Udzungwa Mountains

Overview

The Udzungwa Mountains, one of Tanzania’s most beautiful wilderness areas, have a high forest area and are a haven for mountain lovers. The mountains are part of an ancient mountain chain stretching from the Uluguru Mountains to the Udzungwa Mountains in Eastern Africa. Udzungwa’s wildlife is diverse, with ten species of primates, including some that are unique to Tanzania, such as the matundu galago and the mountain Warf galago (bush baby). Black monkeys, white monkeys, and blue monkeys are among the other primates. Over 200 bird species and 1200 buttery species have been identified.

The most popular route is the same falls trail, which leads through several forest zones to a body of water with a drop of over 170 meters. The first two have splash pools where you can swim for a refreshing experience, while the herd has the longest fall.

Udzungwa Mountains National Park

Udzugwa Mountains National Park is a wildlife sanctuary in central Tanzania located between the Iringa and Morogoro regions within the eastern arc mountains, 60 kilometers south of Mikumi National Park along the Mikumi Ifakara road. The national park was established in 1992 by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, the founder of the World Wide Fund, and covers a total area of 1,990 square kilometers.

It is home to a diverse range of wildlife, including elephants, bushbucks, palm civets, leopards, duikers, Miombo genets, hyenas, six primates, and over 400 bird species. Wasungwa, a Kihehe word that means “people who live on the sides of the mountains,” derived the name Udzugwa Mountains National Park.

Waterfalls

Udzungwa is the largest and most diverse of a chain of a dozen large forest-swathed mountains that rise majestically from eastern Tanzania’s flat coastal scrub. This archipelago of isolated massifs known as the Eastern Arc Mountains has also been dubbed the African Galapagos for its treasure trove of endemic plants and animals, most notably the delicate African violet. Among the ancient ranges of the Eastern Arc, only Udzungwa has been designated as a national park. It is also unique in Tanzania because its closed-canopy forest extends from 250 meters to over 2,000 meters without interruption.