KARA O MULA COUNTRY LODGE - MULANJE

Fantastic! You're a 20-minute walk or 5-minute taxi (motorbike is cheaper) up the hill from town, but by going up there, you feel like you're on the mountain. But you can easily pop down to what's quite a nice little town. The manager and all his staff are so, so kind (I mean even more than the usual loveliness you get in Africa) and the food is excellent. (Be careful you don't over-eat!) There's a swimming pool amid the tress, a waterfall within 5 minutes' walk, and they can organise activities up and around the mountain a) at very good prices and b) which are run by Arnold, who is part of a collective who donate a portion of their profits to an organisation they set up to help particularly disadvantaged children go to secondary school. There are cheaper rooms which give you all the advantages just listed, but there are the more expensive rooms (150,000Kw = US$86 / £67 per night) which have the amazing views you can see in Picture 4 below. For us, this was more than we really wanted to pay... but we stayed 6 nights anyway because it was so good.