Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Zomba Plateau
Rising nearly 1800m behind Zomba town, and carpeted in thick stands of pine, Zomba
Plateau is beguilingly pretty. As you ascend the snaking road past wildflowers, stoic locals
heaving huge burdens of timber, and roadside strawberry vendors, the place feels like
Alpine France; then a vervet monkey jumps out, a pocket of blue mist envelops your car,
and you realise you're in Africa. This gorgeous highland paradise, crisscrossed by
streams, lakes and tumbling waterfalls, is home to leopards, bushbucks and birds such as
mountain wagtails and Bertram's weavers.
The plateau can be covered on foot, by car (4WD only on the backroads), and myriad
winding trails that ring and cross the mountain, and it is divided into two halves by the
Domasi Valley. The southern half has a road to the top, a hotel (the landmark Ku Chawe
Inn), a campground, several picnic places and a network of driveable tracks and hiking
paths.
