Lake Chilwa

Lake Chilwa is shallow, has no outlet and sits in a basin that loses water only to evaporation, so its level swings enormously and it has dried out completely more than once in the last century. When full it is the country's second largest lake and supports an enormous fishery, with communities living on floating reed platforms out in the water. It is a Ramsar site and a very significant place for migratory birds.

What you actually see

• The floating villages - reed platforms fishing communities live on out in the water.
• The fishery - the enormous catch the shallow lake supports when full.
• The migratory birds - the wader and wildfowl numbers the wetland draws.
• The changing level - a lake that has dried out entirely more than once.

When to go

May to October is the dry season and best for the roads. The lake level varies enormously between years. Bird numbers peak in the northern winter.

Honest expectations

The lake can be very low or effectively dry depending on the year. There is no visitor infrastructure at all. Mosquitoes and malaria risk around the lake are high.

Nearby

Zomba is west, and the Mozambican border is east.