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Lake Niassa – Lake of Stars
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In 1858 the famous doctor, missionary and scientist David Livingston discovered Lake Niassa from the south on his third expedition into Africa.
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Due to the numerous slave traders operating along the lakeshore, his experiences at lake Niassa reinforced his quest to free Africa from slavery and exploitation. Livingston nicknamed the lake 'Lake of Stars'.
Lake Niassa is the third largest lake in Africa and one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Though navigated for centuries by indigenous people in dugout canoes, slave traders and missionaries on steamboats and dhows, the lake still conceals a lot to be explored.
More than 600 fish species have been identified, but research estimates that a total of over 1,000 species are living in the lake.
The fish in the lake are renowned for their incredible color schemes easily competing with their saltwater cousins on the coral reefs. In particular, the Mbuna - the famed cichlid fishes, prized throughout the world of tropical fish enthusiasts. 99% of the Cichlids are endemic to the lake and each island in the lake has its own endemic rock-dwelling cichlids known to be some of the most colorful.
The Tchila (Labeo Mesops), extinct in Malawi waters, is known to exist on the Niassa side of the lake. Many species can only be seen in the clear waters of the Mozambican shoreline.
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