The Amazing Udzungwas
The Udzungwa mountains are extremely beautiful. The only way to see them is to trek through the forests and see some of the extraordinary wildlife they host.
These children just outside the National Park have this view to enjoy every day! photo by Malcolm Ryen
A tiny leaf Chameleon (Rhampolian sp) - photo by Malcolm Ryen
Photo of the mountain forest, by Sven Liebchen www.authentictanzaniasafaris.com
Udzungwa Mountains National Park lies west of Mikumi in Tanzania with a size of 1,990 km2 (770 miles2) The habitats contained within the national park include tropical rainforest, mountain forest, miobo woodland, grassland and steppe. There is a vertical height range of 250–2,576 metres (the peak of Lohomero) which incorporates the Udzungwa Mountains part of the Eastern Arc Mountains. There are more than 400 bird species, 2500 plant species (25% of which are endemics), and 6 primate species. It has the second largest biodiversity of a national park in Africa.
Six primate species have been recorded, five of which are endemic. The Iringa red colobus and Sanje crested mangabey +are only found in the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, the mangabey species was undetected by biologists prior to 1979.
Tourism in the Udzungwa Mountains National Park revolves around hiking and trekking, as the park has no roads and is accessible only on foot. The hiking trails range in difficulty from from the short one-hour Sonjo trek to the extremely challenging 6-day camping trek the Lumemo Trail. The most common walk is the Sanje Waterfalls trail which takes approximately four hours to complete and allows the visitor access to the stunning 170 m waterfall and includes swimming in the waterfall plunge pools as part of the activity.
Authentic Tanzania can arrange the whole safari for you, from getting there, camping or staying in Udzungwa Forest Lodge, and guided trekking.
Its good to see that people read my blogs - thanks to Francis, Emily and Roy for correcting my labelling of the leaf chameleon as a frog! Entirely my mistake, for which apologies - its now corrected. FM