Backpacking In Malawi🇲🇼: Relaxing At Cape Maclear (Chembe)

“I can see Cape Maclearly now the rain has gone” – Johnny Nash.

I heard that Cape Maclear was supposed to be a sensational spot. Malawi itself is often classed as an unknown gem and a country all backpackers need to see. It was my 33^rd recognised country in Africa and another dot on the wacaday globe through all the madness and sadness. This was an MMM tour encompassing Madagascar, Malawi and Mozambique and I pencilled in wee Cape Maclear…on Lake Malawi.

Can Ye Keep Me Clear? Can Ye Cape Maclear?

Let’s take the name for a start?! It sounds like a Northern Irish mountain!! “Here mate have ye been till that there Cape Maclear? I seen wee David McCreery and Jim Cleary there”. “Can ye keep me clear?”. However, the name actually derives from Livingstone away. In 1859, the missionary and explorer David Livingstone found the Cape, which is Chembe, and named it “Cape Maclear” after his friend, the astronomer Thomas Maclear, who was Her Majesty’s Astronomer at the Cape of Good Hope. Most people call it Cape Maclear now and it actually suits though Chembe is a good name too. I changed my name too in Malawi – I was now known as Jonny Brair here!

Getting to Cape Maclear

Well first of all there are only two options – by boat and by land. There is no airport here. I was based nearby at Mufasa Backpackers Eco Lodge in Monkey Bay and from there, Cape Maclear is only about a 1 hour drive. I could have stayed a night in Cape Maclear but I decided to day trip it loyal from Monkey Bay. Given some serious issues I had when backpacking in Malawi, Madagascar and Mozambique, then safety and health often dominated this trip for me. I just wanted in and out quickly in the end. It felt like I had matured as a backpacker. Visa issues, boat issues, flight changes and sleeping in a dorm with COVID loyalists all took their toll on this, my self-titled MMM tour, where I also swallowed Mozambique and Madagascar.

I hired a driver to take me from Monkey Bay to Cape Maclear…and BACK the same way on the same day. Cost varies from $20 US to 50 US depending on time you spend there, other things you add and also where you start and end your journey. I had a few stops on the way there and back as well as controlling my time and locations in Cape Maclear.

Bars and Restaurants in Cape Maclear

I visited three bars in Cape Maclear – Fat Monkeys, Hiccups Pub and Makata Bar.

1.Fat Monkey’s Bar

I had a truly delicious fish lunch at Fat Monkeys, where I chose the Kampango Fillet, which comes with Nsima/Nshima – a lovely local maize porridge, smoothed into potato shapes on the plate. It also came with a few vegetables and a tasty sauce. To add to this, I added some lemon to the fish and some really top notch spicy sauce (I am a spice geek actually!).

2.Hiccups Pub

This is on the main straight and feels like a British Local Pub! But please do rinse your cholera and COVID!

3.Makata Bar

This is down a bit from Hiccups and I was the only customer apart from my driver Dyson who brought his wife Weronika on the tour with us.

Activities at Cape Maclear

You have a huge choice here from fishing, to a lake tour, to swimming, to snorkelling, to deep lake diving, to island hopping. Alas, I was here totally to relax and that I did. The activities are endless though, and I was wasn’t in the least bothered about doing anything for once.

I swam in the lake for over an hour. This was one of the purest swims I have experienced in my life. Fresh, clear, in fact Maclear!

I swang on swings.

I walked the coastline being beach loyal.

I hat-tricked bars. My favourite beer was Kuche Kuche, local Malawi beer with maize as an ingredient.

I ate fish.

I planned my onward journey to Mozambique over a beer.

In short, I chilled the fuck out at Cape Maclear and didn’t need or care about spending any extra money or doing extra sports.

I left some dreams hanging around in Cape Maclear, of that you can have no doubt. In Malawi I also backpacked Monkey Bay, Lilongwe and Dedza.

Here are some videos I made at Cape Maclear in Malawi which sadly have no sound due to me only owning one phone now which doesn’t have a working microphone away!: