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Lake Malawi - The Lake of Stars - is an immense inland sea of fresh, crystal clear water in which tropical fish abound. Its shores and the deserted islands which dot its surface are home to a variety of game and an abundance of exotic birdlife. Local fishermen leisurely paddle their traditional "mokoros", or dugouts, across its expanse, and the sun drenched serenity is but enhanced by the shriek of a Fish Eagle or the grunting of distant hippo.

Lake Malawi is one of a series of lakes in Africa's Rift Valley. It is the ninth largest lake in the world, with a surface area of about 30,000 square km, a length of about 580 km, and is approximately 704 meters deep. Lake Malawi has a very diverse bottom, ranging from rocky, to sandy, to heavily planted areas. As with Lake Tanganyika, the lower layers of the lake are completely devoid of oxygen and uninhabitable by fish. It was reported in "African Cichlids of Lakes Malawi and
Tanganyika-12th Ed." that there are 225 known species of cichlids in the lake, with 40+ species of non-cichlids. Lake Malawi's fish population is a prime food source for many Malawi inhabitants. Lake Malawi National Park, opened in 1980 near Monkey Bay, was put in place to protect the many cichlid species of the lake from extinction due to over-fishing and
collection for export.