Senga Bay

The Lake Malawi shore around Senga Bay has become a popular weekend getaway for people from Lilongwe. As a result, the 5 km stretch of beach between Senga Bay and Mambiri Point is as well developed for tourism as any part of the lake and with a friendly atmosphere. Senga Bay is just a two hours drive from Lilongwe and only 15 km from the town of Salima. It is a nice place to relax along the shore of Lake Malawi. I must say that this area does not have the natural beauty of Cape Maclear. It is popular simply because it is closer to the capital. Nevertheless, it is an attractive enough spot, relatively rich on birds and mammals, and a comfortable place to settle into for a couple of days.

Minibuses travel regularly between Salima and Lilongwe. A steady stream of Matola pick-up trucks run between Salima´s bus station and the market in Senga Bay. From the market, it´s about 4 km along the tar road to the Livingstonia Beach Hotel. Several other resorts, hotels and campsites along the shore can be accessed from the tarred Salima-Senga Bay road by a series of signposted side roads. On foot, they can also be reached along the beach.

One of the main attractions in this area is Lizard Island. It is a small rocky island known for its dens population of monitor lizards and also as the breeding ground for large numbers of white-breasted cormorants. We rented a boat to take us out there. A boat cost $50 and takes up to 10 people and it takes 30 minutes. Since we arrived in the afternoon, we did not get to the island until 4:30 pm. A bit late to see the monitor lizards. I guess they are out sun bathing during the day, but as the sun sets and the temperature falls they hide among the rocks. We only got a glimpse of a couple of them.

Other activities in Senga Bay are different kinds of water sports, boat safaris and hiking into the Senga Bay Hills. It is also a fish farm there. The Mpatsanjoka River is also worth a visit. The river is home to crocodiles and water monitors and is rich on bird life. The hippo pool used to be the home of a small population of hippos, but they are all gone. As the water level sunk, the hippos went up on land to feed and the local population felt threatened and the hippos were killed.