Malawi: reviews from our travellers

"We went to Malawi after many visits to the RPS camps in Zambia. Whilst we did not expect to see rhinos or big cats in Malawi, we did see many species of antelopes, including sable, roan and nyala for the first time, and also many new birds.

Photography in Majete was more difficult than we had anticipated, because of the dense woodland.

Our impression was that the camps were underresourced in terms of vehicles and guides, and therefore could not offer the standards set by the RPS camps in Zambia. But in each camp, the camp managers were doing their best with the limited resources available to them.

Potential guests should be aware that RPS has no age limit for children in their camps, and wants to promote them as family destinations." Read full review: 11 nights in Africa; 9 on a Malawi trip

"We loved Botswana and Malawi but our hearts belong in the Valley. We’re already planning the next trip.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Just keep up the good work." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 9 on a Malawi trip

"I think my third trip with expert Africa was probably my best so far.

The South Luangwa in particular exceeded my expectations and was truly an unforgettable experience. I certainly hope to revisit this part of Zambia in the near future. All the arrangements and flight connections worked without a hitch.

On reflection I should probably have selected a stop over on my outward journey as I travelled continuously for more than 30 hours. I think it is worth mentioning that travelling between the lodges in Malawi does involve some lengthy road trips. In my case nearly 6 hours each time. This is not really a problem , but I think should be born in mind.

I learned a great deal about Malawi and the problems facing the country while I was there , and there is a programme of recovery and restocking of wildlife going on across the country in areas that suffered greatly from poaching and neglect in recent decades. African Parks are the main driving force , and are to be congratulated and supported. Therefore I encourage people to visit the parks and lodges in Malawi in support of this project , as well as to visit a very interesting country.

My thanks to Claire in particular at Expert Africa for arranging everything , and for helping me to Plan such a successful trip.

I certainly intend to use Expert Africa again in the future." Read full review: 15 nights in Africa; 7 on a Zambia safari

"Lucy organized our trip for us. She is so easy to work with & very responsive to emails. The trip went flawlessly. We used Expert Africa to organize a trip to Zambia/Malawi for us 2 yrs ago & will be asking them to help us with a possible trip to Namibia next year!" Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 4 on a Malawi trip

"On this trip I traveled with one other person to Botswana, Livingstone, South Luangwa and Malawi from May 17-June 4,2017.
Everything went smoothly-no delays or cancellations.

Highlights: New sightings that included: meerkats, brown hyena, porcupines, genet cat and wild dogs.

This was our third trip to Africa and first to South Luangwa and Malawi. Loved Malawi. It is a beautiful country with beautiful, happy people altho quite poor. The highlights here were the village walk and beautiful relaxing stay at Pumalani. Also loved the staff and surroundings at Mkulumadzi.

Was somewhat disappointed in the lack of wildlife at South Luangwa since we had read about the abundance of wildlife. Also -didn't realize there were no cheetahs(my favorite). However seeing the pack of wild dogs made up for everything.
Botswana-seems to be getting more and more expensive so will probably be my last trip there." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 6 on a Malawi trip

"Very well constructed itinerary which for most part ran smoothly.

We were disappointed with Malawi for the reasons mentioned and also for the costs associated with Lilongwe airport. The actual internal flight departure tax is $7 per person and the external departure tax is $35 per person. Visa charge is $75 per person.

Considering the country is regarded as 'poor' and want to encourage tourism the Tourism Board should consider requesting the Government to reduce the fees involved. Suppose the UK equivalent is Air Passenger Duty (APD) which is £13 per person for flights of less than 2000 miles." Read full review: 17 nights in Africa; 7 on a Kenya safari

"The trip was everything we had hoped for! Very hot for much of the time (40-42C) but we coped with that." Read full review: 12 nights in Africa; 10 on a Malawi trip

"We had a fabulous trip. it was all we had hoped for and went without a hitch.

It seems that it is standard practice in safari camps to eat 'family style', hosted by members of the camp staff. On talking with other guests at both camps we nearly all agreed that we would have preferred to eat separately. We realise that this is not something that Expert Africa can control but maybe worth passing on to the camps that you deal with.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

A little more clarity on visas would have helped. I was told that for Malawi we could get visa on arrival but your literature advises to get it in advance. In the event we went for 'on arrival' and it was no problem.

Also a little more clarity of what airport taxes we would need to pay would have saved a call or two to your office to find out." Read full review: 16 nights in Africa; 9 on a Zambia safari

"A brilliant holiday.

We wanted a mix of safari and relaxation which was exactly what we got. The choice of Kaingo and Mwawba was perfect given my interest in photography and really is a top quality location. On reflection we should have spent more time there - 4 days at each would have been good but that was our fault as we only wanted 6 days on safari we will know better next time.

Pumulani was lovely but 7 nights was a bit long, 4 would have been ideal.

All the connections and transfers worked well and the level of service in both locations was really good.

Suggestions to help us improve our trips or our service:

Not that I can think of." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 6 on a Zambia safari

"Great holiday in that Pam knew what to expect.

The last two Lodges might have disappointed others who expected more and had researched less.

Malawi was disturbingly poverty stricken and food aid was obvious everywhere.

Lake Malawi is dropping alarmingly and one good rainy season will not be enough to restore the lake. What happens to the tourist business if the lake drops another metre from the September 2016 level does not bear thinking about." Read full review: 14 nights in Africa; 13 on a Malawi trip