The Mulanje Massif, also known as Mount Mulanje, is a large isolated block of mountains in southern Malawi near the city of Blantyre, rising sharply from the surrounding plains of the tea-growing Thyolo district. It measures approximately 13x16 miles (22x26 kilometres) and has a maximum elevation of 3,002m at its highest point, Sapitwa Peak. Sapitwa is in fact the highest point in Central Africa.
Much of the Massif consists of rolling grassland at elevations of 1800-2200m, intersected by deep forested ravines. It has many individual peaks reaching heights of over 2500m, including Chambe Peak, the West Face of which is the longest rock climb in Africa.
The Massif was formed by the extrusion of magma into the earth's crust about 130 million years ago. The surrounding rock eroded away over time, leaving behind the erosion-resistant igneous rock of the Mulanje Massif. The first European to report seeing the Massif was David Livingstone in 1859, but archeological investigation reveals evidence of human visits to the Massif from the Stone Age onwards.
The forested slopes of the Massif support a sizable timber industry. At one time there was a cableway to transport timber from the edge of the plateau down to the Likhubula Forestry Station, but it fell into disrepair, and currently planks are carried down manually.
The Massif is popular for hiking and climbing, and has several mountain huts scattered across it. Sapitwa peak was first climbed in 1894, and is now the most popular climb on the plateau.
MountMulanje consists of a cluster of coalescing plutonic intrusions of syenite, quartz-syenite and granite, which are uplifted and faulted (Chapman 1991).
Amongst the amphibians, one frog subspecies (Rana johnstoni johnstoni), a squeaker frog (Arthroleptis francei) and a ridged frog (Ptychadena broadleyi) are strictly endemic to the ecoregion.
A subspecies of the olive-flanked robin-chat (Cossypha anomala macclouniei) is endemic to MountMulanje.
Mulanje Hospital is located in southern Malawi, 80 kilometers from the country's largest city, Blantyre, and 15 kilometers from the Mozambique border.
The hospital is in a rural area of tea plantations and subsistence farms, at the foot of the magnificent MountMulanje.
Once known as a maternity hospital, Mulanje today is a 182-bed general hospital that includes a men's ward, a pediatric unit, and an outpatient department.
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