Safari to Udzungwa

seriously ancient and important tropical forests

At 1900 square kilometres, Udzungwa Mountains is a substantial upland reserve which lies south of the main Tan-Zam highway some 325 km inland from Dar es Salaam.

These mountains form a part of the ancient Eastern Arc Range, which substantially pre-dates East Africa’s more obvious volcanic scenery.

The area is one of Africa’s rare islands of endemism, whose tropical forests harbour a huge range of rare and unique species.

Unfortunately most of these unusual plant and animal species are famously elusive and difficult to observe.

As a result, despite the presence of some interesting hiking routes into the mountains, the area remains very little-visited and of peripheral interest to the vast majority of travellers to Tanzania.

The appeal of the area is further reduced by significant human encroachment around the periphery of the reserve and the dearth of decent accommodation options.

The Udzungwa Mountains area is best visited during the Jun-Oct dry season months.

During the converse Nov-May green season, the area remains accessible since the main access road is largely a good sealed highway, but the high levels of rainfall in the forest can make the hiking trails rather challenging.

Getting there

The Udzungwa Mountains area does not feature on any of the regular flight routings around the country, although it may be possible to charter a plane into one of the airstrips on the neighbouring sugar plantation.

The area is almost always visited by means of an overland safari, usually out of Dar es Salaam, in which case you would most likely access the reserve from the road that turns south off the main TanZam highway at Mikumi and travels down the eastern side of the reserve.

When hiking into the forest you must be accompanied by a park ranger and your overland guide will probably also come along.

Where to stay

There really is a desperate shortage of decent accommodation options in this area.

The best option is probably the modest Udzungwa Forest Camp.

On the rare occasions that we are asked to include Udzungwa into an overland safari, we tend to either stay at Stanley’s Kopje Camp up in Mikumi and travel down by road for a day hike up to the main waterfall, or to arrive with a light bivouac camp and stay up in the forest itself.

usually visited as a day trip from Mikumi