Malawi has two Rift Valley Lakes - Lake Malawi and Lake Malombe - as well as Lake Chilwa and Lake Chiuta, which lie outside the Rift system. In all, over twenty per cent of Malawi is covered by water. In the north the Rift Valley Escarpment rises steeply from the Lake, reaching altitudes of 2500 metres, even more across the Lake in the Livingstone Mountains of Tanzania. Mountainous areas in the north include the beautiful Nyika Plateau and the forested Viphya Plateau. In the south the mystical Mulanje Mountain towers through the mist.