Kilombero Valley: Canoe trip on the river

Egrets, cormorants and herons colonize a small patch. 

After our backpacking trip to the Udzungwa mountains, we decided to go on a leisurely float on the river in the nearby Kilombero Valley. The Kilombero Valley, which covers an area of 6,650 km² (1,643,250 acres), consists of a seasonally inundated floodplain fringed by miombo woodland and fragments of Eastern Arc evergreen forest. It is of considerable biological interest in its own right; it was designated as a Ramsar site in 2002 in recognition of its internationally important wetland habitats, and is recognized by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA). However, its large size and distance from other premier national parks makes it a less visited area in Tanzania.

We went to the ferry at Kivukoni, about 10 minutes south of Ifakara, the day before our trip and sought out small time operators. The ferry crosses only about 30m of river with a few dozen people and a couple vehicles. The ferry crossing had a few enterprising shops set up but was quite small and devoid of anything more than what I would call a shack.

Ferry crossing at Ifakara. 

Moving on our Udzungwa guide's advice, we were quickly spotted by two enterprising guys who offered to take us down the river. After some tough negotiations we agreed on $55 USD for renting a canoe and their paddling services for a day, camping at night, and return the next day. We agreed to meet at 9AM the next day.

When we arrived to the river the next day it was apparent we were "getting what we paid for". A local dug out canoe with bottle crates as seats and some constant leaks was our mode of transport. The back rower had a traditional paddle (used to also periodically scoop out water that had leaked inside) while the front paddler had a long bamboo pole to push off the bottom with, ala Italian riviera style.We set off west as the crew indicated that there were fishermen to the east and we were better off seeing birds to the west. We agreed and headed out.

We chatted with the guys about their business and they said they receive maybe one or two guests a month, mostly birders from Europe. They said few take the canoes and most prefer a motorboat to cover more ground. We were surprised as they seemingly didn't speak any English and weren't exactly to the standard of trained guides but were very perceptive of our interest in birds and stopped when they sensed we wanted a closer look. We had seen advertisements from tour companies that offered canoe trips in covered canoes but they were pricey at around $80 USD/person per day.

This was not a luxury canoe. 

The day began well enough but after a few hours we were suffering from the heat. The south is significantly hotter than the north where we live and it was a particularly cloudless day. We had come prepared with our hats and long sleeves but after a few hours my binoculars were hot to the touch. We stopped at a fishing outpost for some lunch and it became apparent that we were both suffering. We discussed with our guides and we agreed to go to the camping spot, rest a bit, and then turn back and reach back to Ifakara by the evening. I think we were overzealous and our energy reserves and desire to camp again after our long trip in the Udzungwa's were quite low.

Italian riviera? Not quite. 

A lone pied kingfisher watches on the top of a very long reed. 

One of the fishermen villages we passed. 

A nice piece of the river. 

The food shack we ate at with old canoes used as benches. 

Freshly roasted fish! 

Fishermen are casting a net on the beach. After surveying the camping area completely devoid of shade, we decided it was better to just head back. 

On our return back to Ifakara we spotted some storm clouds in the distance. An advantage of the plains is being able to see the weather and a disadvantage to being in a swampy area is there are limited places to stop. The storm ended up hitting us and we were forced to push up against the shore in our rickety canoe and wait out the storm. I felt like an exposed zebra on the plains of Serengeti during a rainstorm and there was nothing I could do but lean over my bag to try to keep it try and take in the pounding rain. It was amazing how fast I went from being close to hotter than I've ever been in my life to being cold enough to entertain the idea of hypothermia. After about a half hour the rain subsided and we finished the journey back to the ferry.

All in all it was one of the least successful of our "off the beaten trail" adventures though it was cheap and we did see some great wildlife and enjoy some time on the river. The fishing villages were pretty cool to visit as they weren't touristy and allowed us to glimpse the life of the local fishermen. With everything conducted in Swahili it was also a great confidence boost and a reminder that yes, language learning pays off when traveling to lesser traveled areas of the country!

A rainbow spread across the sky on our way back to town. 

How we have even have dry patches on our shirts, I don't know. 

Udzungwa National Park: Lumemo Trail

Classic rainforest trail at the beginning of the hike. 

Beautiful waterfall. 

Ana with a forest backdrop. 

Cloud covered mountains greeted us in the morning. 

Very green!

View of Mwanihana peak (2080m). 

Looking out into the forest. 

Classic view of the forest. 

Rain was on it's way. 

Hiking through the grasses. 

With a long winter holiday and a desire to get out of the city, we decided to try to go to one of the lesser visited national parks in Tanzania, the Udzungwa Mountains in the south of Tanzania. We narrowed down our choices by looking at the different places where we could go hiking for extended periods of time and avoid paying outrageous national park fees. It seemed fitting we would choose Udzungwa as it is part of the Eastern Arc mountains, the same chain that contains Kindoroko (1,2,3), Minja forests, and Amani Forest Reserve, all of which we have visited.

Udzungwa forest chain is in the southern part of the Eastern Arc mountains. We have previously explored the North Pare and East Usambaras. 

After some research, we decided to go for the longest hike we could possibly do in the park. We did a 5 day/4 night trek covering 65 km (40 miles). The trail was called "Lumemo" trail and the ranger told us that usually only two groups a year do it and we were the last group of the year. The trail follows a few rivers as it weaves through tropical rainforest, mountain forest, miombo woodland, grassland and steppe. The rainy season (January-May) makes the trail impassable and they usually do one clearing in June, though the trail is typically constantly overgrown due to lack of use.

During the planning process, the information was a bit unclear so we came with all our food and camping supplies, though we later learned that we could have hired a cook and porters if we would have liked. Still, we were happy as we could keep it relatively cheap as we would end up paying over $500 in park and camping fees anyway. Taking a guide and an armed ranger was compulsory and although we would have preferred to hike alone, both proved invaluable, to say the least.

We were the only ones on the trail and from the first hour, we didn't hear a sound of civilization until five days later. I could go on and on about the beauty of the place but I'll let the pictures do the talking.

If you look at the grass on the left of the river you can see its been trampled by elephants. 

Bush-whacking while enjoying the view. 

Miombo forest offered a change of landscape. 

Walking along the ridgeline. 

Descending down. 

Beautiful forest!!!

The grass was at times, above our heads. 

The river was never far. 

Elephants and buffaloes frequented this place high up in the mountains to scratch for minerals. 

One of our campsites. 

Picture of the tallest peak in the park, Luhombero Peak (2579m)

Ana is not pleased with the elephant skeleton that we saw.

Being a forest, most wildlife was either heard but not seen, or evidence scattered throughout. Aardvark burrows, elephant dung, civet shit, bush pig burrows, and other evidence was scattered among the trails. We even saw a full elephant skeleton! I was shocked to know that elephants lived in the forest habitat and feared "bumping" into one as the dense vegetation was conducive to panic. Although we didn't see any, we did FEEL a group as we passed through a point in the trail. As we passed an area on the trail we stopped at some rustling and heard a trumpeting alarm call, then felt rumbling from elephants no further than 10m from behind us!

We spotted some African buffalo in the river as they bathed and grazed and the armed ranger came in handy when we arrived at one of our campsites and there was a herd of buffalo hanging out in the river. They looked edgy as we tried to scare them with loud noises, so one shot in the air cleared them out. However, the biggest wildlife spotting was of the rare endemic elephant shrew, the grey-faced sengi (Rhynchocyon udzungwensis), discovered only in 2005. The bizarre animal was easily identified by the guide due to its peculiar gait, size, and shape.

There were also a handful of primates that we saw like the black and white colobus (colobus guereza, highland), yellow baboons, and the endemic Iringa red colobus. But the forests here aren't known for their big mammal wildlife, rather they're known for their startling number of endemic species of insects and plants.  In fact, 25% of the plant species in the mountains are endemics! The Eastern Arc mountains are known as the "Galapagos islands of Africa" for good reason and I saw more species of bizarre insects than I ever could have imagined.

Overall the experience was unforgettable. It was one of the most physically demanding trips I have ever taken and the worst was finishing a strong day of hiking and reaching camp, only to have to clear space for camp with a machete! The numerous endemic insects and plants also had a field day irritating my skin and I came out bumpy and rashy, but thoroughly refreshed!

Posing for a pic on the ridgeline of a miombo forest. 

Ana and I pose in the high grasses. 

End of the trip, everyone with a happy face and shirt full of sweat. 

Bus ride from Moshi to Ifakara: Too old for this!

Map of Tanzania and our journey. 

Our journey to Udzungwa National Park was quite challenging due to the distance between Moshi and Ifakara. Since there are no direct buses we had to split the journey into two legs: one bus from Moshi to Morogoro (8 1/2 hours) and then Morogoro to Ifakara (6 hours). Since the bus leaves early in the morning, it's tempting to just continue on the journey since arriving at Morogoro at 2:30 feels like there is plenty of time and perhaps not worth losing another day of travel and staying in a guesthouse. Still, at the end of the second leg during hour 13, we were left wondering if we made the right decision.

The first half the journey was notable as our bus was overheating and something appeared to be wrong with the radiator. We stopped and opened the engine (which is between the driver and the door inside the bus) and a massive amount of heat and fumes spilled into the bus. The conductor poured water into the radiator and was apparently trying to flush out the old water though it's unclear exactly what was going on, other than people suffocating slowly in the bus. We had to stop a few times repeating this procedure and luckily it was in the last hour of our journey so we didn't despair too much.

When we booked our tickets, we went the day before and the guy declined to ask our names. We asked him why he didn't ask our names as they usually do and he said he'd remember us. The next day when we came we saw he had written "mzungu"(foreigner) in our seat slots B1 and B2. 

Nice grassland landscape somewhere along the way. 

This gentlemen was sleeping inside a gigantic tire. I thought it was notable. 

Sisel farms with mountains in the background approaching Morogoro. 

The journey from Morogoro to Ifakara was more trying as there was a women with three kids sitting behind us, all of which had possibly peed themselves. I'd like to think that due to years living in developing countries I have a pretty strong tolerance for the smell of urine but this really pushed me to the limit. The bus was a very old one, circa 1970's, with obviously outdated shocks and seats literally falling over. On top of that, the last two hours of the ride were on a dirt road (not smooth!) and I've never before been on a bus where the driver drives with such reckless abandon. My entire body was vibrating and I literally thought the bus was going to fall apart like a cartoon. The driver basically drove how I would drive if I was intentionally trying to damage the bus. Nonetheless, we made it.

Our way back to Moshi was equally entertaining and we had the benefit of a cool and cloudy day while traveling. It's one thing that can really make or break a bus trip in the tropics: the heat. Nothing like a layer of sweat acting like an adhesive to stick you to your seat or exchanging sweat with your neighbor from any part of your body which is contacting theirs. But as I said, this bus trip was relatively comfortable and uneventful.

Udzungwa mountains covered in morning mist.

Cool and cloudy day as we passed over a river. 

However, the second half return trip from Morogoro to Moshi was more trying. Apparently no buses originate in Morogoro so everyone is at the mercy of catching a bus that is coming from somewhere else. We were told to wait an hour for a bus to come from Mbeya. Seeing as it's 11 hours from Mbeya to Morogoro on a good day, I was thinking it would probably be delayed and I was correct as we ended up waiting about four hours. When the bus finally did arrive it was a chaotic scene was about six passengers jockeyed for open seats on the bus while the bus obviously didn't want to waste anytime on the long journey.

View of the mountains from Morogoro bus park. 

We managed to get inside and Ana scored a seat in the front while I got a seat packed in with a woman and her three kids. We eventually switched seats with someone so that Ana got to sit next to me though she had to have a child on her lap the entire time. I was also unfortunately victim of sitting on the woman's "garbage" bag, which was a hat soaked in pee with a bag with poop inside of it. I somehow didn't see that it fell underneath my butt on the seat at some point and although the smell of urine was strong, I had just assumed it was coming from somewhere else. This is a common occurrence as these long distance buses usually only stop once per every eight hours of the journey. There are a lot of children (and possibly adults) that soil themselves.

All challenges aside, the best part of our bus trip was going through Mikumi National Park. The road traveled 60km straight through the park and on the way there and back we got to see elephants, giraffes, zebras and a variety of ungulates. It was exciting to see locals get excited to see wildlife as I can assume everyone on the bus could never afford to go on a proper safari.

Zebras grazing at Mikumi National Park. We lucked out and there were about a dozen elephants next to the road but I wasn't quick enough on the draw with my camera. 

Since there was no airport nearby, we were forced to travel by road. However, this was one of the first trips where I truly felt, "I'm too old for this" and where I really felt the trials and tribulations affecting me negatively. The feeling was mutual among the traveling party as we began to discuss our financial situation and the possibility of purchasing a car in the future. I guess it takes sitting on a pee soaked hat filled with poop to prompt this conversation. 

Flora and Fauna: Baobab Tree

Baobab beginning to show its leaves. 

Africa's second most iconic tree to the Acacia is most certainly the Baobab (adansonia), though most are probably familiar with the species found in Madagascar. Of the nine species of baobab, only one is native to the African mainland (adansonia digitata). Baobabs are known to be old, big, and giant water storage tanks in drought prone areas, kind of like a cactus-tree.  They grow in height from 5 to 30 meters (16 to 98 ft) and have trunk diameters from 7 to 11 meters (23 to 36 ft). There is apparently a pub in South Africa that is literally inside of a tree reported to be 6,000 years old.

Crazy Baobab in dry times. 

An elephant seeking some moisture.  

They can do a lot of damage to the trees but typically leave them standing. 

Baobab tree in the wet times. 

Baobabs are deciduous trees and lose their leaves in the dry season for about 9 months of the year. Thus they typically look like an "upside-down" tree with branches appearing to be roots. During this time the trunk is full of water and in times of serious drought, elephants have been known to scrape the sides of the trees with their tusks in an effort to extract moisture. Their fruit also produces an edible delicacy, read more here.

Baobab trees are commonly found just south of Moshi. There is a strip on the highway to Dar es Salaam that is short but packed with Baobabs in the sparse and dry landscape.