We retraced our steps along the rough road to Rumphi, where we then took the dirt road to Livingstonia rather than taking the tar road back to the coast. The road wasn’t too bad for most of the way, but the last 20 km or so was pretty much a rough dirt track and slow going as it wound its way through the mountains. The scenery was reminiscent of Asia with terraced gardens hugging the sides of the hills and lush greenery. Even though the road was a bit slow, it seems that it was faster than taking the tar as some people that left nearly 2 hours before us and took the tar road arrived at the same time as we did, and they only stopped for an hour or so.
We stayed at Lukwe lodge which is situated right on the edge of the escarpment. The restaurant and bar area as well as the chalets are perched right on the edge with fantastic views down the valley to Lake Malawi. The showers are hot and clean, but a little interesting as the doors are so short they offer no privacy for someone my height! There are only 2 showers which are unisex and Wayne had to stop another guy from coming up whilst I was showering. The toilets are different too. They are composting toilets built on the hillside meaning you have to climb up to them. The doors are only about as high as the seat, but you get a nice view whilst sitting on the loo!
We walked to the falls through the bush from camp. They are pretty impressive being 
200 odd metres high and there was plenty of water going over them when we were there. Some young kids escorted us back half the way to camp through the bush although I’m not exactly sure why!
At Livingstonia itself we visited the museum which is housed in the old stonehouse that was used by Dr Laws when he lived there as a missionary. The house is a lovely old building that is now used for basic accommodation. The church has a lovely stained glass window depicting Livingstone. At the church we were warmly greeted by one of the locals who were having band practice. He chatted to us for a bit then asked if he could take a photo with my camera. I let him and showed him how to use it and he seemed so pleased when he saw the photo he took. Funny how such simple things can give pleasure to someone. Livingstonia is quite a pretty village with a large hospital, university and nice houses right on top of the escarpment and pleasantly cool.
