Category: wildlife

Mallen Nihpit & Mallen Pitetik

On the large upland plateau of Nihpit in the mountains above Mwoakot are two expansive savannahs or fern meadows. Upland savannahs of this sort usually exist because the bedrock is shallow, but they are also periodically burned by residents, inhibiting the growth of larger shrubs and trees. Hunters say that the Philippine sambar deer that live in Pohnpei’s interior — probably introduced by the Germans from the Mariana Islands — are attracted to the ash. One hunting tactic is to lie hidden at such sites and wait for the deer to creep from the forest in the early dawn (photographers might use the same method). Both of the savannahs soak up rain and feed tributaries of the Ne Stream (Pilen Ne). The northernmost and the larger of the two meadows — about a half kilometer in length — is usually referred to as Mallen Nihpit. The other savannah is Mallen Pitetik. Birders and photographers will find this a wonderful place to camp and observe fauna rarely disturbed by human activity. The palm forests around the edge provide plenty of shade, and drinking water can be filtered at the stream about 100 meters away.

The hike begins on the right side of the unpaved secondary road opposite the track leading to the Wene Latter-Day Saints Church — 0.92 km (0.57 mi) past the Nanwou Stream bridge — and leads up to a farmstead. Your guide will stop at a cluster of residential buildings to ask permission to cross the family’s land before leading you on. About 160 m beyond this is the first of two major stream crossings — one on a log and the other across a covered wooden bridge. After the second bridge, the trail climbs steadily for 1.47 km (0.9 mi) at a 25% slope average into forests full of huge Terminalia carolinensis (kehma) — found only on Pohnpei and Kosrae — and Atuna racemosa, a tall, straight hardwood locally called ais. The latter have many uses including treatment of diarrhea and dysentery. The white nut inside the ais fruit is ground and mixed with red soil to produce paint for canoes, while the extremely hard and termite-resistant lumber is a favored building material. If you hike in the evening, keep an eye out for eerie salengen eni (Filoboletus manipularis), bioluminescent mushrooms said to grow in areas where ghosts reside (the name means “ghost’s ear”). The tiny fungus often grows from rotten logs and looks like clusters of eyes in the dark. Interestingly, some Pohnpeian parents are known to control misbehaving youngers by threatening to send them to places where the mushrooms thrive. At this point, hikers have reached the edge of the plateau and the remaining 1.08 km (0.67 mi) is relatively flat with a 6% slope average. There are four small stream crossings along the hike. The first three come down from Mallen Pitetik and converge, forming a high waterfall as they drop off the plateau; follow the second stream up for 0.34 km (0.2 mi) to reach that savannah. The last stream originates in Mallen Nihpit and makes a good place to filter/purify water when camping in the area.

• Plan for 8 hours for this hike.
• Please visit the Local Guides & Tour Operators page for a list of experienced guides available for hikes to Nihpit. Offer $50.00 for a group of five or less.

Map Guides >> Southern Kitti >> Nihpit Plateau