Flying Adventure: Southern Africa – Day 4 (FWCM – FWLK):

Today is a relaxed day, with a short flight of just over an hour to Likoma Island. The island of Baobab trees, as they say. No borders to clear, flight plans to file or stops for fuel. Time to take it easy and to enjoy the scenery.

We are having breakfast at Club Makokola and head over to our aircraft to get ready for our flight.

Along Lake Malawi to Likoma Island

Taking-off from Club Makokola towards the south, we climb out to the east and cross over the lake.

Remaining below 1500 feet above ground, we route along the eastern shoreline up north to our destination.

It is very quiet out here in this remote corner of Africa. There is only one other flight, a C210 routing from Lichinga to Blantyre. Otherwise it is complete silence on the radio. We have plenty of time to enjoy the peace and quietness, and soak up the beautiful surroundings below and around us, in particular the huge extent and might of this lake.

On reaching Likoma, we fly a circle around the island as a first exploration and then approach for landing.

Likoma Island – a remotely hidden paradise

For the next two nights we will be staying at Kaya Mawa. This lodge is a magnificent and truly unique place, not only because of its location, but equally so for its entire setup.

Day 5 of our tour around Southern Africa is set aside to explore the island and relax. It is a great place to explore by bicycle. But if you are equally adventurous as we are, and decide to take the direct route via the western shore from the St. Peter’s Cathedral to Mango Drift, then we would highly recommend to leave the bicycle behind. It will not make your journey faster, but harder, in particular during the sweltering heat of midday. We were fighting, terrain and heat with our bicycles on our shoulders. Many beers were needed at Mango Drift to recover. Needless to say, we took a boat back to Kaya Mawa.