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Malawi lies in the Great African Rift Valley system. Lake Malawi, 360 miles long and about 1,500 ft above sea level, Lake Malawi is the county's centerpiece. Like an inland sea it has endless palm fringed beaches, enclosed by sheer mountains, making it undeniably the focal point for Malawi's tourists. Malawi is a landlocked country located in southeastern Africa. It is bordered in the North and East by Tanzania, on the east, south and southwest by Mozambique and to the west by Zambia. Much of the land surface is plateau and elevations rise of over 2,440 m in the Nyika Plateau in the north and in the regions of Mt. Mulanje 3,050 metre (10006.5 feet), and Mt. Zomba 2,135 metre (7004.5 feet). The Shire highlands in the south are lower. To the north there are rugged highlands with rolling hills in the Nyika and Vwanza plateaux, whilst in the South, traversing the escarpment that forms part of the Great African Rift Valley, lie the lowlands of the Shire Valley. More than 300 bird species have been recorded in the Nyika Plateau, including the Den Ham's bustard, the Malachite Sunbird and Red Winged Francolin all found in the grassland area, whilst the Cinnamon Dove, Bartailed Trogon and Starred Robin are found high in the forest canopy, particularly the Chowo forest near the Zambian Resthouse. Four birds found on the Nyika plateau that have not been recorded anywhere else in Malawi, the yellow Mountain Warbler, Churring Cisticola, Cracking Cloud Cisticola and Mountain Marsh Widow. It also contains three butterfly species and one species each of Chameleon, Frog and Toad which are found nowhere else. |
