Minja Forest: Trip III

Lake Jipe in the background. 

It's been a very long time since we have taken a trip to Minja Forest (Trip I, Trip II), most likely because we enjoy our trips to Kindoroko Forest so much. Still, Minja Forest is equally as amazing of a forest and pretty much the same distance, if not shorter. It had been long enough so we finally decided this weekend to revisit the forest.

One of the many reasons that we love visiting the North Pares is that we can leave after work on Friday and spend the night thus allowing us to have a full day Saturday and enough time to return early on Sunday. There is a very adequate guesthouse in a small village on the way to the forest and we were quite pleased that the owner remembered us from over a year ago. It was SO cold up in the mountains and although we had packed all of our cold weather gear, the motorcycle ride up had left us chilly to the core. Luckily a hot chai is always nearby in Tanzania!

The next morning it was very overcast and slightly drizzly. We were not discouraged and headed off the half hour or so to the forest. The landscape is not as steep as the area around Kindoroko and we enjoyed seeing small scattered villages and farmland. We finally made it to the forest reserve around 11AM, parked our bike at the closest house, and headed inside.

There is not a formal trail network system in the forest but we were armed with our GPS and the experience of our two previous trips. I had unfortunately left my machete at home and the first route we took in the "lowlands" area was a bit unsuccessful as we reached an area that had ambiguous trails with dense growth. We went back to the river where remnants of an irrigation system remained and we headed north up along a ridge. The trail led us to an exposed and rather dry part of the forest with stunning views of Lake Jipe. It was a beautiful spot and a perfect place to take lunch.

After the lunch we headed back deep into the forest. We saw a Great Sparrowhawk with a nest high up in a tree and we quietly climbed a hill to get a better look. We were fortunate to get to a vantage point where we were eye level with the nest and we could see a small chick inside! We then continued into the forest walking until we ran out of time and had to turn back. We found a new route through a very beautiful patch of forest and the sun even came out a few times! We now have two new routes that we want to take and we vowed that it would NOT be so long before we returned!

Do not fall into this ant trail. 

They were making a tunnel for more ants to climb through. I risked myself for this picture. 

Getting water at a 

Hiking along the ridge. 

A very cool and unusual fern. 

Scoping some birds. 

Typical trail by the river. 

I LOVE seeing a wall of green!

Some sunshine deep inside. 

Ana taking in the view in the forest. 

Some ants moving some larvae.

An awesome spider in our room. We enjoyed watching it run around the room until it hid in our jackets hanging on the door...then we did not enjoy that so much.