unlike other areas
at the lake where you need a car to get around. At Cape Maclear one can just walk through the village or on
the beach from one place to the other, looking for other relaxing souls to have drinks with, play games or
organise a barbecue with.
But be careful, it somehow feels as if this is one of those places where you could easily settle, forgetting
about responsibilities and goals in life. Where you can enjoy yourself till you end up asking a visitor: What
year did you say it is?
Fat Monkeys is a straightforward, good place to stay in Cape Maclear. The camping site is mainly used by
March 2010 - 21
Now, there
is something
for everyone
at Cape
Maclear.
Cape Maclear (Mumbo Island)
overlanders. There are cottages, double rooms, and
dorms at different prices, all good quality for the price.
A nice beach bar, and a restaurant. Fat Monkeys works
in conjunction with local beach boys who offer all sorts
of trips for the visitor, thus regulating the branch a bit
in order to create a situation in which the visitor gets a
great experience and the locals get a reasonable price.
Cape Mac Lodge with its good (now all air-conditioned)
rooms is most worth visiting for its restaurant named
“Froggies”. Best food on the Cape, no doubt about it.
Nice bar with a view of the lake, swimming pool, and
curio shop in the same complex. What else could you
wish for?
Gaia House definitely represents Cape Maclear when it
was in its hippie days and represents the better part of
that heritage. Cheap, basic, good and clean rooms, right
on the beach, a shop where locally made articles are
sold.
Gecko Lounge, also and old-timer but always improving.
Now with its enlarged restaurant area overlooking the
lake, the dorms have been replaced by rooms. Different
sizes, different prices. For many people, Gecko is home
away from home.
At the far end of ‘Main Street’ one comes across Danford
yachting, Cape Maclear’s luxury resort. Also expanding.
At Danford one is truly pampered (at a price). Numerous
water sport activities can be undertaken, from one or
more days on its beautiful catamaran yacht, to water
skiing, kayaking, diving, and snorkelling.
Kayak Africa has also water sport facilities and manages
the facilities on Mumbo Island and Dombwe (tented
rooms, bookings through Africa Wilderness Safaris),
renown as the most romantic spot of Malawi.
Chembe Eagle’s nest forms the last of the facilities at the
other end of the strip from Danford. Great bar, tented
rooms on the beach and water sport facilities.
And then the new kids on the block: Mgoza Lodge, Tuck
Aways and Hiccups. Mgoza lodge has a restaurant on a
platform and a series of rooms (some of them still under
renovation). This part of the beach is covered with big
trees, providing nice shade, in front of the rooms to be
able to use the hammocks for a siesta.
TuckAways, also on the beach (where else), adds a
different facility to it all. Cottages on stilts, made out
of bamboo and beautifully furnished, with a balcony,
overlooking the lake are quite attractive. Bathrooms are
shared.
Hiccups is a quite new brick building in the middle of ‘Main
Street’. This is the place to be in the late hours, with its
well stocked bars inside and outside; courts where you
can see that the building is actually built around a tree,
and its huge music collection. Hiccups is also planning
to open a restaurant and knowing the owner (who also
runs Chinguni Hills in Liwonde) this will not disappoint
you either.
Cape Maclear - Malawi
Cottage, Doubles,
Dorms, Camping
Tel: 265 0999 948 501
E-mail: [email protected]
www.fatmonkeys.com