Pumulani | Lake Malawi's Brightest Star

Lake Malawi National Park is a national park at the southern end of Lake Malawi in Malawi, South-east Africa. It is the only national park in Malawi that was created with the purpose of protecting fish and aquatic habitats.

Prefer visual? Watch my audio/visual review here

Despite the preservation and protection of fish and aquatic habitats being the main purpose of the Lake Malawi National Park, it includes a fair amount of land, including a headland, the foreshore and several small rocky islands in Lake Malawi.

On the glittering shores of Lake Malawi, which is also known as the Lake of Stars, you’ll find Pumulani, the brightest star on the lake. Pumulani, in Chichewa, means to “Rest/Relax“.

The lodge offers you the chance to experience the very best of both worlds on your holiday. Whether you want to relax amongst some of the most dazzling scenery in the world, or take the opportunity to be active whilst surrounded by rare natural beauty, it’s up to you.

Transit

My friend and I started off for Mangochi district at around 11am, with intention to arrive at Pumulani by 3PM that day. The traffic, while leaving the city, was a bit rough – but we managed to exit the city and get on the M1 to Dedza is no less than 30 minutes.

We drove safely through Dedza, down the Khwekhwerere road, into Balaka and sliding down to Mangochi. At Mangochi “Ntakataka” turn off, you exit the S127 road to your left onto S128, and head towards Monkey for about 5km.

You turn left at the Energem filling station towards Cape Maclear. This is a dirt road. After 4km you will reach a crossroads where there is a Pumulani sign on the left of the 4 way crossing. Turn left there, and keep going till you reach a fork in the road and a Pumulani sign.

Keep right. Keep going until you see another fork in the road. Keep right again. Continue until you reach next “Lake Malawi National Park – Pumulani” sign. The lodge is a further 800m up the hill.

Check in

They welcomed us warmly, and handed us glasses of some delicious ice-tea. Check in was so smooth, asking us to provide details for their records, and a brief run-through of the facilities and activities.

Accomodation

We quickly checked into our room as soon as we arrived to freshen up, given how tired we were. We needed to freshen up. We were guided by the hotel staff to room 7, which is on the left side of the lodge, about half-way downhill from the reception (Restaurant), and halfway to the beach.

I was pleasantly surprised by a personalised note signed by the Pumulani team, welcoming us to their experience.

Pumulani Beach lodge has ten villas (four twin, four king, one honeymoon & one family villa).

The rooms are really big, with a long corridor that pans out for about 15-metres. You get a small kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom – all separated.

Each villa has tea/coffee making facilities as well as a stocked minibar fridge.

Note: There is no WiFi but there is telephone reception.

The rooms have en-suite bathrooms with double basins and showers. Each bathroom has a bath tub. The honeymoon villa has a unique outdoor shower.

Watch my 10 things to love about the rooms at Pumulani here

We quickly freshened up, and headed back to the restaurant for lunch.

Meals & Drinks

I love hotels and lodges that offer fullboard accommodation. Pumulani rate is inclusive of all local drinks & meals. They also offer a connoisseurs wine & spirits list at an extra cost.

Prior to travel, the lodge will ask you if you have any dietary restrictions/requirements.

The first meal we enjoyed was some fried pork and chips. That was accompanied by a very delicious salad, and I knew the chef was set to show out!

Just after lunch, the chef asked us to make orders for dinner, and we had the liberty of choosing the time at which dinner was to be had.

Activities

After lunch, the staff asked us for our plans for the evening activities. The lodge offers a couple of leisure activities that include snorkelling, fishing, sailing, nature walks, kayaking, sunset cruises on a dhow, mountain bike tours and village tours.

Motorized watersports such as diving, waterskiing, fun tubing and snorkeling excursions are at extra cost.

The first activity of choice was the sunset dhow, considering in was just after 3, and the dhow departs at 16:30.

We went around the lake, past the hills and closer to the beach. The guides were so informative about the villages and their inhabitants.

On the far left, we saw some hippos near the bushes. I was quite astonished to see some children swimming and rowing boats not too far from where the hippos were swimming. The staff claimed that the hippos and the people are used to each other, and do coexist.

We did not get a good view of the hippos, as they were a bit at a distance.

The Lake Malawi in to the east of Malawi, meaning that the sun sets to the west of Lake Malawi, and we almost never get to watch a sunset over Lake Malawi. After 24 years of growing up by the beach, this was my first time watching the sun set over lake Malawi, and it was magnificent!

We arrived at the lodge around 6pm, and was introduced to Nienke, who is currently interning with the hotel. She was a very hands on manager, and managed to share with us a few more details about the hotel. She walked with us, all the way to the crossroads where we proceeded to our room, and she went up to the restaurant.

We rested for about an hour or two, and headed out for dinner around 8pm.

We were served with a 3-course meal that comprised of some flavorful wraps as a starter, some rice and cheesy chicken breast for the main course. The dessert was a pleasant cheesecake that perfectly complemented the first two courses.

Electricity & Water

The lodge runs off mains electricity with a backup generator.

Bottled water is available throughout the lodge and in your personal fridge. The tap water has been through a filtering system and is safe for brushing your teeth. However, the lodge recommends that you rather consume only the bottled water, made available in the fridge.

I wound my day up with a lovely bath. The view of the lake from the bathroom, both during the day, and at night, is magnificent.

Kayaking

For our second day, I made plans to take the nature walk up the hill (about a 30 minute walk) to the untampered Star Beach, and kayak back to the lodge. I am still trying to perfect my paddling skills, and this was a perfect opportunity for me to do so.

The views uphill of the Lake Malawi are to die for! The water is so blue and clear – and I am still thinking of other locations that share a similar view of the Lake Malawi. Currently, I am blank.

We arrived at Star beach around 8:30am, and rested a little and took in the views, before getting on our kayaks back to the lodge. It was such a fun experience. I would get tired and rest for a while on the Kayak. It is a 20 minute paddling journey back to the hotel – and we were just in time for breakfast when we got back.

The water is so clear, and you get a magnificent view of the hundreds of species of fish that Lake Malawi hosts.

Breakfast

We had made arrangements to have breakfast after 10, and were first served with an open buffet of cold breakfast. We sent our orders for hot breakfast to the chef, as we ate the cereal and fruits.

I particularly remember having some of the most delicious coffee.

The Swimming Pool(s)

Pumulani has two beautiful swimming pools – one infinity pool just a few metres from the restaurant, and the second infinity pool at the beach.

Both have views to die for, and I spent the rest of my morning by the poolside.

Lunch by the Beach

When at Pumulani, you have options on where you would prefer to have your meals. For the second day, I opted for a late lunch (3PM), and chose to have lunch at the beach, close to the pool area. We had some Lasagna and another delicious salad.

After having lunch, I took the sunset dhow again, and it was a solo cruise this time!

We got so close to the hippos, and that was my first time being so close to a living hippo in my life. They are so huge! The sunset was equally magnificent, and we got back to the lodge at a similar time from the previous day.

Star Gazing

I headed straight to the reception, as Godfrey had mentioned that it was the perfect time to view the stars. He is so knowledgeable about the Stars, and shared plenty things I did not know before.

Dinner was as amazing the previous day, and we had the best porkbelly I have ever tasted! Pumulani has some of the best food I have had around Malawi.