All activities / Trekking / Hiking / Nyika Plateau
Trekking / Hiking in Nyika Plateau
A rolling montane grassland above 2,000 metres in far northern Malawi, the country's largest national park and Central Africa's biggest high plateau. Open walking country among roan antelope, zebra and, after the rains, more than a hundred orchid species.
Why here
Nyika does not look like the rest of Africa. Malawi's largest national park is a rolling montane plateau above 2,000 metres, all open grassland, wildflower meadows and pockets of evergreen forest, closer to the Scottish Highlands than the bush. That openness is the point: you can walk for hours in clear air among roan antelope, eland and zebra, with leopard on the plateau and the occasional long view toward Lake Malawi far below. After the rains the grassland fills with orchids, more than a hundred species of them. Trails run for days between simple stops, and the sheer space and quiet set it apart from anywhere else in the country.
Best months
The plateau is a dry-season destination, from May to October, when the trails are firm and the long views open up; nights are cold at altitude and can drop below freezing. The wildflowers and orchids peak in the wet months from December, though rain and mud make walking harder then. Warm layers matter year-round up here.
Getting there & around
Nyika is remote, in Malawi's far north: a long drive of six hours or more from Mzuzu on rough roads, or a light-aircraft flight to the airstrip near Chelinda. The lodge is the base for guided hikes and drives, and there is little else on the plateau, so trips are self-contained. High altitude and cold make good gear essential. Most visitors fly in as part of a northern-Malawi itinerary.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate
Schools & guides (1)
Chelinda Lodge
OutfitterChelinda Lodge is a set of pine log cabins run by Central African Wilderness Safaris on the Nyika Plateau, at the heart of Malawi's largest national park and Central Africa's biggest montane grassland. From the lodge, guided hikes cross rolling moorland grazed by roan antelope, eland and zebra, past wildflower meadows and orchids that bloom after the rains. The plateau's open trails run for days, and the same country carries game drives, mountain biking and fly fishing.