Tourism in Udzungwa National Park - Africa Natural Tours ( africanaturaltours.com )
Tourism in Udzungwa
National Park: Africa Natural Tours
AFRICA
NATURAL TOURS (The best tour company in Tanzania)
Specialized
in: Wildlife safaris, Cultural tourism,
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Udzungwa
is the largest and with most biodiversity and 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 as the African Galapagos
for its treasure-trove of endemic plants and animals, most familiarly being the
delicate African violet.
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
alone among the ancient ranges of the Eastern Arc has been accorded the
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.
Although
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) through a misty spray into
the forested valley below.
The
more challenging two-night Mwanihana Trail leads to the high plateau, with its
panoramic views over the 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 the 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.
Location:
Five hours (350 km/215 miles) from Dar es Salaam; 65 kms (40 miles) southwest
of Mikumi.
Getting there
Drive
from Dar es Salaam or Mikumi National Park.
What to do
From
a two-hour hike to the waterfall as well as camping safaris.
Combine
with nearby Mikumi or en route to Ruaha.
For more information
visit www.africanaturaltours.com
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