The Usambara Mountains

Muhtasari

The Usambaras are two blocks of old forested mountain in Tanga Region, the north-eastern end of the Eastern Arc, and their stability over millions of years has produced an extraordinary number of species that exist nowhere else. The East Usambaras are reached through Amani Nature Reserve, Tanzania’s first forest nature reserve, where the birding is the main event: Usambara eagle-owl, Usambara weaver, Usambara akalat, Amani sunbird, banded green sunbird and a long list of Eastern Arc endemics, many of them described from these forests in the first place. The West Usambaras, above the town of Lushoto, are cooler, more cultivated and better set up for walking, with viewpoints over the Maasai Steppe and a network of village-to-village trails. This is a destination for walking, birding and plants — the African violet is from here — rather than for game drives.