Chamo

Chamo belongs to the Shire River country, the drainage corridor that carries water from Lake Malawi toward the Zambezi. The Shire is Malawi's largest river and the lake's only outlet. Leaving the southern end of the lake, it runs briefly before entering shallow Lake Malombe, then continues south past Liwonde. Its banks there attract large concentrations of hippopotamus and form a ribbon of water and vegetation through the wider regional landscape.

Southward, between Matope and Chikwawa, the river falls roughly 1,300 feet through rapids, waterfalls and gorges, including Kapachira Falls. This descent creates dramatic changes in water level and flow. The broken terrain made movement away from the water difficult. Beyond Chikwawa the Shire enters the lower Mozambique plain, turns southeast and passes through the stagnant Elephant Marsh before reaching the Zambezi below Sena. The Shire's course lies within the East African Rift system. Its alternating lake, swamp, gorge and floodplain environments connect highland Malawi with Mozambique and provide fish, water and transport routes. For Chamo, the defining feature is this chain of linked waters and the human routes that follow them.