Lugalo Forest Reserve

Looking north

This past weekend we decided to get out of our dry habitat and search for some highland forests. We hard heard that the Eastern Arc forests stretch into Iringa, though on the opposite side of the region that we live. Because the roads are often in poor condition, one can never know how long it will take to reach an isolated forest reserve. Compounding things further is that most of the forest reserves were gazetted because the area is hilly and thus the forest is difficult to exploit. However, one must take some chances and explore the areas so we gathered as much info as we could and tried to identify a route to Lugalo Forest Reserve (officially gazetted as Kisinga-Rugaro Forest Reserve but known locally as Lugalo).

Lugalo is a huge reserve at about 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres) so we decided to try to enter from the north as it's closest to the Iringa-Dar es Salaam highway. We drove about an hour out of Iringa and then turned south to climb up towards the reserve. We found a decent track of road that was at times quite steep and rocky but certainly passable and lightly maintained. Although I was focused on staying on the track and not getting a puncture from the jagged stones, I was able to appreciate the view as we climbed up.

We eventually reached an open grassy area with stunning views to the villages below. We stopped and greeted a woman at a makeshift shack that was used to house some workers in charge of maintaining a water intake site in the forest reserve. On our way up we were surprised to pass an older guy in a decent looking pick up truck but now it made sense. We thanked the woman and made our way to the edge of the reserve and parked our car.

There was a very clear and well maintained road that went through the reserve but we opted to walk since the forest looked quite inviting. We spent the next three hours walking through a variety of habitats from secondary montane forest to open grasslands. The forest didn't show the heavy signs of exploitation that I had expected though it was obvious the area was likely logged heavily decades ago. The forest reminded us of other Eastern Arc forests that we had become so familiar with in the north (Kindoroko, Minja, Shuguya) and having spent the last few months in a dry area, it felt good to be in a moist and green environment.

The scouting trip couldn't have been more successful and we look forward to returning to do some camping. Most of our hiking was at or above 2000m (6,500 ft), so we have to make sure to bring some warm clothes and a heavy sleeping bag!

Checking the bird book

A clearing in between the forest

Nice forest behind us

A cool little grove