Destination guide

Mbeya Highlands

Tanzania's cool, green Southern Highlands, home to Kitulo's 'Garden of God', crater lakes and the shores of Lake Nyasa.

Mbeya is the lively hub of Tanzania's Southern Highlands, a bustling town cradled by fertile mountains near the Zambian and Malawian borders. This is a landscape of misty peaks, tea and coffee estates, waterfalls and volcanic crater lakes, a world away from the savannah safari image of the north. Highlights include Kitulo National Park, the flower-carpeted plateau known locally as 'Bustani ya Mungu' (the Garden of God), the dramatic Ngozi crater lake, Mount Rungwe and the nearby beaches of Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi). Cool, scenic and wonderfully off the beaten track, the Mbeya Highlands reward hikers, botanists and independent travellers.

By the numbers

~2,600 m

Kitulo plateau

the 'Garden of God' flower park

350+ plants

Kitulo flora

including many ground orchids

2nd largest

Lake Ngozi

crater lake in Africa

nearby

Lake Nyasa

Africa's ninth-largest lake, at Matema

MBI

Airport

Songwe Airport, serving Mbeya

Kitulo 2005

First flora park

first in tropical Africa for its plants

Best time to visit

The dry season from June to October offers the clearest skies for hiking and mountain views. For Kitulo's famous wildflower displays, visit in the wet season from around late November to April, when the plateau bursts into bloom, though roads can be muddy; the highlands are cool year-round, so bring warm layers.

Common questions

It is the local name (Bustani ya Mungu) for the Kitulo Plateau, protected as Kitulo National Park, a high montane grassland famed for its spectacular wildflower and orchid displays and dubbed the 'Serengeti of Flowers' by botanists.

The wildflowers bloom during the wet season, roughly late November to April, which is the best time to see the plateau in full colour, though the roads can be muddy and a 4x4 is advisable.

Not in the classic big-game sense; the Southern Highlands are about hiking, crater lakes, wildflowers, tea estates and Lake Nyasa's beaches, making the region ideal for nature lovers and independent travellers rather than traditional game drives.

You can fly from Dar es Salaam to Songwe Airport (MBI) near Mbeya, or travel overland on the TAZARA Railway or long-distance buses along the Tanzam Highway; the town is also close to the Zambian and Malawian borders.