North Pare Mountains and Kindoroko Forest

One of the most challenging things about living in Tanzania is the tease of world-famous protected areas such as Serengeti National park. Park regulations and fees make even the cheapest trip to a national park no less than $200 a day, per person! The vibe on the safaris is also a strange thing; most of the time you are roaming in packs with other vehicles from safari companies and upon seeing a lion, each car stops and dozens of tourists pull out their cameras to capture the moment. Although it's a beautiful thing to see these animals in their natural habitat, it doesn't exactly provide the intimacy that most nature lovers crave.

As a result, I've been trying to find natural areas in Tanzania where you don't have to pay an expensive park fee or hire a guide. Having already seen most of the iconic wildlife, my motivation is less about seeing animals and more about finding natural areas that allow me to connect to nature and provide me with some solitude.

With the recent purchase of my motorcycle, combined with notable progress with my Swahili, I was finally feeling up to the task of exploration. Ana and I decided we would try to go to the Kindoroko Forest which is located in the North Pare Mountains. The North Pare Mountains are part of the East Arc Mountain range, a chain of mountains that runs from southern Tanzania to southern Kenya.

There was surprisingly little information about Kindoroko Forest, which only added to the adventure. The only thing we knew was that the local people had traditional beliefs about the forest being a sacred place and it was considered a biodiversity hot-spot by several conservation groups. We considered it a "scouting" trip and we planned to ride to the nearest village called Usangi and attempt to find the forest from there. We weren't even sure how long it would take to get there as it was maybe only 100km away but with mountains and unpaved roads it would be foolish to assume the distance would be an accurate gauge of how long it might take.

The drive to Usangi was pretty straightforward and we stopped to ask for directions wherever there was a junction. When we turned from the main highway to Usangi we immediately started to climb and we didn't stop till we reached the town. We gained about 700m (2,200 ft) from the main highway up to the village. Part of the road was paved and even the part that wasn't was in pretty good condition. There were stunning views of the savanna as we went up and once we got into the mountains it felt otherworldly as we wound around densely covered peaks surrounded by clouds. After about 2 1/2 hours, we reached our destination of Usangi.

Looking east from the road climbing the mountains to Usangi. 

Mountains on the road to Usangi. 

We were extremely pleased to find a guesthouse in Usangi and we got a room for TZS 15,000 ($9.18). For being located in a village, the guesthouse was pretty nice and we had a boost in Swahili confidence as the clerk did not speak any English. We checked the guest book and saw that foreigners were rare (the last had visited in December) and nearly every one came with a guide. We contemplated asking around for a guide to the forest but decided to just make our way east and ask as we went.

I absolutely loved being back in a rural area with friendly people smiling and waving or staring open mouthed in bafflement over the two wazungu (foreigners) on a motorcycle. Whenever we stopped and asked for directions people were very friendly and helped us find our way. Our Swahili confidence dropped a bit during these interactions as many of the complex directions were beyond of vocabulary. Still, we managed to keep climbing the mountains transitioning from tiny dirty road to even tinier dirty road.

The view on the way to the forest. 

Welcome sign to Kindoroko forest. 

We eventually found ourselves at a junction with a welcome sign and a few paths that were too narrow for the motorcycle. There was an old woman walking and we asked her where the trail was. She told us to keep coming up one of the paths with the motorcycle and we would find her house. We told her we would explore one of the nearby paths and perhaps come later. The Swahli confidence dropped again but we had found the forest and headed down a trail.

The first trail we tried was short though beautiful. We saw some blue monkeys passing through the canopy and followed a small trail along a river until it finished. When we came back out we decided to follow the old woman's advice and headed further up the trail.

When we reached the house it was obvious it was the end of the road. Two older women and a man greeted us and as we tried to explain our desire to walk in the forest we realized our Swahili had reached its limit. The man called one of his daughters and a young woman came and greeted us. She spoke as much English as we spoke Swahili so the situation did not greatly improve. After some time we finally realized they wanted us to climb up the steep slopes behind their house, at which point we would find trails that led to the forest. They only instructed us to "not get lost" and we assured them we would do our best.

Climbing up to the trail from the house at the end of the trail. 

As we walked around the trail we realized how easy it would be to get lost in the massive forest. We were careful to stick to the main trails and marked any junctions that would cause confusion on our way back. The forest was beautiful and the elevation resulted in several distinct forest habitats. The bird life was rich, though difficult to see in the forest. My highlights were seeing a very elusive Fischer's Turaco, as well as a chance sighting of an African Emerald Cuckoo. We saw a few endemic species and spent hours trekking the various trails throughout the forest.

African emerald cuckoo. 

Fischer's Turaco. 

Still, we didn't even scratch the surface of the forest! We took some GPS points and later realized we were only in the northern section of the forest with much room for exploration. There were some absolutely jaw-dropping vistas overlooking the savanna and other small volcanic mountain ranges. Before we even left the forest we planned on taking a longer trip with trail markers and a better GPS device to track our progress.

Vista from a trail. 

After a long trek we came back to the house we set out from. The family was still at home and upon our arrival one of the women insisted we sit down and have some chai. We were extremely happy to join them and we enjoyed a cup of tea and they asked us several questions. Our Swahili confidence was back up after we explained where we were from, how long we were in Tanzania for and when we were going to come back. I explained my reservations about the rainy season and the accessibility of the road and we told them we would definitely be back soon. As we headed back down towards the village we declared our "scouting mission" a huge success!

Ana enjoys tea with our new friend. 

Kindoroko Forest Blog Entry Part II