Udzungwa Mountains National Park is the largest and most biodiverse and consists of a chain of a dozen large forest-covered mountains rising majestically from the flat coastal bush of eastern Tanzania. This archipelago of isolated mountain massifs, known as the Eastern Arc Mountains, is also known as the African Galapagos because of its abundance of endemic plants and animals. The most famous is the delicate African violet.

The forests of Udzungwa Mountains National Park seem positively enchanted: a verdant haven of sun-drenched glades surrounded by 30-meter-high trees whose supports are covered with fungi, lichens, mosses and ferns.

Udzungwa is the only one of the ancient ranges of the Eastern Arc to have the status of a national park. It is also unique in Tanzania in that its closed forest extends without interruption over altitudes from 250 meters to over 2,000 meters.

Although Udzungwa is not a conventional wildlife viewing destination, it is a magnet for hikers. An excellent network of forest trails leads, among others, to the popular half-day hike to Sanje Waterfall, which plunges 170 meters through a misty spray into the forested valley below.

The more challenging Mwanihana trail, which takes two nights, leads to the high plateau with its panoramic views of the surrounding sugar plantations before climbing to Mwanihana Peak, the second highest point in the range.

Ornithologists are drawn to Udzungwa because it is home to more than 400 bird species, from the handsome and easy-to-find Green-headed Oriole to more than a dozen secretive Eastern Arc endemics.

Four bird species are found only in Udzungwa, including the woodhen, first discovered in 1991, which is more closely related to an Asian genus than to any other African bird.

Of the six primate species recorded, the Iringa red colobus and the Sanje crested mangabey occur nowhere else in the world-the latter remarkably undiscovered by biologists until 1979.

Undoubtedly, this magnificent forest has not yet revealed all of its treasures: Ongoing scientific exploration will surely contribute to its diverse catalog of endemic species.

Location: five hours (350 km/215 miles) from Dar es Salaam; 65 km (40 miles) southwest of Mikumi.

Directions

By car from Dar es Salaam or from Mikumi National Park.

What to do

From a two-hour hike to the waterfall to camping safaris.

Can be combined with nearby Mikumi or en route to Ruaha.

Accommodation

Camping within the park.

Bring all food and supplies.

Two modest but comfortable lodges with en-suite rooms 1 km from the park entrance.