The Route

In the mid 19th century, Dr David Livingstone established himself as one of the greatest explorers of his time by travelling through vast tracts of Eastern Africa.  He is known best as the first European to discover the Victoria Falls ('the smoke that thunders') between modern day Zambia and Zimbabwe.  In 1859, he established the existence of Lake Malawi (then known as Lake Nyasa).  In the years to come, he travelled and mapped much of this lake before venturing on to other parts of the world.  

He spent much of his time in Eastern Africa exorcising the prevalent slave trade, encouraging trade and commerce and establishing missionaries.  

We hope to mirror his exploration in a modern day fashion by kayaking 500kms up the length of the West Coast of Lake Malawi, from Leopard Bay in the south to Livingstonia in the north.  On our route, we will pass many landmarks of the slave trade including Nkhotakota, the location from where Jumbe annually transported 20,000 slaves to the Tanzanian coast.

Our expedition will take us through difficult weather and tough conditions, will bring us close to local communities and hungry crocodiles and will educate us on Malawi's rich and turbulent history.