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Brooding and primeval, the forests of Udzungwa seem positively
enchanted: a verdant refuge of sunshine-dappled glades enclosed
by 30-metre (100 foot) high trees, their buttresses layered with
fungi, lichens, mosses and ferns.
Udzungwa is the largest and most biodiversity of a chain of a
dozen large forest-swathed mountains that rise majestically from
the flat coastal scrub of eastern Tanzania.
Known
collectively as the Eastern Arc Mountains, this archipelago of
isolated massifs has also been dubbed the African Galapagos for
its treasure-trove of endemic plants and animals, most
familiarly the delicate African violet.
through a misty spray into the forested valley below.
Udzungwa alone among the ancient ranges of the Eastern Arc has
been accorded national park status. It is also unique within
Tanzania in that its closed-canopy forest spans altitudes of 250
metres (820 feet) to above 2,000 metres (6,560 ft) without
interruption.
Not a
conventional game viewing destination, Udzungwa is a magnet for
hikers. An excellent network of forest trails includes the
popular half-day ramble to Sanje Waterfall, which plunges 170
metres (550 feet)
The
more challenging two-night Mwanihana Trail leads to the high
plateau, with its panoramic views over surrounding sugar
plantations, before ascending to Mwanihana peak, the
second-highest point in the range.
Ornithologists are attracted to Udzungwa for an avian wealth
embracing more than 400 species, from the lovely and
readily-located green-headed oriole to more than a dozen
secretive Eastern Arc endemics.
Four
bird species are peculiar to Udzungwa, including a forest
partridge first discovered in 1991 and more closely related to
an Asian genus than to any other African fowl.
Of six
primate species recorded, the Iringa red colobus and Sanje
Crested Mangabey both occur nowhere else in the world – the
latter, remarkably, remained undetected by biologists prior to
1979.
Undoubtedly, this great forest has yet to reveal all its
treasures: ongoing scientific exploration will surely add to its
diverse catalogue of endemics.
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TANZANIA