Lake Malawi is smack in the middle of prime safari country, between Zambia's South Luanwa National Park and the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Selous Game Reserve of Tanzania. Though one might sooner call Pumulani a beach lodge than a safari camp, owner Robin Pope Safaris has expertly melded the best of both worlds at this stylish high-end resort, opened in 2008.

The lodge is the first luxury guesthouse built adjacent to Lake Malawi National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Lake Malawi is smack in the middle of prime safari country, between Zambia's South Luanwa National Park and the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Selous Game Reserve of Tanzania. Though one might sooner call Pumulani a beach lodge than a safari camp, owner Robin Pope Safaris has expertly melded the best of both worlds at this stylish high-end resort, opened in 2008.

The lodge is the first luxury guesthouse built adjacent to Lake Malawi National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognized for its bounty of unique aquatic life. Ten villas with cooling grass roofs, verandas, and enormous picture windows blend in with the steep, verdant hillside that plunges into the azure waters of the lake. The main lodge features an outdoor fireplace for cool nights, an infinity pool for hot days, and indoor and outdoor dining areas—with views, of course#151;where guests partake of fresh local fare during three-course dinners. A series of decks and stairs leads down to the beach and lakeside bar.

While safari-goers in much of Africa come for the big game, here the wildlife skews smaller in size yet is equally impressive. Birds and fish are the celebrity species. The lake is a prime freshwater dive location, where divers can spot 500-plus species of fish, many endemic, such as the varieties of colorful cichlids.

The magnificent Pel's fishing owl is a trophy sighting for birdwatchers but there is plenty of other interesting avian life in the area, too, such as bat hawks, brown-backed honeybirds, and freckled nightjars. Trails lead through the hills to prime bird hangouts.

The lodge has plenty of other toys to keep everyone entertained: mountain bikes for cruising the hills around the lake, kayaks, sailboats, water skis, inner tubes, wakeboards, and three sailboats. Regardless of the day's adventures, come evening, take a cruise on the lodge's 40-foot, hand-carved traditional dhow to take in sunset over the lake.