Flying Air Malawi, it's an easy two hours from Johannesburg. We land, and are smilingly and firmly embraced by this warm heart of Africa.
Malawi - land of golden sunsets - opens up to us. Jacarandas and other tropical trees and plants compete with mealie plants against road verges, backed by the blue Mulanje massif. At 3 050m high, it is beloved by mountaineers as the highest mountain in central Africa.
Outside town, modest township structures are sweetened by spontaneous growth of greenery. This is Africa in its rainy season.
Blantyre, Malawi's commercial centre, is a university city of over half a million, yet is somewhat reminiscent of a South African dorp, but for its flavour. Named for the birthplace of the missionary-discoverer David Livingstone, it's redolent of British occupancy and, even more strongly, of its Presbyterian Scottish beginnings.
Founded by missionaries, their memorials are both in brick and memory. A visit to St Michael's And All Angels must be one of the great surprises of Africa. This red-brick, gothic-like structure, with its small-paned stained glass windows, could easily nestle in Scotland. Its stunning wooden carving and reed-seated chairs of mahogany tell of the local artistry that combined with missionary zeal to make this a gorgeous place of worship. Local culture still echoes the Scottish influence, with names like Ian, Mary and Stewart abounding.
We exit town and head for an old tea plantation. We hear of powerful old planters, such as Chris Barrow, who worked in close co-operation with government to build up the tea, and formerly, tobacco industries. We hear of the contemporary democratisation post-Hastings Banda (since 1994 Malawi has been democratic and multiparty) and the upcoming elections.
Another issue is mealies, the staple diet of Malawians. Mealies were harvested a few years ago in such abundance that much was sold off for foreign exchange. Subsequent crops were rotted by excessive floods and today there is starvation and rationing. A third factor in the socio-political mix is that the main income of Malawi, sadly, is foreign aid.
Winding through veld, an unbelievable storybook green, the road is often canopied by grand and generous old trees, sometimes festooned with beautiful orchid-like parasites. We cross a wondrously thicketed creek and come upon the tea fields.
At Satemwa Tea Estate, a beautiful homestead awaits, overlooking lush gardens laid out English-style. We are invited to the "boardroom" - simple farm-style - and the manager-owner, Alexander Kay, roars up on his old motor-bike. The tea, needless to say, is an experience apart - none of this tea-tips in bags nonsense. At 1800 acres, his is the second-smallest tea estate in Malawi.
This includes 400 hectares of eucalyptus, the wood of which is smoked to steam-dry the tea leaves. We hear that the tea industry is presently unhappy, what with the foreign exchange, and the fact that Malawi does not have as high an altitude as Kenya and India. There is a little diversification into coffee and cattle. But, maintains Alexander, tea is a way of life. The estate also maintains three self-catering chalets for tourists.
We overnight at the pleasant Meridian Mt Soche Hotel, Blantyre, setting off the next day for the Zomba mountains and the Zomba plateau.
Myriad little waterfalls refresh rocky precipices and vegetation abounds, from palms to trees, to ferns and low, colourful flowers. Traffic is sparse, and includes pedestrians and cyclists, a bicycle with a passenger or two constituting a taxi.
The road elegantly circles the large Nulunguzi Dam, presently overflowing its weir. Signs indicate a trout farm and a couple of recognised campsites.
We lunch at the showpiece of the Meridien chain, Ku Chawe Inn. Newly rebuilt after a fire, it is a redbrick delight. Arched with vaulted brick ceilings, with slasto flooring and open fireplaces, it is in happy harmony with its breathtaking surroundings. Accommodation is equally attractive, and our lunch delicious and plentiful. We sit on the balcony overlooking the gardens and the Zomba plateau.
Later, we detour into Zomba village to visit its outdoor market. The complex and excellent wood carvings, ornaments, masks and the lovely lengths of Malawian material, are dirt cheap. Even so, the accepted way to shop is by hard bargaining. Final pricing is about one third of the hotel shops' ware.
On to Lake Malawi. Roads are not terribly good, but our bus manages well. Real luxury would be a 4x4, especially in the game and nature reserves.
Lake Malawi is silvery blue and stretches for ever, its rippled surface reflecting the coolness of its free-flowing, fresh-water sources.
Occasionally, in the south-east, you may see the bordering, blue Malindi mountains, in neighbouring Mozambique. The lake, up to 710m deep, contains more than 600 species of fresh-water fish, many of iridescent beauty, finding their way into the world's finest aquariums.
Among the edible fish are kamapanga (barbel), chumbo (bream), naheni (lake tigerfish) and mpasa or salmon. Lake Malawi is a prime site for scuba diving and snorkelling, not to mention most other water sports. From the tip of the Great Rift Valley in the north, it is .568km long and between 16 and 80km wide, being the world's ninth largest lake.
The legendary eight-day sailing Malawi Marathon, the world's longest, is held in July. Oft-time winner is Gilson John and it will be Gilson who captains the sightseeing craft for our resort, Club Makokola.
Club Makokola, from its spray of Madagascar traveller's palms fanning out at its entrance, is all you could want from a tropical resort. Built of indigenous materials, with clay ceramics, even up to the lampshades, it looks on to its own lakeside beach. Owner-manager Alessandra Pizzaro, a dedicated Malawian, is its interior decorator - and the designer of the adjoining nine-hole golf course. Her inventiveness flourishes as fast as the vegetation.
The poolside bar is the buzzplace of the resort, and here you can chat with locals and other visitors.
White-washed thatched chalets are double-roomed with their own bathroom and every precaution against mosquitoes. Step outside, and you can commune with the semi-tame vervet monkeys.
Thoughtfully, the trees in the garden are botanically labelled.
We are shipped off to Boadzulu or Bird Island, a cool and delightful outboard motor cruise away, and are met by a waiting committee of fish-eagles. Perched on shrub branches, they know which way their bread is buttered. Soon a crew member throws fish into the water, to be scooped up in flight by these great African birds. Boadzulu, originally part of the mainland, was occupied by a people under the chieftainship of Boadzulu, hence the name.
Interestingly, it has been established that pygmy-type people inhabited Malawi as far back as 10 000 years ago.
Here, off the rocks, everyone takes turns with snorkels and masks to see the submarine paradise. We marvel at the warm fresh water and leave unwillingly. Gilson remarks that when the great north winds blow, breakers are up to two or three metres high. And they call it a lake.
Cape Maclear and the small Lake Malawi Nature Reserve is a World Heritage site totally virgin and unsullied by human enterprise. Here the beach is narrowish and the lake water cool enough to refresh. At hand are the usual curio peddlers and an old outboard motor boat for us lazier types. We swim and take a walk to Otter Point, a series of rock pools.
Close by, in the village, is the indigenous, grassroots restaurant, Stevens, brightly clean and pretty bare, with steps leading to the beach.
For further information contact RETOSA (Regional Tourism Organisation of Southern Africa), tel (011) 315-2420.