Amani Forest Reserve: Trip III

After a brief rain the moisture was hanging in the air.

We had visited Amani Forest Reserve in 2014 and 2016 and really love the place. We wanted to spend some more time in the forest but we unfortunately had our trip cut short (Trip I, Trip II) due to COVID-19. We planned to stay a few nights but due to uncertainty on how the nation would handle the first few cases we decided to head back home. We still got a chance to get out one day and do some hiking and birdwatching.

The drive up from Muheza was quite muddy this time of year and took around 1:40 to reach the village of Amani. The resthouse that we had previously stayed at was under construction (about a half hour down the hill from Amani proper) which means it will probably have some decent facilities in the near future. When we reached Muheza we found the Amani HQ had a previous booking and was full! We couldn't believe it but they directed us to another guesthouse, apparently the old malaria research station. There we found a comfy room in an old farmhouse type building set up on the top of a hill next to a river; extremely picturesque!

We immediately went to Kwamkoro Trail, one of the trails set in the interior of Amani. It's kind of weird because you must pass through a tea plantation to reach the trail head but there is an old logging road that is relatively flat. It's a beautiful walk through nicely preserved forest, the only drawback being that it's not a loop. We enjoyed an afternoon walk with some light showers, which I always feel like highlight the montane forest in a mystical way.

Unfortunately we got word of the first confirmed COVID-19 case that evening so we decided it was safer to head back home. It was still great to have even the briefest visit in the amazing forests.

Taking a picture of a forest is always a crapshoot.