Nkhotakota Pottery

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Before I get into the potting holidays available at Nhotaka, I’d like you to give you a brief summary on how this whole pottery story begun. The story, as they say, begun in a region in Malawi called Dedza. Dedza is the highest town in Malawi and Dedza Mountain, reaching up to nearly 7,000 feet, forms the backdrop to Dedza Pottery. The slopes of the mountain are covered with a well managed pine forest that supplies timber and firewood to a wide region. It is a beautiful and unspoilt environment in which to create, and great care is taken not to cause any environmental damage in the pottery operations. The pottery was started, as a private business, in 1987 by Chris and Charity Stevens.

As time passed, the business grew and diversified in order to profit from the tourism sector and hence the Nkhotakota Pottery project was set up. Nkhotakota Pottery, set on the shore of Lake Malawi, opened in 1998. The site, with a long unspoilt sandy beach, was chosen specifically to be an attractive place to welcome visitors. The 2 to 3 week pottery courses are designed for beginners and experienced potters and give guests a chance to enjoy potting in a fully equipped workshop, relax in a beautiful setting, work with traditional African potters and experience something of the real Malawi. The first courses were run in 2001 and are now frequented by tourists from over ten different destinations across the globe.

It is a unique experience that should be sampled by all who visit Malawi.