Matema Beach Town
Matema Beach is a beachside town in Mbeya Region. It is located on the beautiful shores of Lake Nyasa. Matema Beach is among the most scenic tourist attractions site in Tanzania.
The lakeshore beach lies on the foothills and the endpoint of Livingstone Mountains, at the place where these scenic ranges end majestically into Lake Nyasa. Traveling to Matema Beach is made up of beautiful views of the real African life of the local communities.
A winding road passes through high, Livingstone Mountains and tea estates before it descends to the tropical shores of Lake Nyasa. From Matema Beach, you can make canoe trips with fishermen over the lake to the nearby village where women specialize in pottery. There is a superb snookering rocky shoreline, and also a waterfall from the Livingstone Mountains.
Matema lakeshore village is a fishing settlement where local fishermen are easily seen selling their catches. The village was the regional headquarters of the German Governor during German rule in Tanzania before the mosquitoes forced him and his team out of place.
The beach is an expanse lakeside giving a beautiful view of its horizon and clear, shining water of Lake Nyasa; giving a chance for watersports, ornamental fish viewing, water surfing, diving, and beachside recreations on the soft sands.
From the beachside, a visitor can take a breathtaking Livingstone Mountains as they drop majestically into Lake Nyasa. Apart from the beach, Matema is a historical site where Germans built a Lutheran Mission House found there today and with Bavarian architectural style.
Mount Livingstone hiking and visits to potteries are the other tourist activities in Matema. A number of tourist class accommodation facilities have been established there; among them are the Lutheran Center, Matema Beach View, Matema Shore Lake Resort, and a number of Guest Houses.
How to get to Matema Beach
To reach Matema Beach, it is a 130-kilometer drive from Mbeya City, passing through the tarmac road to the Malawian border. The drive is exciting as the car roll through green scenery, made up of tea, banana, and tree farms on hillside areas.
A tour of rice and cocoa farms in Kyela, a waterfall on Mount Livingstone, and special cultural performances add more tourist attractiveness to the area. Kyla is a small African and agrarian township where agricultural products are sold and transported to other parts of Tanzania, mostly the commercial city of Dar es Salaam.
There are several guest houses, lodges, and hotels in Kyela, ideal for local and foreign tourists. From Kyela and Matema, a visitor can cross the Tanzanian border to Malawi through the Kasumulu border post or take a boat at Itungi port to another side of Lake Nyasa in Malawi.