Official Malawi DNPW rates

Nyika National Park entry fees

Name: Nyika National Park
Address: Malawi

Nyika is the one park where we cannot show you a current official price list, because none is published. Below are the last verifiable figures, clearly dated, plus the numbers circulating online that you should ignore.

Updated 2026-07-26

Park entry fee (per person, per day)

International visitor	±$10	the most recent traceable DNPW-linked figure, undated; treat as indicative only
SADC / regional visitor	$7	from a 2017–2018 Chelinda rate sheet, so probably outdated
Malawian citizen	MK 450	also a 2017–2018 figure; a conflicting "$1" appears elsewhere
Child under 12	Free	the one figure consistent across every source

One warning: an approximately $75 per day entry fee circulates on at least one aggregator site. It is unsourced and inconsistent with every Malawi park benchmark; do not budget around it. For scale, African Parks' January 2024 tariff for Nkhotakota (a different Malawi park, different management) charged internationals about $20 per day.

Updated 2026-07-26

Vehicle entry (per day)

Vehicle, by weight class	$3–15	undated range from older schedules; confirm at the gate
Payment by card or mobile money	Unverified	nothing is published; carry enough cash to cover fees

Whether fees are charged per 24 hours or per calendar day is also unpublished. Ask when you confirm your booking.

Updated 2026-07-26

Staying on the plateau (per person, per night)

Chelinda Lodge, full board plus activities	$350–410	CAWS 2026 rates: $350 sharing in December, $410 July to November
Chelinda Camp	Not published	enquire with CAWS; the camp is pitched as the mid-range option
Chelinda Campsite	Not published	no current rate or operator confirmed; ask CAWS or at Chelinda HQ
Juniper Forest campsite	Not published	referenced in trekking notes only; confirm it is operational before relying on it

Book the Chelinda properties through Central African Wilderness Safaris: reservations@cawsmw.com or +265 888 822 398. There is no online payment portal.

Updated 2026-07-26

Activities

Game drives, night drives, mountain biking	Via Chelinda	no individual prices are published; generally bundled into full-board lodge rates
Trout fishing permit	At Chelinda HQ	season September to April, fly-only with a single hook; no fee figure is published
Livingstonia trek (3 days, guided)	Pre-arrange	organised through Chelinda / CAWS; no standard price is published
Horse riding	Not running	Malawi's official tourism site confirms the old horse safari operation is not currently operating

Several operators still advertise Nyika horse safaris in the present tense. That copy is stale: the official Malawi tourism position is that the operation is not running. Kuti Wildlife Reserve is the horseback alternative Malawi Tourism suggests.

Good to know

Gate hours are not officially published. A single unverified source gives early morning to 18:00 at Thazima Gate; plan to arrive well within daylight either way.
There is no fuel in the park. The last reliable fuel is in Rumphi, and the climb to Chelinda is long and slow, so carry jerry cans.
Card and mobile-money acceptance at the gate is unverified. Bring cash, in kwacha and US dollars.
Fishing permits are arranged at the Chelinda park headquarters, not at the entry gates.

Source

The official source for Nyika fees is Malawi's Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW). As of July 2026 no current, dated tariff for Nyika is published anywhere: the DNPW website does not resolve, and neither the Peace Parks Foundation nor the Nyika-Vwaza Trust publishes a fee schedule. The figures below are the most recent traceable ones and should be confirmed before travel via Central African Wilderness Safaris (reservations@cawsmw.com, +265 888 822 398), who run the Chelinda properties.

Malawi DNPW figures via Peace Parks Foundation: Nyika National Park ↗

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