LAKE NIASSA is another reasons why you should visit Mozambique

Malawians call it Lake Malawi, Mozambicans call it Lago Niassa .

Some say the Mozambican shore is nicer,quieter and more rugged.

Off the beaten track,lake Niassa (Nyasa), the Mozambican side of Lake Malawi boasts a phenomenally beautiful and unspoiled countryside and shoreline well worth exploring if you have the time and patience.

Lake Niassa is the third largest lake in Africa – 100 km across and 585 km long, and much of it is surrounded by the imposing Rift Valley Mountains.This great lake's tropical waters are reportedly the habitat of more species of fish than those of any other body of freshwater on Earth,including more than 1000 species of cichlids.

Lake Niassa was officially declared a reserve by the Government of Mozambique in 2011 in an effort to protect one of the largest and bio-diverse freshwater lakes in the world Niassa is located to the west in the northern province of Niassa and forms part of the border between Malawi and Mozambique.

LAM offers regular flights from Maputo, Beira and Nampula to Lichinga airport.

From Lichinga public transport can be used to visit certain areas on the lake but for more remote destinations you will require your own vehicle or a private transfer.

To see it at its best,head for Nkwichi lodge,a beautiful low-impact lodge in the Manda Wilderness area in Northern Mozambique.

Nkwichi is built into the rocks and around the trees of one of the lake’s most remote bays.

You can get there by charter flight (expensive) or by the lake ferry MV Ilala from Monkey in Malawi to Likoma Island where the lodge will fetch you.

Swim,eat, lie in the sun, paddle a canoe, drink a cold beer, eat lunch, have an afternoon doze, repeat. 

Visit Manda wildness.

SOURCE SUNDAY TIMES.

PHOTOS:THE MOZA EYE