Udzungwa National Park

The night before we wanted to leave Iringa I went to the bus terminal to find out what time the bus left.  I was told it departed at 12, which was odd considering most buses leave early.  I had read that Swahili time was different so I asked if that was English or Swahili time.  The woman then wrote that it was really 6 am, which made sense.  I asked how much it was and they told me a price I thought was too much.  I walked away and went back to the hotel to tell Tico what I’d found out.

The next morning, we arrived at the bus station at 5:30 am and were looking to buy a ticket.  They directed us to where the bus would show up and we waited.  I asked the driver how much a ticket was and he gave me a reasonable number.  Happy with the better price, we didn’t negotiate and took it.  We boarded and slept most of the way to Mikumi.  Everyone started getting off the bus so we followed suit.  We were directed to wait on the side for another bus that would take us the rest of the way to Mang’ula.  

After 20 minutes, a bus pulled up that was full of people.  We boarded and were instructed to sit next to the driver on the padding that covers the engine below.  Space was tight, but we looked out the window at Udzungwa National Park as we went.  The road turned to dirt for the last bit and we ended up covered in dust by the time we got off.

They dropped us in Mang’ula village and we fought off the offers to find us a room.  We walked away from the road and found a guest house nearby.  The price was right so we dropped our bags and went in search of our first meal of the day.  We ate and sampled different beers before walking around town.  The area is known for sugar cane and rice farming and it happened to be harvest season for the latter.  There were rice husks everywhere and almost every open space had a tarp with rice drying on it.  

 

As we had time, Tico decided to get his hair cut.  We found a hair salon in the center and waited as the barber shaved someone else’s head.  He got the details of what Tico wanted and started shaving away.  This time he changed it up and did away with a lot of the ‘soft’ hair on the top to make things easier.  Different people stopped in to see what was happening and the barber always answered that he was a pro. 

 

That night we were in bed by 6:30 pm and had planned to get up to watch the Tanzania vs Lesotho soccer match, but slept through it.  We were exhausted after several days of early mornings and ended up getting 12 hours without even trying.  The next morning, we went for chapati and chai from 3 women cooking on the side of the road.  They were very surprised to see us and thankfully, we’d learned to count to 5 so we were able to order without too much confusion.  

 

After we ate, we walked the few kilometers to the entrance to Udzungwa National Park.  As we reached the gate, there were a couple Iringa red colobus monkeys that were making their way across the street in the trees.  We were quoted the price for entrance fees and a guide and were shocked at the price.  Several minutes were spent trying to get out of taking a guide although we failed.  The discussions then changed to determine if it was worth the money.  After much back and forth, we finally gave in and said we’d do the Sanje circuit to see the waterfall. 

 

We paid the fees and then walked back to the road to wait for transportation.  A truck passed and then slowed.  He offered to take us to the starting point for a small fee so we jumped in.  We unloaded next to a metal gate that looked like it could have been someone’s property.  There was a man there checking tickets and then we started up the path through the rainforest.  

We passed trees that had signs in front of them and our guide explained more.  Several of them were used for medicinal purposes and he would identify the section that was used.  We walked up for most of the first half as we saw the waterfall from above before going down to look up.  The path crossed the river and we continued up to the middle waterfall.  We enjoyed the view and filled up our water bottles before continuing up to the top.

 

 

As this section had more of a drop, we were sprayed by the mist as we wandered around to get the best view.  Once we’d played around enough, we started to make our descent.  There was an opening in the trees and we stopped to take in the view of the fields around us.  It was flat for as far as we could see letting us look at the farms into the distance.

 

 

We walked along the same path to get down and then reached the bottom of the waterfall.  Looking up we could see where we’d just come from and also how high the actual cascade is.  The top was 170 m (558 ft) above and the water came crashing down to where we were standing.  While the volume was nothing in comparison to Victoria Falls, it was still impressive to see how the water came from the mountain and worked its way to the bottom.  On the way down, we passed several Sanje mangabey monkeys jumping amongst the trees.  

 

 

 

As we exited the park, Tico declined all the souvenir offers, but did accept the fresh coconut water.  Then we jumped into a shared taxi that was already full back to the village.  In usual style, when the driver wanted to pick up one more person he had to rearrange things.  He removed the headrest from the seat and used that to support the back of the seat that was then used as a bench.  The women rested against each other as we bumped along the dirt road.

 

We spent the evening enjoying dinner and then meeting up with a few guys we’d met earlier in the day.  They were playing video games in the movie rental store to unwind after their day.  We chatted for a bit, but were getting the early bus to Morogoro as a stopover on our way to Dar so we said our goodbyes and went to bed.

 

The next morning we took our bags back to the road and waited with other people for the bus to come.  We sat on the side, but told the man that sold us the tickets that we were there.  There was the noise of a bus coming and before we had time to react the ticket salesman ran over and grabbed our bags before sprinting across the street.  We started to gather our things, but as the bus came to a slamming halt while honking we realized we needed to move faster.  There was confusion as to what was happening, but the salesman took over and got us on the bus while managing to get our bags under the bus.  

 

 

It was nice to get somewhat off the beaten path and find a small village to see a different side of Tanzania.  We’d heard the South was very different from the North and we’d now be able to make a comparison as we worked our way up.  We also got to see both of the types of monkeys that are only found in this area as well as an impressive waterfall so the price was worth it in the end. 

Helpful tips:

• Tanzania National Park fees are not cheap for foreigners.  Expect to pay at least $35 USD per person per day.
• Udzungwa requires you to have a guide, which is another $24 USD.
• Swimming is allowed in 2 of the pools if you want to jump in.