This was my first destination upon entering Malawi as I had heard wonders from him. Coming from Tanzania is a journey of approximately 6 hours here I explain how to get there:
The first thing you should do is cross migration as in any country and it shouldn’t be complicated. Get your passport is sealed and when you leave migration, you will see some houses on the right hand side on a small mountain. There you will have to get on and take a shared taxi that will take you from the border to Karonga. Karonga is the first big town you’ll find so you could stay there if you want. It has an airport if you want to fly somewhere else in Malawi. This taxi should cost you 1,000 MWK (to give you an idea, 1 USD is almost 800 MWK
Already in Karonga, ask the taxi to show you where you can take the buses to Chitimba. As soon as you get down, all the drivers will attack you so that you get on them, you stay with one and go inside his bus, do not let go of your bags they’ll try to take them to their different buses. This bus will last between 1-2 hours to Chitimba and I paid 3,000 MWK.
In Chitimba you will find several hotels or hostels where you can stay and visit Lake Malawi. I decided to climb the mountain to have an incredible view. At the intersection of Chitimba and Livingstonia there are 2 offices of very good places where you can stay: Mushroom Farm and Lukwe Eco Camp. Both are incredible, but I decided to stay in the first. To go up you have several ways and in the different offices they’ll explain you everything. I decided to get on a motorcycle for 4,000 MWK to Mushroom Far where I will stay for the following days. I hope this doesn’t happen to you but I tell you my story. I am a meat lover and without realizing it I arrived at the place and both hotels are completely vegetarian. So if you have any problem with this, keep that in mind.
What to do in Livingstonia
Manchewe Falls
Very close to Mushroom Farm and Lukwe Eco camp, there are the Manchewe waterfalls, they are 2 waterfalls that fall towards the cliff and reach 100 m high. These are the highest waterfalls in Malawi. The entrance to see the waterfalls has a cost of 500 MWK. You can go alone or with a guide, the advantage of the guide is that they show you the way to go down the waterfalls.
If you are going to do it alone, here I try to explain how to go down: When you arrive at the entrance of the waterfalls you will see a sign that says Manchewe falls, there you will pay the 500 MWK if you walk to the right along the road, you will arrive at a viewpoint where you will have a view of both waterfalls and you can enjoy it.
Return the same path you went from the entrance and when you reach the entrance, take the road on the right hand side, cross a small wooden bridge and within 100 meters you will find an entrance through the trees on the right hand side that take you towards the river (follow the noise). When you arrive to a natural pool, cross it and try to follow the path, there is no marked path but its easy to follow, you shouldn’t get lost , but try to be careful.
Chombe Plateau:
I’m just going to say WOW! This plateau is a tour that they offer you from the different hotels in the area and it is not very well known yet. We decided to change the experience a bit and instead of just hiking, we decided that we were going to camp there and spend a night.
If you just hike, it will take you approximately 2 hours to arrive, walking at a good pace, it is not very demanding until you reach the end where the climb is quite steep. From the top, you can have a 360 ° view. There you can enjoy the view of the lake, the villages, the mountains of Mozambique and Tanzania.
If you decide to camp, you have to organize everything with the different guides as the hotels do not offer this tour. We organize it like this to give you an idea:
- Trekking guide: 2,000 MKW (This is the tour offered by the hotel)
- Lunch and lunch at the top: 6,000 MKW
- Guide and “security” at night: 7,000 MKW
In total we paid 15,000 MKW approximately USD 17 per person, which included the ascent of the tents, the preparation of the food and a guard at night.
Historic Livingstonia
It is a small town on top of the mountain where you can see the entire Lake Malawi. It was founded in 1894 by Scottish missionaries in search of a place to settle. They were in Malawi where Cape Maclear is but when they realized the risk of malaria, they moved the town to the mountains where it is today.
Nhkita Plateau:
This is a national park that is north of the country. My intention was to do a 4-day hike on a walking safari but sadly we didn’t get a guide to take us. It’s one of the reasons why I had gone to Livingstonia and it made me very sad that I couldn’t do it. It is a reason to return.
