NYIKA NATIONAL PARK

The 3 134km² Nyika National Park, Malawi’s largest park, is a wild, untouched and remote upland area, with the distinction of being the only big game Afro-montane area in south-central Africa. The vistas in this park are immense with high-altitude grassland the most obvious feature of the Nyika Plateau. But the park is also characterised by isolated hills and ridges, evergreen forest pockets bursting with a variety of local flora add further character to the rolling hills, whilst extensive swathes of broad-leafed miombo woodland dominate the lower slopes. Nyika is a botanist’s delight in summer with alpine flowers that include 11 endemic orchid species, exquisite dieramas, gladioli, protea and kniphofia. Nyika also harbours important populations of roan, eland, Crawshay’s zebra, southern reedbuck, bushbuck, warthog, spotted hyaena and side-striped jackal. Elephant and leopard can be seen at times. Approximately 400 bird species occur in Nyika, many with highly restricted distributions, making it a key birding destination in Africa.