Blantyre City Guide - overview

Named after Dr. Livingstone's birthplace in Scotland, Blantyre is Malawi's commercial centre and capital of the country's Southern Region, as well as the Blantyre District. It has a modest but influential expatriate community of people, mainly from England, other European countries and South Africa. The city is also home to the College of Medicine, the Malawi Polytechnic, the Kamuzu College of Nursing and constituent colleges of the University of Malawi.

Mount Soche and the Ndirande, Chiradzulu and Michiru mountains overlook Blantyre, forming the Michiru Mountain Conservation Area. The National Museum is midway between Blantyre and Limbe and houses a collection of traditional weapons and artefacts, as well as exhibits relating to traditional dance, European exploration and slavery. There are various restaurants and hotels in Blantyre, as well as pubs and sports bars. Most visitors to Malawi end up in Blantyre eventually and it's a good place to relax, do a bit of shopping and get a decent meal. Incidentally, Blantyre is twinned with Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England.

Getting around: You can travel around Malawi by air, road, rail or boat. Distances between major centres are short but in recent years several stretches of road have become very badly potholed, making driving difficult and sometimes dangerous. The best mode of transport is however by car, and there are various international car rental companies in Malawi. The main road through Malawi runs from the north down to Mzuzu, then through the centre of the country to Lilongwe, and on to Blantyre and the south. Taxis are available in and around town but there are also bus services available. The train in Malawi is slow, crowded and limited (there are no passenger trains to Lilongwe). Every week, the Ilala passenger ferry chugs up and down Lake Malawi between Monkey Bay and Chilumba, stopping at a dozen towns and villages (contact Malawi Lake Services).