Mangochi

Mangochi stands where the Shire river leaves Lake Malawi, and it was Fort Johnston, a colonial administrative and naval station, which is why it has a clock tower built in 1903 in memory of Queen Victoria and the gun and memorial from the Gwendolen, a lake steamer involved in a first world war action against a German vessel on the lake. A lake museum covers the ecology and the steamer history.

History

Sir Harry Johnston founded the town in the 1890s as a colonial post on the Shire, and David Livingstone passed through the area in 1859 and again in 1861. The gunboat Gwendolen, of 310 tonnes and the largest ship to sail on Lake Malawi, was built here in 1897 (Wikipedia, Mangochi).

What you'll find

• The Queen Victoria clock tower - the 1903 memorial in the middle of the town.
• The Gwendolen memorial - the gun and monument from the lake steamer.
• The lake museum - the collection on the lake's ecology and its shipping.
• The Shire outflow - the river leaving the lake at the town.

When to go

May to October is the dry season. The museum keeps limited hours. The town is hot through most of the year.

What to expect

The town is busy and workaday with limited facilities for visitors. Museum opening is unreliable. The lakeshore resorts are further north rather than at the town.

Nearby

Monkey Bay is north, and Liwonde is south.

Key facts