Kindoroko Forest Part IV

View of the Pares in the morning.

We've taken some previous trips (Part I,Part II,Part III) to Kindoroko Forest and it may be our favorite "nearby" location to take a weekend trip. We have never seen another person in the forest, it's only about an hour and half to two hours away, and it's a completely different habitat than Moshi area.

Because the forest is so difficult to reach, we usually take our motorcycle and drive up as far as we can, park at the nearest house, and hike up into the forest. It's only about a 10 minute hike at a nearly level gradient from the house to the trailhead. However, we wanted to find if there was a trail from the main road in case we wanted to bring visitors without  motorcycle. 

A eucalyptus tree demarcating the boundary and the fog covered peak of Kindoroko.

This woman led us down a very steep road to the main road and back up. Note her lack of shoes.

We found a trail leading down towards the main road and followed it for about 15 minutes. The forest gave way to clearings, initially single trees cut down and eventually large areas cleared for agriculture. At the first house we arrived at we asked the woman living there if there was a path to the main road. She said we would get lost so she would show us. We headed down a maze of a path through houses and farmland built on the steep hillside. It only took about 20 minutes but it was extremely steep and when we eventually reached the main road it was much further from where I had previously envisioned.

Upon returning to the forest we decided to try out some new trails. We found a beautiful trail that eventually met up with the main summit trail. There was a small clearing offering a vista to the southwest and we watched the fog rolling over the mountains. The weather was beautiful (in my opinion) a quintessential montane rainforest day with cool temperatures, little sunshine, and a heavy dose of fog rolling in and out of the forest.

Although we didn't reach the peak, we spent a very enjoyable day hiking and were happy to discover some new trails. Not every trail is very well demarcated and some are surely hunting/trapping trails that have fallen to disuse. However, it's easy to not get lost as there are really only two primary directions; up and down!

Fungus!

A view of the south west as the fog rolls in.

On the trail in the forest.

A very cool flower.

Walking along a small man-made stream used for irrigation.

There's a part in the trail covered in ferns.

Tons of cool plants in the forest.

Tree fall requires some flexibility to get through.