DISTRICTS - CENTRAL- LILONGWE

Lilongwe was named the Capital of Malawi more than three decades ago. The city has two main focal points, Old Town and Capital City, both very different in character, but neither exactly over-endowed with personality. Most travellers end up in Old Town, which is the main centre of commerce, boasting an energetic market and bus station, a sprinkling of shiny new malls and all manner of slightly anachronistic Indian retail stores. The Old Town has witnessed rapid expansion in recent years, yet it still has the feel of a southern African every town, similar in mood and appearance to any number of medium-sized regional urban centres south of Zambezi.

Capital City, by contrast, is a true original. Custom-built during the Banda era, it feels tangibly contrived, an open-air huddle of semi-skyscrapping office blocks, freshly painted banking houses, leaf-shrouded embassies, warehouse-like supermarkets and half-full car parks whose distinguishing feature is a kind of collective capacity to cancel each other out. From whatever angle you approach Capital City, and no matter how often, it is difficult to shake off the feeling that it ended before it began and you somehow blinked at the wrong moment!

Lilongwe could scarcely be more equable or manageable introduction to urban Africa. The climate is comfortable, getting in and out of town is simplicity itself, accommodation is abundant and conveniently situated, and shops and markets are well stocked. In some ways, Lilongwe feels like a microcosm of the country it governs – small but deceptively populated, friendly and personal, dusty and colourfully chaotic, and full of contrast. Behind the houses and offices, within eyeshot of parliament, people still grow maize in their gardens. Villagers cycle miles from outlying areas to sell produce at the country’s largest market, weaving between the buses that form jerking, hooting, belching queues in the Old Town centre. And as night falls, the familiar urban rumble is punctuated by sounds eerily evocative of Lilongwe’s African setting – the wild whooping spotted hyenas and chilling cries of bushbabies, both of which haunt the nature sanctuary bisected by the main trunk road between Old Town and Capital City.

History

Lilongwe was founded in 1906 on the banks of the Lilongwe River, initially as a settlement for Asian traders, though its pleasant climate rapidly attracted European business. In 1909, the fledging township’s future status was assured when it became the terminus of the first road connecting Malawi to Zambia. By the 1930s Lilongwe boasted a hotel, a hospital, a European sports club, and a mosque and Muslim sports club built by the thriving Asian business community. In 1947 Lilongwe was accorded full township status. By the time of Malawi’s independence, Lilongwe was, with a population of around 20,000, second only in size to Blantyre, and its central position made it the obvious choice to replace the colonial capital of Zomba. This it did in 1975, when Capital City was purpose built (with partial South African funding) a few kilometres north of the established Old Town. Since it became the capital, Lilongwe’s population has soared dramatically when it topped 500,000 c2000, and recent trends suggest it will exceed one million during the lifespan of this article.

Orientation

It is somehow emblematic of the capital’s functionality that, where other cities have properly named suburbs, Lilongwe is divided up into a few dozen chronologically numbered areas, with Area 1 being the oldest part of town, Area 2 the second-oldest, etc (and house numbers, where they exist, follow the same confusing logic). Navigating around this patchwork city is therefore often more about spatial awareness than remembering road names and numbers of buildings. Fortunately, public transport is easy to master, making travel around and out of town very simple.

Most visitors end up staying in Areas 1-4, which collectively comprise the Old Town, to all intents and purposes Lilongwe as it was prior to the construction of Capital City on Areas 16, 19 and 40. Other important areas in tourist terms include the recently developed Areas 5 and 9, site of the Crossroads Mall and several hotels and eateries, and the prettier residential Areas 10, 42 and 43 northwest of the Capital City.

Briggs, P. (2010). Lilongwe. In: Briggs, P Malawi. 5th ed. Connecticut: Bradt. p85-89.

Senga Bay

Senga Bay is close proximity from Lilongwe, this is the closest point Lilongwe has to Lake Malawi. There are a variety of attraction within the area such as the Tropical Fish Farm, near Kambiri point and was established by Stuart Grant to breed the famous Malawi Cichlid for the European Market. For fish lovers there is a huge variety of cichlid species.
More information about Senga Bay
Croc-Nile Crocodile Farm
Croc farm is a crocodile breeding ground, where Crocodiles are mainly used for their skins. There is a variety of tanks with crocodiles of all different sizes.

Getting There And Away

Getting in and out of Lilongwe couldn’t be more straightforward. All buses and minibuses to Lilongwe terminate at the large bus station in Old Town Buses to most destinations in Malawi leave from the same bus station throughout the morning through to mid-afternoon, so there is no reason for rushed early starts.

Kamuzu International Airport lies 26km north of the city centre on the M1 to Kasungu. Although most buses travelling north or south on the M1 will stop at the turn-off to the airport cost around Mk3,000 – 4,000 and take about 30 minutes.