It might be the Caribbean or the Indian Ocean, but the lapping water is along one of the big lakes of the East Africa Rift, for this is in Malawi in south central Africa, facing the spot where the sun sets over Mozambique. Occasionally in rainy season a crocodile comes across the lake. Our host assured us it was safe for swimming the rest of the year.
On a little island in the bay a honeymoon suite has been hewn out of the rock. They will row you over, and row over your meals course by course. As plush resorts go it is relatively cheap at US $240 a night.
Enter the new luxury face of Malawi, a cocktail bar in one of the four poorest countries on the planet.
Tourists should come here. Malawi people are friendly, the lake is glorious, the rolling steppes of the north cool and carpeted in wildflowers, the game reserves up close and personal, and the failures of the region's economics always a distance away.
Around the famous lake (Nyasa rather than Malawi) there are about 100 lodges where travellers stop by. Some like Kaye Mawa and the magnificent Nyika Lodge, base for ten day safaris into some of the remotest places on earth, are among the most exciting and luxurious places you will ever find.
Others cost around US $60-70 a night, and the backpackers pass through at US $5. Each has a surprise, a passing elephant by your veranda, a weaver's nest by your bathroom door.
This is alternative Africa. Landscape and people are what the country has to offer, rather than Safari. Tourists obsessed with the big five (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino) should consider Kenya instead. Mass market hotels with pools are South Africa's speciality. Malawi offers something different, a glimpse into the heart of Africa.
* Malawi Tourism Tel: +44 115 9821903 Fax: +44 115 981 9418 Email:
enquiries@malawitourism.com Web: www.malawitourism.com
* Eoghan Corry flew to Malawi with South Africa Airways. Aer Lingus connects with SAA in Heathrow's terminal 1.
