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Safely guided, professionally run, Loads of fun. No experience necessary. Do something different.
The Mushroom Farm offers a variety of fully guided tours, provides full instruction and uses quality equipment to provide you with a great experience in Malawi’s most beautiful locations.

BEGINNER'S ABSEIL AND ROCKCLIMB EXPERIENCE.     US$ 30 p.p.  min. 2 pax required.

We are lucky enough that The Mushroom Farm's dramatic setting 80m. above cliffs, high on the edge of the Great Rift Valley, gives it the unique opportunity to offer wonderful rockclimbing and abseiling activities just metres from its bar and restaurant. With Lake Malawi over 500 metres below you as you climb, the great sense of exposure and beautiful views across to The Livingstone Mountains in Tanzania, make climbing or abseiling here a very exciting and fun time.

We offer a beginner's abseiling and rockclimbing experience.You will learn the basics to get you started safely, then abseil down 60 metres before beginning your rockclimb back up. Then, if you'd like to, you can test yourself on slighty harder routes the next time.

When your done, wander up to the bar and congratulate yourself with a cold, complimentary beer.

Bookings are advisable.
All activities are weather dependant.
An indemnity form must be completed before undertaking the activities.
There are plenty of things to explore on your own within walking distance of the Mushroom Farm. There are many walks to interesting places we can help you find, but most people come to visit Manchewe Falls and Livingstonia Mission. There is plenty of wildlife to spot along the way too. Jackals, Baboons, Honey Badgers, Samangko Monkeys, Bush Babies, Civets and more have all been seen at the farm.

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The walk from the Mushroom Farm to Livingstonia is a moderate 1hr stroll through farmland and villages.. The town itself is a living museum, the architecture distinctly Scottish and many buildings are protected by the department of antiquities. The mission sprawls over a small plateau and people come to visit the museum at the ‘Stone House’ that records the long, long walks the Dr. Livingstone took and the troubled history of the missionaries that come later.

The church and its stained glass window of the good doctor is an interesting place to visit too. The town has a small market with typical Malawian produce and a few grocery stores.

Alcohol is not served anywhere in the mission. It is a quiet and conservative place, livened up by the hundreds of secondary and university students that board there.

History of Livingstonia

Livingstonia Mission is a strangely atmospheric place, friendly and quiet, set high above Lake Malawi in a fertile area know locally as Kondowe. Dr. Livingstone never came here although he got close (Chitimba). It was built as a memorial to him (est. 1894) by the Scottish missionaries that followed in his footsteps after his death. It grew quickly and became a great provider of education to the local Tembuka people who were open to the idea of western education to better deal with the British who seemed to not want to leave. The missionaries also developed a hospital soon to be considered the best in central/east Africa. It was an extraordinary effort considering it’s remoteness and distance from Scotland, it’s main supplier of technical hardware. It’s remoteness is one of it’s charms but still makes life difficult for the mission to run successfully today.
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Manchewe Falls (a one and half hour return walk from the Mushroom Farm) is a spectacular 125m waterfall dropping into a beautiful lush valley. There is a short walk down behind the falls to a small cave. It was here that the locals came to defend themselves from Ngoni attack. A visit to the falls and Livingstonia makes a nice day walk.
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Another beautiful walk is to Chombe Plateau (approximately 2 and a half hours from the Mushroom Farm). It is the highest plateau in the area and has the best views across the lake and Rift Valley. Its a sacred place with many local myths attached to it and locals do not live on the summit. A vist to Chombe plateau and Livingstonia makes a long day walk from the Mushroom Farm.