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Liwonde National Park is located at the end of Malombe Lake, southern Malawi. This park is a national treasure that is worth-visiting. Liwonde will bring you closer to wildlife which makes this park the most famous and cannot-be-miss place in Malawi.
In 2015, when African parks took over management duties of Liwonde, with the cooperation of Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNPW), the park was filled with tens of thousands of snares which was far more than the number of large animals. There was a very high level of conflict between humans and wild animals in the region.
Since then, Liwonde has established one of the most effective conservation and training enforcement measures in southern Africa by developing advanced technologies to protect and track wildlife and eliminating more than 40,000 snares to prepare for the return of several historical animals.
In 2017, African Parks increased the number of predators in Liwonde by bringing Cheetah, which disappeared from the park for a century, back into the park. In 2018, there was an increase in lion population and the number of wolf population was increased in 2021 as well. In 2019, 17 black rhinos were transferred from South Africa to Liwonde, which is one of the largest international transfers of black rhinos in history.
With the increasing number of wild animals, as well as visitors to the park to witness the restoration, Liwonde National Park has been restored, transforming it into a safe place for both wildlife and people living here.
You can easily go to Liwonde National Park by plane from Blantyre, an old capital city of Malawi. Tourists can also travel on charter flights from Lilongwe in the center of the country. For people with limited budgets, you can drive to Liwonde, and visit Lake Malawi and Mount Mulanje.
The Liwonde National Park in Malawi has bird-watching activities throughout the year, with more than 300 species of birds from 650 species of Malawi. Special species such as Livingstone’s Flycatcher, Pel’s Fishing-Owl, Spur-winged Lapwing, Lillian’s Lovebird, and Brown-breasted Barbet can be seen, or other animals such as Bohm’s Bee-eater, African Skimmer, Palmnut Vulture, White-backed Night-heron and Dickinson’s Kestrel. The best time for birdwatching is the rainy season.
The Liwonde National Park offers a variety of wildlife experiences including hippos, Nile crocodiles, elephants, sable antelope, pala, waterbuck, kudu boar, yellow baboons, pangolin, lizards, leopards, and vervet monkeys. The park also has a 4,000-hectare enclosure with the goal of restoring rare animals such as rhinos, buffaloes and zebras, which were once hunted to extinction.
Although the number of visitors to Liwonde National Park has increased for all these years, this place is still peaceful and not chaotic to create the balance of conservation tourism, not only for wildlife and forest but also local people living in there as well.
Every contribution given to the Liwonde National Park will help preserve Malawi’s wildlife and cultural heritage, not only for tourists but also for future generations of Malawi.
