A new boat has set sail on Lake Malawi and offers more transport options for tourists to travel across the country. The M.V.Mwande is a 12m T-Craft Hippo catamaran and is powered by two 300 horsepower motors. With a range of 120 nautical miles and cruising up to 20nots, it’s sure to make links between shore destinations even quicker.
The vessel can take 80 passengers in total, and laid out almost like a double decker bus it’ll also offer some great views as it motors up and down the Lake. Side covers keep the rain on bad days and music, toilets, food and beverages are all available to ensure that passengers journey are as comfortable as possible.
This new company brings even more promise for Malawi from a tourism angle, and what is even better is that its Malawi owned through and through. Sute Mwakasungula, despite his wife’s initial lack of interest in the idea, has made his dream a reality.
In his own words:
“I remember... it all began in April 2012.. One Friday evening I shared a dream with two colleagues about a desire I had to venture on a passenger ferry to operate on the lake. Against expectations, everyone agreed and a few rounds were enjoyed. It was only later that evening that i shared this dream with my wife, to my surprise it was met with an endless laugh and I was left alone in the sitting room as she went to bed, still laughing...
I remained stuck in my chair until very late pondering over this new venture as it not only haunted me, but also excited me. Later the next morning, my wife woke me, still laughing at what I had told her the night before because she knew that we had no funds to pursue this crazy dream... When I awoke, it was as if I never slept at all. It was then, that I decided to pursue this crazy idea, which started my search to find a suitable vessel. This took me as far as Antigua, Bahrain, Algeria, and finally... South Africa.
In Malawi there is a saying "Nzeriu Nchuma" and in Swahili "Akili ni mali" and this means: 'a good idea has merit'. My biggest challenge was to find funding for this project and I had no experience with Maritime affairs, but as I spoke of my concept, it was accepted with welcome and embrace by the majority financing institutions until this dream became a reality today...”
TIMETABLE
Monday:
Departs Chipoka 08:00 Arrival in Nkhotakota: 14:00
Departs Nkhotakota 15:00 Arrival in Likoma :20:00
Tuesday:
Departs Likoma 08:00 Arrival in Nkhata Bay 12:00
Departs Nkhata Bay 14:00 Arrival in Usisya/Ruware 17:00
Wednesday:
Departs Nkata Bay 06:30 Arrival in Mbamba Bay 09:30
Departs Mamba – Bay 13:30 Arrival in Nkhata Bay 17:30
Thursday:
Departs Usisya/Ruware 08:00 Arrival in Nkhata Bay 12:00
Departs Nkhata Bay 13:00 Arrival Likoma 16:00
Friday:
Departs Likoma 07:00 Arrival in Nkhotakota 12:00
Departs Nkhotakota 13:00 Arrival Chipoka 17:00
The boat docks on Chizumulu Island on its way and from Likoma Island.
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