Explore the beauty of Usambara with activities such as hiking in Amani Nature Reserve, exploring Mambo caves, and visiting Mkomazi Park. Discover the best adventure spots in Usambara! The Usambara Mountains is a bird paradise with many plants and animal species that occur nowhere else.Because of the picturesque villages, colourful markets and plantations, this lush area is a welcome retreat from the busy cities and game parks.

Winding paths and picturesque villages

The lush green Usambara Mountains have a cool climate and invite you make to beautiful walks with panoramic views .This Tanzanian kitchen garden is the international hotspot for biodiversity and a colourful introduction to a gem of Tanzania.

• Hiking

  A walk in this area, led by a local guide, is the best way to get in touch with the extremely friendly locals and experience the diversity of this extensive area.On a clear day, you see not only the grassy plains of Mkomazi, but also the Kilimanjaro.

• Mkomazi Park

  The Mkomazi National Park is a beautiful 3500 km2 national park in northern Tanzania. Remote and inaccessible at first, it was founded in 1951. From Mambo View Point Eco Lodge it’s only an hour and a half drive to the entrance of Kivingo.The Mkomazi National Park is a spectacular wilderness near the Usumbara Mountains, with the Kilimanjaro in the background. This is the land of wandering herds of elephants, oryx and zebras during the wet season. But also giraffes, hartebeests, lesser kudu, moose, impala and Grant’s gazelle, buffalo and many predators, including lions, leopards and cheetahs. A total of 78 species of mammals have been registered and 400 bird species, including hornbills, weavers and guinea fowls and the warlike eagle.

   

• Amani Nature Reserve

  The Amani Nature Reserve was established in 1997 to preserve the unique flora and fauna of the – less accessible – Eastern Usambara Mountains. The Amani nature reserve has a tropical cloud forest habitat. The submontane, evergreen forests grow especially on the sea side of both the west and east of the Usambara Mountains.

• Shangayu rainforest

  Visit the Shangayu rainforest, a primeval forest with a great biodiversity of flora and fauna. Various monkey- and bird species inhabit this area.

• Animals in the area

  Because the Usambara Mountains have been isolated for quite some time, its flora and fauna contain many unique species.

  Common animals include the diver antelope and wild boar, two types of monkeys and many bird species.

• Mambo caves

  The settlement of the Usambara Mountains goes back 1.5 million years. Traces of which were found near the village of Mambo and can still be seen, including in the Ngozoi or Mambo caves. The caves must have been created by a heavy earthquake causing a number of very large rocks to overlap. Earthquakes with an impact this heavy aren’t known in recent Tanzanian history, meaning they must have an ancient origin too. Because the Usambara Mountains is about 100 million years old, this is quite possible. These caves show traces of old and more recent habitation.