Travel deep dive
The Highland South of Malawi: A Granite Massif, a Forest Plateau and Tea
South of the lake, Malawi climbs into highlands. Mount Mulanje, the highest mountain in the country, stands at the south-eastern edge, the Zomba plateau rises above the old capital, and tea estates spread over the hills below Mulanje. Blantyre, the main city of the south, is where most journeys here begin, within about two hours' drive of both mountains. The south is walking country, with days on foot over a high plateau and nights in mountain huts, and it fits between the lake and the wildlife parks of the Shire valley on the classic trip through the south.
Updated 2026-10-05
The Mulanje massif
Mount Mulanje rises abruptly from the plain in the far south-east of the country, a massif of bare granite walls and domes standing high above the tea estates and villages at its foot. On top lies a plateau of grassland, cut into basins by streams, with forest in the sheltered valleys and rocky peaks above it; the highest of them, Sapitwa, is the highest point of Malawi. The forests hold the Mulanje cedar, a tall conifer that grows wild nowhere else and is Malawi's national tree. The small town of Mulanje lies at the southern foot of the massif, close to the border with Mozambique.
Hut to hut on the plateau
Walks on the mountain start at Likhubula, a forestry station at the western foot, where guides and porters are hired and steep paths climb to the plateau. Mountain huts stand in the basins about a day's walk apart, each kept by a caretaker who lights the fire, so a walk can be one night on top or a crossing of the whole massif from basin to basin. A walker carries food and a sleeping bag; porters take the heavy loads up the long first climb, and guides and porters are paid by the day. For a day without the climb, paths at the foot lead to rock pools and waterfalls on the streams that come off the massif.
Guides, huts and the weather on Mulanje
The climb is made with a registered guide, hired at the foot of the mountain, and the nights in the huts are booked ahead. The weather on the plateau turns fast: mist can close in and hide the paths within a short time, the nights are cold for much of the year, and in the rains, from about November to April, the paths are slippery, hard going and crossed by streams that rise after a downpour. A guide knows the way in cloud and where a stream can still be forded, which is why no walker sets out alone; the practice of the mountain belongs with the rest of travelling safely in Malawi.
Tea country of Thyolo and Mulanje
Most of Malawi's tea grows in two districts of the south: on the hills of Thyolo, south-east of Blantyre, and on the plain around the foot of Mulanje. The roads through them run between rows of clipped bushes, with pickers at work in the fields and a factory at the heart of each estate, and the tea drunk across the country comes from here. Some estates receive visitors for a walk through the fields and a look at the factory, and a few have houses where guests stay the night, a quiet stop between the mountain and the city.
The Zomba plateau
Zomba, the country's old capital, lies on the road from Blantyre to the wildlife park at Liwonde, at the foot of a plateau that rises straight above its streets. A road climbs from the town to the top, where pine plantations and patches of older forest surround a reservoir, the Mulunguzi dam, and paths lead to waterfalls, Williams Falls among them, and to viewpoints at the plateau's edge: Queen's View and Emperor's View look out over the plains far below. The walks fit into a day from the town, and a night on the plateau is cool even in the hot months, which makes Zomba a stop on the way between Mulanje and the park.
Blantyre, the city of the south
Blantyre is the commercial city of the south, older than the capital and named after the Scottish birthplace of the missionary explorer David Livingstone. It is where a trip through the highlands stocks up: banks and cash machines, supermarkets, fuel and the Malawian kwacha for the markets and villages beyond. Its best-known building is the church of St Michael and All Angels, built in brick by the Scottish mission in the late 19th century. From Blantyre the roads lead to Zomba and Mulanje, and down into the lower Shire valley to Majete, and the city has its own airport, Chileka, among the ways into the country.