Blantyre is Malawi’s financial, commercial and transport center and the home of the Malawi Stock Exchange. The central business district of Blantyre is where it all happens in this otherwise easy-going country. Lilongwe is the nation’s administrative capital.

Blantyre is busier and livelier than the nation’s capital. It has a population of 800,000 people. It has more hotels and restaurants than Lilongwe, although these tend to be found out of town rather than in the central business district. It was named after the birthplace in Scotland of the explorer and missionary, David Livingstone. Blantyre is one of the oldest urban centers in eastern and southern Africa. It gained municipal status as far back as 1895; work on St. Michael and All Angels church in Blantyre began even earlier in 1888.

Blantyre has a pleasant climate set in a range of hills at the altitude of about 1,000 meters above sea level. It has three or four months of heavy rain. It is the perfect gateway to the unspoiled south of Malawi. Many visitors fly to Blantyre and stay overnight before heading off to Lilongwe and Majete National Wildlife Reserves or to Zomba and Mulanje Mountains.

Blantyre is equally as well served as Lilongwe in terms of air connections and national carriers. Air Malawi has its head office at the city’s Chileka International Airport.

It is here in the central business district where this year’s Feast of Tabernacles will be held in a magnificent hall funded by LifeNets International at a place called Kanjedza Forest. For more details, contact Gracious Mpilangwe at gracmpilangwe@gmail.com.