"Excellent...Briggs' information is up to date and reliable." --Times Literary Supplement

"The most comprehensive, well-researched and up-to-date guidebook now available in English. Highly recommended." --Travel Resource Guides

"Philip Briggs presents the eminently visitable Malawi in a way that avoids the patronising and disdainful tone of so many other guides dealing with developing countries. His affection and respect for Malawi and Malawians shines through the most mundane advise. . . . Reflects an approach to travel which delights simply in being in a place, rather than crossing off the sights." --Mail and Guardian, South Africa

An invaluable guide for all visitors to this most explorable, affordable, and tranquil of African countries whether discovering little-visited mountains, forests, and game reserves or relaxing by the main attraction, Lake Malawi. Wildlife and bird-species identification, conservation areas, game and forest reserves, hiking trails, and national parks up and down the lake are all covered in depth. In common with the rest of southern Africa, Malawi is suffering from the effects of drought. Tourists will see little of the much-publicized famine, but the warm welcome they receive is a reminder of how much the country needs its foreign visitors.

This third edition of Malawi features all that you would expect from a Bradt guide, including comprehensive practical advice, information on local wildlife, conservation areas and a detailed history of the country.
Inside you will find: information on transport, visas, and accommodations; health and safety in detail; exploring on and around Lake Malawi; full coverage of national parks and forest reserves; communicating in Chichewa; 33 updated maps and town plans.

Philip Briggs, Bradt's Africa expert, is the author of five other Bradt guides, East & Southern Africa: The Backpacker's Manual, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda, and co-author of Bradt's Mozambique and Rwanda. He lives in Johannesburg.

Mike Copeland, who has updated this new edition, is a freelance writer for travel and wine magazines, and has spent his life exploring Africa. He lives in the winelands of South Africa.

'The Land of the Lake', 'The Warm Heart of Africa', 'Africa for Beginners'...Malawi certainly attracts its share of snappy phrases, and these three sum up much of what makes this small African country so well liked by all who visit it. Few countries are so dominated by a single geographical features as the Land of the Lake. Lake Malawi follows the dramatic contours of the Great Rift Valley for a distance of 585km; it is up to 100km wide in parts, and it covers more than 15% of Malawi's surface area. Enclosed by sheer mountains and edged by seemingly endless palm-fringed sandy beaches, Lake Malawi is the most beautiful of Africa's great lakes, and the indisputable focal point of Malawi's tourist industry.
There is much truth in the phrase 'The Warm Heart of Africa'. Not only do the climate and lush vegetation of the lakeshore conform effortlessly to every stereotype image of tropical Africa, but the people of Malawi exude a warmth and friendliness that make most visitors feel instantly at home. Malawi may well be the most laid-back nation on earth.
And 'Africa for Beginners'? Well, certainly, Malawi would lie near the top of any list of African countries I'd recommend to a nervous novice traveller.