Nyika Plateau

A Scottish pocket of Africa

In the very north of Malawi is the Nyika Plateau (and the Nyika National Park), a beautiful and uninhabited wilderness on a dome-like massif with numerous rivers and amazing scenery.

The plateau is about 50 miles long and 35 miles wide and slopes gently down from 8,000 feet high in the west to 7,000 feet high in the east. It is characterised by a giant landscape of enormous ‘whale-back’ hills covered by montane grassland and patches of evergreen forest. In the lower lying parts of the park such as in valleys and on the edges of the escarpment savannah woodland begins to dominate and large protea bushes can often be seen.

There are steep escarpments surrounding the plateau, where waterfalls emerge as rivers and springs from this giant catchment area make their way down towards Lake Malawi. The climate is cool and crisp – and this area is frequently compared to Scotland.

The range of vegetation on the plateau attracts a great diversity of animals and birdlife and at the same time the lack of obstructive, tall trees means that any game is easily spotted. Reedbuck, bushbuck, zebra, roan, warthog and eland are commonly seen. There are also klipspringers, jackals, duikers and hartebeest. Predators include spotted hyena and leopard. There are elephant and buffalo here as well but they are often confined to less accessible parts of the park.

Cinnamon doves and juniper forests

There are over 400 recorded species of bird making the Nyika Plateau a birdwatcher’s paradise. Species include the rare Denham’s bustard, the wattled crane and one of its sub-species, the red-winged francolin. Bar-tailed trogons, cinnamon doves and the orange-fronted starred robin can also be found here. The flora of Nyika Plateau is also incredible. There are over 200 recorded species of orchid, around a dozen of which are found nowhere else in the world. In the south east corner of the park is a protected evergreen juniper forest, with some trees reaching an astonishing 160 feet high – a super place to go on a walk.