Geography
Liwonde National Park was established in 1973 and occupies a predominately flat tract of land at the southern end of the rift valley. It is 548km2 with the north-western edge of the park near to Lake Malombe, which feeds the Shire River that runs through the park for 32km. The Park is relatively small by African standards, being 50km long and only 15km wide at its widest part. A 5km wide strip of land stretches northwards connecting the park to the Mangochi Forest Reserve.

Flora and Fauna
The habitats of Liwonde National Park are diverse ranging from the broad Shire River, with its lagoons, marshes and seasonal floodplain to open savanna, mopane woodlands and hills. This diversity makes Liwonde a prime National Park of Malawi with the highest population of elephant, hippo, waterbuck, crocodile and sable antelope. Other large herbivores to be found are kudu and impala, to name but a few, and the larger primates are the vervet monkey and the yellow baboon. Liwonde also has a very good reputation for birds with 410 species having been identified. Some of the avian specialties of the park are the Lillian Lovebirds, Pels Fishing Owls, Palm-nut vultures, Boehms Bee Eaters and Brown Breasted Barbets.

Visitors are not only drawn by the wildlife to be seen but also the ever-changing environment that the animals live in, from lush and verdant in the rains to parched and faded in the dry season.

Access
Liwonde is the most centrally placed of Malawi's National Parks in relation to the main urban centres. By road it is 245km from Lilongwe, 56km from Zomba and 120km from Blantyre. The park is only 6km from Liwonde town itself.