Malawi · restored by African Parks since 2015
Liwonde, the river park that restocked Malawi
A small park with a big river through it. The Shire draws around 600 elephants, some 2,000 hippos and dense crocodiles to its banks, and a two-hour boat safari here costs $25. Ten years of restoration have turned Liwonde into the park that supplies wildlife to the rest of the country.
Photo: Ludger Heide (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Start here
Everything you need to plan a visit
Entry fees
The official African Parks rates: $30 entry, $25 boat safaris and the small print about how fees are counted.
See the fees →Lodges & camps
From a $12 campsite and a community-run village lodge to Mvuu and Kuthengo. Who owns what, and what it costs.
Browse lodges →Getting there
Two and a half to three and a half hours from Blantyre, about four from Lilongwe, or a charter flight. No scheduled flights exist.
Plan the route →Wildlife
Around 600 elephants, 2,000 hippos, reintroduced lions and cheetahs, and one of Africa's best sites for Pel's fishing owl.
What you'll see →Best time to visit
July to October is peak game viewing, when the park concentrates on the Shire. Month by month, with temperatures.
Pick your month →Things to do
Boat safaris on the Shire for $25, sundowner drives, walking safaris, hides, and self-driving with a community guide.
See activities →Kept current
Latest updates to this guide
Every change to this guide, dated.
- 2026-09-14 Nineteen new pages joined the costs page: the park's comeback history told honestly, health, camping, FlyNyasa and the flights reality, Liwonde town, the green season, Liwonde or South Luangwa, and a page for every month of the year. See the page
- 2026-09-08 Added hire-car and flight links to the getting-there page, marked as paid links because they are. See the page
- 2026-09-06 All outbound lodge links on this site are now nofollow, so a listing here is information, not a traded favour.