The Nyika Plateau lies in northern

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

, with a small portion in north eastern Zambia. Most of it lies at elevations of between , the highest point being at

Nganda Peak Nganda is a small town and urban commune of the Kaffrine Department in the Kaffrine Region of Senegal, lying close to the border with Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a countr ...

. It is roughly a diamond in shape, with a long north–south axis of about , and an east–west axis of about . It towers above

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fifth largest fr ...

(elevation ), and the towns of Livingstonia and

Chilumba Chilumba is a town in Malawi. It is an urban centre in Karonga District. Location Chilumba is located along the western shores of Lake Malawi, at the southern end of Karonga District, in the Northern Region of Malawi. This location is approxim ...

. Its well-defined north-west escarpment rises about above the north-eastern extremity of the

Luangwa Valley The Luangwa River is one of the major tributaries of the Zambezi River, and one of the four biggest rivers of Zambia. The river generally floods in the rainy season (December to March) and then falls considerably in the dry season. It is one of ...

, and its similarly prominent south-east escarpment rises about above the

South Rukuru River The South Rukuru River is a river of northern Malawi. The South Rukuru rises in southern Mzimba District, and flows roughly north-northeast to empty into Lake Malawi. Its watershed mostly lies in the Mzimba Plain. Its tributaries drain the weste ...

valley. It is very different in scenery from other parts of Malawi, consisting of rolling hills with little streams in broad valleys, and rough grassland with clumps of

pine trees A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garde ...

Wildlife and human settlement

It is known for its

wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...

; mammals in the park include

Crawshay's zebra Crawshay's zebra (''Equus quagga crawshayi'') is a subspecies of the plains zebra native to eastern Zambia, east of the Luangwa River, Malawi, southeastern Tanzania, and northern Mozambique south to the Gorongoza District. Crawshay's zebras can b ...

bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ra ...

reedbuck Reedbuck is a common name for Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it ...

s, roan antelopes, elands,

klipspringer The klipspringer (; ''Oreotragus oreotragus'') is a small antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The sole member of its genus and subfamily/tribe, the klipspringer was first described by German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zim ...

s, duikers, and

warthog ''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly co ...

s. Also present are carnivores including

jackal Jackals are medium-sized canids native to Africa and Eurasia. While the word "jackal" has historically been used for many canines of the subtribe canina, in modern use it most commonly refers to three species: the closely related black-backed ...

s, hyenas and leopards. There are also many

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s and

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

butterflies, chameleons,

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

s and

toad Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scient ...

s (e.g.,

Nyika dwarf toad ''Mertensophryne nyikae'' (common name: Nyika dwarf toad) is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to the Nyika Plateau of northern Malawi and adjacent northeastern Zambia. Its natural habitat In ecology, the term hab ...

), and also for its

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowerin ...

s. All of the plateau is protected, by Malawi's large

Nyika National Park Nyika National Park is Malawi’s largest national park, with an area of 3200 km2 (1250 mile2). Location and road access The park covers practically the whole of the Nyika Plateau in northern Malawi, about 480 km north of Lilongwe and 60 km ...

and the much smaller Nyika National Park, Zambia. The only settlement on the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

is Chelinda, the headquarters and accommodation site for the Malawian park.

Flora

A large area of the Nyika Plateau, around , makes up the

. Owing to its protected status, endemic flora continue to flourish in this part of the plateau. The flora of the plateau include

gladioli ''Gladiolus'' (from Latin, the diminutive of ''gladius'', a sword) is a genus of perennial cormous flowering plants in the iris family (Iridaceae). It is sometimes called the 'sword lily', but is usually called by its generic name (plural ''g ...

delphinium ''Delphinium'' is a genus of about 300 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. The genus was erected by Carl Linn ...

lobelia ''Lobelia'' () is a genus of flowering plants comprising 415 species, with a subcosmopolitan distribution primarily in tropical to warm temperate regions of the world, a few species extending into cooler temperate regions.Huxley, A., ed. (1992 ...

, and ' red hot pokers'. The plateau is also home to around 200 species of orchids. Groves of montane forests also dot the plateau.

References

{{Coord, 10.35, S, 33.60, E, display=title Afromontane Plateaus of Malawi Landforms of Zambia Plateaus of Africa Southern Rift montane forest–grassland mosaic