Mushroom Farm & Livingstonia: a friendly hilltop stay / una parada amable a la cima de la montaña.

La vista del caños del rio Manchewe

Malawi, 2017 Jul 27 to 29

We were heading north from Nyika Plateau towards Mbeya in Tanzania and had been looking for a campsite more or less midway between the two. Mushroom Farm had been recommended by several people we had met in our travels; Paul and Julie, befriended in western Zambia and encountered again in Kafue and in Nyika, suggested Lukwe, another campsite close by, and we resolved to look at both.


Fuimos al norte del Plateau de Nyika con destino Mbeya, Tanzania. Habíamos buscado un sitio para dormir entre los dos y recibimos recomendaciones por Mushroom Farm de varios a quienes encontramos en nuestro viaje; Paul y Julie, quien conocimos en Zambia Oriental y encontramos otras veces en Kafue y Nyiak recomendaron Lukwe, cerca de Mushroom Farm, entonces elegimos ver ambos y quedarnos en esta zona.

Both are close to Livingstonia, a mission station established in the late 19th century, and of interest for its history and crafts. Livingstonia is high above the lake, chosen for its cooler weather.

Ambos están ubicados cerca a Livingstonia, una estación de misioneros establecida un el 19 centenario, que es de interés histórico y por sus artesanías. Livingstonia es en los altos arriba del lago, elegido por su clima agradable.

Alan had been under the impression that Livingstonia was a reasonably sizeable town of some importance and had a mental image of the road leading to it from the M1 as a winding tarmac road, similar perhaps to the road from Blantyre down to the Shire floodplain or the road dropping down to the lakeside north of Rumphi (on what we noted half a dozen heavy trucks which had stopped for repairs on the way up or down, and one which had early experienced brake failure and whose driver had managed to crash it "safely" into the roadside rather than ending up in free fall down the precipitous mountainside). His mental model was not modified any by hearing Paul and Julie describe their descent from Livingstonia as taking an hour to drive 10 Km; thinking that they were referring to an alternative route...

Alan tenia el idea que Livingstonia era una ciudad de importancia, de tamaño mediano, y tenía la impresión que la ruta hacia allá sería asfaltada con muchas curvas, como por ejemplo la ruta de Blantyre bajando al valle del rio Shire, o la ruta bajando a la orilla de la laguna al norte de Rumphi, en que vimos varios camiones parados por reparaciones y uno en el que el conductor había chocado contra el paisaje quizás para evitar caer por el precipicio. Su modelo mental no cambio con la historia de Paul y Julie quienes había descrito su descenso de 10 Km en una hora, pensando que era una ruta alternativa.

We arrived at the junction where a large well-maintained sign indicated "Livingstonia 15 Km". Turning onto this road it immediately become a rough track, such that Alan asked whether this was the right road, which it was. We then ascended a steep rocky track with 20 hairpin bends, ascending steeply to 600 m in 10 Km, which took an hour to climb.

La vista del lago Malawi

Llegamos al cruce donde estaba un aviso grande y bien mantenido diciendo "Livingstonia 15 Km". Girando por esta ruta llegamos a una trocha inmediatamente y Alan pregunto si realmente esta era la ruta, la repuesta fue: si esta es!. Entonces subimos una trocha muy inclinada y rocosa con 20 curvas de 180 grados, subiendo ~600 metros en 10 Km y gastando una hora.





Arriving at the entrance to Mushroom Farm, by this time in the dark, we chose to stay there, and found a very friendly place, with an eclectic range of accommodation options, at very reasonable rates, where we stayed for two pleasant nights.

Llegando a la entrada de Mushroom Farm, ahora en la oscuridad, elegimos quedarnos allá, encontramos un sitio muy amable, con un rango ecléctico de opciones de alojamiento, a precios razonables, donde nos quedamos dos noches placenteras.

In the morning we discovered the impressive views from the place, perched above the cliff edge: a beautiful landscape.

En la mañana discubrimos vistas impresionantes del lugar, puesto a la cima del precipicio: un paisaje hermoso.

Letrina seca

Mushroom Farm is truly focussed on sustainability in every sense, and sets an example for us in terms of caring for the environment. It also offered some delights which had difficult to find for some time : fresh fruit and real coffee.

 Mushroom Farm esta enfocado en la sostenibilidad en todo los sentidos, dando un ejemplo a todos en términos de cuidado por el medio ambiente. También nos ofreció algunas delicias que no habíamos encontrado por un tiempo: frutas frescas y café de verdad.

Manchewe falls

We went to see Livingstonia, which turned out to be a small place, visiting the Stone House museum, two craft shops, and the post office, which turned out to be closed - apparently the person running it was sick that day. Isaac at the craft shop which also sells coffee and ice cream volunteered to buy stamps and post our post cards when the office was open however (which he did).

 Fuimos a ver Livingstonia, es un sitio pequeño, visitamos el Museo de la "Casa de Piedra", dos tiendas de artesanía, y la oficina de correos, que estaba cerrada - aparentemente el señor que la maneja estaba enfermo, pero afortunadamente Issac, el señor de una de las tiendas de artesanía, prometio enviar nuestros postales durante la siguiente semana.

El equipo que hace la diferencia en Mushroom Farm

After our pleasant stay we headed off down the "hill" again, taking another hour to descend the 10 Km, and then headed north to the border. The road from the junction at Karonga was in poor condition, with potholes permanently marked with poles; the roads in Malawi had generally been in excellent condition, even so, travelling in Malawi is slow going, principally as a result of the high population density, with very frequent villages and pedestrians and cyclists almost permanently present on the roads.

Después de nuestra estadía bajamos "la colina" otra vez, tomando otra hora para bajar los 10 Km, y salimos hacia la frontera. La carretera al norte de Karonga, estaba en no muy buena condición, con huecos permanentemente marcados con palos; las rutas en Malawi fueron en general buenas, sin embargo el progreso es lento, porque Malawi tiene alta densidad de población, y las rutas están lleno de gente, caminando, usando bicis, vendiendo y comprando.

Crossing the border was straightforward, although took longer than it might have because the Tanzanian Prime Minister was on an official visit. Despite being told on the Malawian side that the border was closed and would not open for another 2-1/2 hours we made it through both sides in less than two hours, and were on the point of leaving when the border post exit was in fact closed, such that we waited another hour before leaving for Mbeya, where we stayed that night.

Cruzar la frontera fue simple, pero tomamos más tiempo porque el Primer Ministro de Tanzania estaba visitando el lugar. A pesar que oímos al lado de Malawi que la frontera fue cerrada, y no sería abierta por 2-1/2 horas más, pasamos ambos lados en menos de dos horas, y estabamos al punto de salir cuando la frontera cerro de verdad, y esperamos una hora más antes llegar Mbeya, donde pasamos la noche.

Abrazos,
Alan y Marce

Photos may be used for non-commercial purposes with credit to alanymarce@gmail.com