Welcome to Austin Madinga’s
#LifeUnbound Blog

I am a explorer, storyteller and digital creator from Malawi, the land of the lake of stars. I document and tell stories about the beauty and awesomeness of Malawi, the African continent and her diverse people  through words and photography.

I would love to partner with content creators and tourism brands on storytelling projects that expand the African narrative around tourism, travel, conservation and the continent’s people.

Katawa Cottage in Monkey Bay, Mangochi

Katawa Cottage in Monkey Bay

A photo overview of Katawa Cottage, a new accommodation unit on the shores of Lake Malawi in Monkey Bay, Mangochi.

Mwala wa Mphini in Mangochi

Can shorter work weeks encourage domestic tourism?

To spur domestic tourism, we should consider pushing national holidays to weekends to create shorter work weeks and long weekends to enable families to travel more.

booze and cruise cape maclear

Sunset boat cruise on Lake Malawi

A photostory of Cape Maclear, also known as Chembe, a small tourist and fishing village in the Nankumba Peninsula, on the southern tip of Lake Malawi.

tourism day 2020

Tourism and Rural Development

Malawi celebrates World Tourism Day at an unprecedented time. The theme, Tourism and Rural Development, is an important one given the negative effects the pandemic has had on most rural communities.

rethinking malawi domestic tourism

Rethinking domestic tourism in Malawi

With COVID-19 cutting off revenue from international tourists and conferences, Malawi has to rethink its strategy and package products for domestic tourism.

remote working or working from home

Are we ready to work from home?

Covid-19 is in our midst and we are scrambling to figure out remote working and work from home procedures. Malawi, are we ready?

A new normal

Back to (a new) normal

The world is undergoing serious disruption. Nothing is as it used to be before – countrywide lockdowns, jobs lost, businesses folding. When it has all blown over, we can’t afford to return to our old normal.

World Water Day 2020

Covid-19 and the water challenge for Malawi

On World Water Day, how can Malawi balance up the need for frequent hand washing in light of Covid-19 and its poor provision of potable water?

Featured Articles

Chapter Coffeehouse cafe

Coffee chronicles

Coffee chronicles on a slightly chilly August morning at the Chapter Coffeehouse in a leafy Lilongwe suburb.

Instructor having a word with Community rangers during a training exercise. Copyright Wikipedia

Owning the Conservation Narrative

In the week past, Malawi had a visit by the Duke of Sussex Prince Harry. Among other activities, he dedicated Liwonde National Park and the Mangochi Forest to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy (QCC).

Lilongwe's urban hyenas

Tracking Lilongwe’s urban carnivores

A colleague from South Africa working in Malawi once exclaimed “Last weekend we saw a hyena in the middle of city centre. In the middle of the city! Gosh, it was a culture shock!”

Tea estate in Thyolo

Tea, Coffee and Tourism

The translocation of 500 elephants to Nkhotakota Game Reserve and the restocking of lions and other wildlife to Liwonde National Parks has seen Malawi getting lots of press coverage as a tourist and wildlife safari destination of choice. The world-famous...

Use chiefs for conservation

Chiefs in Malawi have an extremely important role in the fight against environmental degradation and nature conservation.

Austin Madinga's Life Unbound