Viphya Plateau

The Viphya plateau runs for well over a hundred kilometres through northern Malawi at around fifteen hundred to eighteen hundred metres, and from the 1950s it was planted with pine on a scale that made it one of the largest man-made forests in Africa, intended to feed a pulp mill that was never built. Patches of native Afromontane forest survive between the blocks, and Luwawa in the middle has become a base for walking, riding and mountain biking.

What you actually see

• The pine plantation - one of the largest planted forests on the continent.
• The native patches - the surviving Afromontane forest between the blocks.
• The Luwawa base - the lodge and activity centre in the middle of the plateau.
• The altitude - cool high ground compared with the lakeshore below.

When to go

May to October is the dry season. Nights on the plateau are cold. The rains bring mist and mud to the tracks.

Honest expectations

The plantation is a monoculture and not everyone finds it appealing. The pulp mill it was planted for was never built and much of the timber has never been used. Fires have damaged large areas.

Nearby

Mzuzu is north, and Nkhotakota is southeast.