Livingstonia
This is one of the truly historical places in Malawi – and one endowed with natural beauty as well. Provided you have a solid 4×4 with plenty of clearance you can make it up there from the lakeside – it’s a 15 km rough rough – as in: rough climb over rocks and pebbles with loads of hairpin bends next to the steepest cliffs as well as rocks in your path that seem to have come down just moments ago. It’s a rough ride. We made it though. The alternative is the road from Mzuzu, currently under construction, but still way more comfortable. That was our way out. Bring sufficient fuel. There is no fuel station between Karonga and Rumphi (173 km on the main road).
Manchewe Falls
The reason why Livingstonia exists is the missionary church, established as an escape from Malaria-ridden Cape Maclear in 1894 and hence one of the oldest buildings in the country. See more here.
The spirit of the Scottish missionaries seems to have been so cooperative that when asked whether or not to be evacuated when liberation attempts became more intense and more violent at the end of the 1950s, instead of the “I” (we’re safe) or “V” (evacuate us!) they wrote “Ephesians 2-14”, which reads: For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us.
Under Banda, Livingstonia became an elite college where Latin and Old Greek were part of the curriculum. Quite a number of influential people and politicians even of neighbouring countries had received theri training here. Read more in chapter 13 in Stephen Taylor’s Livingstone’s Tribe: A Journey from Zanzibar to the Cape (1999). Their website is here.
