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 biodiverse 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 meters (820 feet) to above 2,000 meters
(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.