‘Nyika’ The Source of Springs

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As evidenced by the title, Nyika (neeka) national park means the source of springs. Probably because it is one of the highest point in Malawi, the highest point being on Nganda mountain which apparently lies at 8552ft above sea level which is rather spectacular. The plateau is in itself a remarkable place driving along bumpy potholed tracks you see an ever changing landscape of rolling hills and grasslands not too dissimilar from the Yorkshire moors at first glance. On second glance eland, bush buck (or Nyika impala) are seen, pine forests appear and rock outcrops pop out. One hill gives way to another until as far as the high eye can see are ranges that disappear north east and south into the park and west into Zambia, the park being on the border of Malawi and Zambia. Eruptions of small birds burst out of the grasses as our Izuzu blunders past and resettle again before we have a chance to see anything apart from a brown rump. I believe birds have a sixth sense for these things, evolution seems to have given them the ability to know when a camera is pointed their way. For the bird lovers a few we have seen both are; Denham’s Bustard, Francolin, Spotted Eagle Owl, Common Quail and an Ogre Buzzard. We also saw an unnamed black eagle and some sort of falcon in the morning. Other wildlife we spotted include; eland, roan antelope, bush buck, zebra, warthog (who are also very adept at running away from the camera), hares. And finally the jewel in the crown, during the night drive a pair of red reflective eyes amongst the long grass revealed a serval cat, an absolute joy to see. I have only ever seen them on television and to see one sat their yawning in the grass ready to start its night time hunting I was certainly chuffed.

We have been able to see a variety of areas on our drives through the park, setting off early we headed for Chisanga Falls this led us to some rough track and down into forested valleys which probably hid the few elephants that are around this time of year. This area had a hidden gem feel to it and it did reveal some wonderful views as well as a temptation to continue along the road to one of the most northerly of Malawi, Chitipa. We have also done one of the small northerly loops (still about 20km long) and we were immediately graced by more spectacular views, even more so that we had seen already. The area had such character, the blossom of colour and flora in the valley bottoms created mini oasis’ in the folds of the hills and surrounding the springs. A very familiar plant also lurks around which is a pest here, fern! Here thanks to the peculiar grey colour, it takes on a beautiful quality as its spattered around the contours of the hills making the landscape seem like an old man’s unshaven beard.

By this point I had taken over the reins of the car and was lead navigator of the tracks, bumps and grooves with success and even traversed my first rickety bridge, I was thoroughly enjoying myself bouncing along in charge of a huge 4x4 absorbing all the views (of which I will not stop going on about, it is amazing!). We headed round our loop and were rumbling toward our temporary home in the pine trees. Pine trees may seem an odd thing to find in an African national park however they were brought over by of the British (along with the fern) and are grown and cut down in certain areas of the park.

On the afternoon/evening drive we saw much of what we’d already seen but in slightly greater numbers and we were able to put names to the game which we had currently only been able to call antelope or deer thingy ma bobs. We parked up on a rocky outcrop to fully enjoy the sun set with biscuit and tea in hands, it did not disappoint. There peeking through the cloud was the unmistakeable African red sun, I think it is so red because of the dust here which gets everywhere!

Setting off again it was on to the spotlight and scanning the surrounding for any eyes reflecting the light, we saw more zebra and bush buck there was also a Denham bustard we scared away and a spotted eagle owl which was rather cool, a good moment but the great moment as I’ve said was the serval cat sitting posing for us. An absolutely stunning creature, we could see the spots and stripes and the big radar ears which blended it perfectly into the grass as well as equipping it for night time hunting. We didn’t see much more of note on the way back but I did stand up to poke my head out of the sun roof and properly admire the heavens laid out above us and the crescent moon casting its eerie unnatural light, spec-tac-u-lar!!!!!

The ultimate serenity of this place is brilliant and I want to come back in the rainy season when it is transformed into a rainbow of colours and lushness and the elephants come back up. The comfort and luxury of the lodge makes it an ideal holiday spot, even the campsite is in a great little spot if you do it on the cheap. The only challenge is to get your 4x4 up and down the dodgy track and from there it's plain sailing!