Amani Nature Reserve

Location of Amani Forest Reserve, about a 7-8 hour trip from Moshi. This map should give you an idea of how big Tanzania is!  

http://amaninature.org/

Background on area: 
I recently got a chance to head down south to the Amani Nature Reserve in Tanga Region. Amani Nature Reserve is part of the Eastern Arc Mountain Range in the East Usambara sub-region of the mountains (see my previous posts about trips to the North Pare section of the Eastern Arc range). The Eastern Arc Mountains are an isolated mountain chain formed through a cycle of block faulting and erosion that stretches from the Taita Hills in Kenya down to the Southern Highlands in Tanzania. Due to their age, status as forest “islands” and role as condensers of moisture from the Indian Ocean, the Eastern Arc forests are rich in endemic species. Many species have been geographically separated from their closest relatives for long periods. The mountains appear to serve both as a refuge for formerly widespread flora and fauna and as centers of speciation. Patches of forest such as the Amani Nature Reserve have been likened to the African equivalent of the Galápagos Islands in terms of their endemism and biodiversity.

Map of the Eastern Arc mountain range. I've visited Kindoroko in the North Pare and Amani in East Usambara. Also, notice the mountains that are yellow (including Kilimanjaro) that are geologically different, though extremely close in proximity. 

The Mbomole trail.

Amani Nature Reserve has an interesting story as it is located in an area heavily affected by human settlements. During the colonial period in the late 19th century, Germans extracted timber from the area, even having a railway running high up to the mountains to assist in transport. They also set up early hydroelectric plants and pumps to provide electricity and water to the settlements below. Aside from removing the majority of the primary forest in all but the steepest areas, they also introduced a "Botanical Garden" with the purpose of testing the suitability of tropical plants for commercial purposes in Tanzania. This Botanical Garden was maintained during British rule and it wasn't until 1950 that it was decommissioned. Still, you can't stop plants from growing and several of them have become highly invasive and threaten the local species, especially unfortunate considering that almost a quarter of the sub-montane plant species are endemic. 

Sigi information center, which used to be a railstation master's house, then a primary school, and now finally, a information center that was inconveniently not open on weekends.

The accommodation:
Amani Nature Reserve was set up as a reserve in 1997 by combining six forest reserves into a mixed-use conservation area. This included a range of land from previous reserves, parts of an old tea plantation, land cultivated by villagers, regenerating forest, and primary forest. There are basically two places to stay, one in Amani village and one at Zigi gate. The Zigi site is at the eastern gate and consists of a small guest house and a refurbished school/railway masters house turned conference center. The setting is idyllic; surrounded by beautiful forest and the constant audible flow of the strong Zigi river. The accommodations are more than adequate with electricity, running water, beds with mosquito nets and reasonably priced delicious food available for purchase.

The first night there were two Dutch girls that stayed at Zigi. The next day we saw them at Amani and they said they were going to stay at Amani that night as the rooms were "better". We didn't check them out but the guesthouse was on the edge of Amani village and next to a milk plant that ran a generator during the day. Although the Amani guesthouse is located closer to more trails, I thought Zigi was the perfect place to stay this time around.

The reserve: 

There was a path from Zigi that led to Amani labeled "Zigi Trail." There are a few trail maps that you download with enough digging online but we sadly forgot them. We later learned that it wasn't the end of the world since the trails were mostly extracted from a technical report from 1995 with directions such as , "After a fallen tree, a smaller junction soon turns right from the main trail." and my personal favorite (from the original report): "The track soon makes a sharp right, with a more open area ahead (the site of a former conifer plantation) [TRAIL NEEDS SLASHING FROM HERE]. On the path [THE SLASHING SHOULD NOT BE TOO ENTHUSIASTIC!] are plants ..." The technical guide is actually a very interesting read with deep botanical and historical information.

Me crossing the stream.

The trail was well trodden and full of exotic species. The forest felt immense and wonderfully regrown with the canopy obscuring most of the flight. It felt like a rainforest being extremely humid and the trail never strayed too far from the roaring river. Eventually we reached a small stream and passed over into a small village called Chemka. The village was extremely small and underdeveloped, though there were remnants of a power station on the other side of the river. The river was very impressive at this point, very wide with several layered waterfalls.

River at Chemka. 

The walk from Chemka to Amani village was extremely steep and wove through houses on the outskirts of the villages and yet more exotic species. Huge stands of Eucalyptus trees towered over one section and several small streams bisect the trail along the way. When we finally reached the top we were greeted with a beautiful view of the surrounding forest. 

View from Amani village.

We made our way to the Amani information center, which was also closed for the weekend. The guesthouse was open and we took a tea. A local guide started chatting with us and he wasn't pushy as he asked us what our plan was. He explained that most of the people that came prefer to not have a guide, which is okay as most of the trails are well marked. Still, he spotted the bird book in my hand and suggested that if we went with him we could visit the bird hotspots. I told him that we weren't so interested in seeing birds as much as we were in finding trails that were in the most isolated points of the reserve with the most pristine forest.

After chatting with him I felt a bit bad as we were pretty sure we didn't want to take a guide. Still, these guys were obviously trained at some point and the majority of tourists that reach Amani are probably very similar to myself. I also felt bad because I wanted to milk him for all his guide-like information without paying him and in the end he was pretty helpful. He pointed out a trail that we could take that day and gave detailed instructions regarding certain junctions in which we could lose our way. This was the other conundrum I was facing; many of the trails were poorly marked and leading to farmland. We had a full day the following day and I didn't want to waste it on dead end trails.

When I told him that I really wanted to walk in primary forest, he called over another guide named Salim. Salim was much more local and less savvy than the other guy. I asked him in Swahili if he knew birds and he answered without hesitation, "no." This actually convinced me to hire his services for the next day. I appreciated his honesty and both the guys had a very nice vibe that didn't seem false or pushy just to get a tourist tip. We decided he would meet us at Zigi camp the next day and he'd take us to a trail of primary forest.

That afternoon we took the route recommended to Mbomole Hill. It was about a three-hour round trip walk from the information center. The trail started as an old logging road and then continued on a more narrow path. We decided to take a short rest and sat on a log. We sat down in silence and drank some water and within a minute, out of the corner of my eye, I saw an African-crowned eagle land not more than 10 meters (30 ft) away on a branch. A fierce and elusive predator, the crowned eagle feasts on mammals and has been known to eat prey weighing up to 25 kg (50 lbs). It was probably drawn by the nearby calls of monkeys (which it eats) and to see one perch so close in the vast expanse of the forest was one of the most intimate wildlife experiences I've had.

As we continued up the trail we saw a troop of blue monkeys in the trees. They were alarmed by our presence but didn't flee wildly, rather they went to the tops of the trees and kept a close eye on us. The trail wound up to the top of a bare rock face where a beautiful vista displayed the surrounding forest and a tea plantation in the distance.

View from the top of Mbomole Hill. The bright green spot is a tea plantation. 

The next day we set out early with our guide and walked our way up a very steep path. The forest was beautiful primary forest, though the steep climb required most of our focus. The trail was considerably less trodden than other trails we had walked with good reason; the trail merely climbed to a short flat peak with all views obstructed by trees, and looped back down to one of the main trails. There was no vista, no river, nothing but primary forest. Still, if you love the forest, it was the best trail we had found.

Our guide was lively and lacked the fake charisma that some nature guides have. I liked it because he was from the area and trained as a guide but ultimately chose the job for the financial opportunity, not for his love of nature and conservation. I think there is always a romantic view of conservation where locals are convinced of the importance of conservation after some educational workshops and viewings of Planet Earth. The reality is more reflective of the hierarchy of needs that humans face; first taking care of their food security and financial situation.

I was initially annoyed because while we started our hike he answered his cell-phone several times but luckily we were soon out of range. We didn't chat much during the hike, though he did point out some interesting botanical facts, though many were proven mixed up after later cross checking. Still, I appreciated his effort and in the end he revealed a lot about the management of the area. He said the the community gets 60% of the fees, individuals get 20%, and the government gets the remaining 20%. He explained that a yearly payment of 500,000 Tzs (about $300) was sufficient for the majority of people to be very happy with the conservation efforts. He also said they supported a dairy, fish pond, and other income-generating projects.

The recent conservation activities are even more shocking when you look at the history of the area. Exploited for timber and intensive agriculture since 1890, it's a wonder the area still maintains it's unique biodiversity. In fact, two massive tea plantations (nationalized during the socialist 70's) remain in the midst of the forests. It's part of the reason why the forest is so fragmented, perhaps a microcosm of natural resource management everywhere.

All in all, Amani was a beautiful, though rarely visited area. A quick look in the guest book showed about 3-4 foreign tourists a month. Eight hours from Moshi and eight hours from Dar es Salaam means a special and multi-day trip is usually needed. It's only about a 1/2 hour away from the beach town of Tanga, which may tempt those yearning for a beach and cocktail. All these factors lead me to believe that Amani is a hidden gem!

Crossing the river. 

The river at its calmest point.