Nsanje

Nsanje (formerly Port Herald) is the southernmost town in Malawi, on the west bank of the Shire River in the Lower Shire Valley, north of the Ndindi Marsh and surrounded on much of its border by Mozambique. It is home to the Manganja and Sena peoples and grew as a colonial-era river port and trading post — the British incorporated the area as Port Herald District under the Central African Protectorate in the early 1900s, and the river port relocated there in 1908 to improve cotton-export navigation on the shallow upstream channels. It later became a stop on the Blantyre–Beira railway, completed in 1935. Today it is a hot, remote customs and trading town serving surrounding agricultural communities that grow cotton, tobacco, rice, and maize.

By Car / Road

Nsanje is about 4 hours south of Blantyre on a paved road.

• Bangula — Nearby town in the Shire Valley.
• Mozambique — Border crossing south of Nsanje.
• Blantyre (4 hours north) — Commercial capital.