Udzungwa Mountains National Park

Udzungwa Mountains National Park is one of Tanzania's most unique and biologically important protected areas, protecting the largest and most biodiverse block of the Eastern Arc Mountains. Covering 1,990 square kilometers of pristine tropical rainforest, montane grassland, and rugged mountain terrain in south-central Tanzania, it is often called Africa's Galapagos for its extraordinary levels of endemism. Gazetted as a national park in 1992, Udzungwa is the only Tanzanian park where visitors must hike — there are no roads, no game drives, and no vehicles inside the park. Trails wind through primary forest to breathtaking waterfalls including the 170-metre Sanje Falls and up rugged ridgelines to Mwanihana Peak. The park protects six primate species, five of which are endemic to the Eastern Arc, including the Udzungwa red colobus and the Sanje mangabey — a monkey unknown to science until 1979. Botanists have recorded over 2,500 plant species and biologists more than 400 bird species, giving Udzungwa the second-highest biodiversity of any national park in Africa.