Udzungwa Mountains

I escaped from work to the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, a fantastic, unspoilt park with only walking trails.

It was a bit more DIY, I was going to camp and self cater, so I borrowed a pot, plate and cup from camp and headed off to Ifakara to buy my provisions. Ifakara is a veritable metropolis and I had met an Irish /Brazilian couple who lived there and told me about a supermarket which, at 6m x 6m, didn't really live up to my expectations but did have cheese and milk, treats indeed!

A quick stop in the market and then the requisite hour on the bus waiting. I stayed at a super place at the foot of the mountains called Hondo Hondo (Kiswahili for hornbill) and it's well named. I shared the campsite with Bella the donkey who I thought was very cute (plus could make a sacrifice to a hungry leopard if needed) until I came back from a wander to find her munching my washing.

I did a huge 17km walk which climbs just shy of 1km, so a challenge to the thighs & lungs on the way up and knees & ankles on the way down. I was accompanied by Mechek my guide with great english and patience. Also as there are buffalo and elephant in the park I had Dixon the ranger with his SMG. He made me a little nervous as he was behind me with a loaded automatic weapon on uneven terrain but he didn't fire off an unintentional volley when he tripped... phew!

It was a bit rainy at the beginning and quite cloudy most of the day, which I didn't mind as it meant it was cooler with some atmospheric cloud. The forest was amazing and we climbed through different terrain with lovely cool air in the higher riverine forest. 

I was lucky enough to see 2 endemic species; the udzungwa partridge and sanje monkey. Also saw 4 other types of monkey, oh and leopard and buffalo:

... leopard tortoise (above) and buffalo spider... 2 of my 'small' five.

We took a steep side trip to one of the waterfalls (Moyer Waterfalls). It's about the driest time of year now, I can only imagine what it's like in the wet season, must be quite a racket!

The butterflies were wonderful and because it was a cloudy, cool day we were able to really study them as they rested, wings akimbo,  trying to warm up.

This is definitely somewhere I would recommend, should you find yourself nearby. Be prepared to get very sweaty although there are waterfall pools that you can swim in to cool off!