The beautiful Lake Malawi National Park – Tafara’s goosebump moment

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The amazing Lake Malawi in Africa

Lake Malawi is located within the Lake Malawi National Park in the Mangochi district. It is one of the largest African lakes, which has an area of 29,600 km², surpassing even the largest lake in Europe, Lake Lagoda in Russia. It is the ninth largest lake in the world and its waters are divided between the countries of Mozambique, Tanzania, and Malawi.

Not only its size is striking, but also the life that inhabits its waters. The lake is home to around 600 different species of endemic fish, species that are not found anywhere else in the world, in addition to many other species introduced by man. Although a quarter of its waters belong to Mozambique, the main Likoma and Chizumulu Islands are Malawi’s territory.

One of the oldest lakes in the world

Lake Malawi is filled by several rivers and streams, especially the Ruhuhu River. In addition, the different water layers according to depth do not mix. iIt is what is known as a meromictic lake, which is unusual. The shape is pronouncedly elongated, 580 kilometers long and at most 75 kilometers wide.

There is an explanation for this: the lake is embedded in the East African Rift. After this rift was created by tectonic movements, it was progressively filled. Although the age of this filling has not been determined, the consensus is about 4.5 million years.

This also makes it one of the oldest in the world. The combination of its age with its stratification characteristics makes this lake one of the most biodiverse aquatic lakes in the world. Among the small cichlids alone, about a thousand different species have been counted.

The shores of this lake have a bit of everything: there are marshy areas with lagoons, others with sandy beaches, others are wooded slopes and there are also rocky areas. In the south there are twelve islands, the largest of which is Alexandra Tyers, just off the tip of Cape MacLear. The water level depends a lot on whether it is the dry or rainy season.

The shores of the lake are frequented by different mammals that must deal with crocodiles and hippos, common in these waters. It is also overflown by various birds that nest on the islands and specialize in fishing, such as the African fish eagle. However, it is in the waters where its greatest treasure lies thanks to its fish, which makes the lake a place of study of relevance comparable to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador.