Mufindi Highlands Flowers

Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is indigenous to Mexico.  Here it can grow to 10 feet and become very colorful. The colored bracts which are often mistake for flower petals are actually leaves.

Poinsettia flower.

A flower from the Aloea genus of which there are over 500 species of succulent plants native to tropical and southern Africa, Madagascar Jordan and the Arabian Peninsula. 

This tiny flower bloomed during the dry season. I could never find its leaves.

Hollyhocks with giant carpenter bee, maybe Xylocopa nigrita .

Scadoxus multiflorus is a bulbous plant native to most of sub-Saharan Africa. It is strongly toxic and is used as a component of arrow poisons and fish poisons.  African blood or fireball lily.

Brugmansia aurea, the golden angel’s trumpet, is in the family Solonacea. It is endemic to Ecuador.  It grows very rapidly and can reach 6 feet in a year from a cutting.

Jacaranda mimosifolia (jacaranda) is a widely planted species from a genus with 49 species in the Bignoniaceae family native to tropical and subtropical regions of Latin America and the Caribbean. It bloom around Christmas.

Erythrina abyssinica is a tree species in the Fabaceae family.  It is a leguminous species native to East Africa. Swahili: muhuti, mjafari, mwamba ngoma, mbamba ngoma.

Kitulo National Park

Gerry and I visited Kitulo National Park in the southern highlands of Tanzania during the first week of April 2018.  The park was established in 2002 to protect over 400 km² of montane grassland at an elevation of 2,600 m (8,500 ft) in Mbeya and Njombe regions.  Locally called “the Garden of God,” it is renowned for its highly diverse flora including many species of ground orchids.  Although the wildlife in the park is not remarkable, in 2005 a new species of primate was discovered, Kipunji, that is considered on of the 25 most endangered primates in the world.

We traveled by bus from Mbeya to Matamba, the gateway to Kitulo National Park.  The last leg of the trip to the village was a hair-raising climb of several thousand feet on a highly eroded dirt road.  I tried to avoid thoughts of what would happen if the breaks failed, a tire went flat or the motor stopped by looking far into the distance as the beautiful plains below gradually disappeared as we progressed slowly upward.   The town was dreary and unremarkable with few streets and widely scattered houses.  It was the village for a PCV who had just left after serving two years.

We met our guide at the highly recommended Joyce Grocery to plan the next day.  Americans would be surprised by the name, but we had already learned a grocery is a bar that serves food along with drink.  We stayed at the Mtanganyika Lodge, a brand new, rather nice and inexpensive hotel.

The next day we got off to a late start, because the guide failed to confirm a supply of petrol for the 4WD vehicle.  So we sat waiting for him to find gasoline for the first choice vehicle or diesel for the second choice.  The late start proved to be very unfortunate, as the afternoon rain cut short our visit to the park.

The montane grasslands were magnificent and reminded us of the Great Plains of North America.  Although they are at a very high elevation, the location near the Equator (8 degree south) means the climate is very mild and changes little through the year.  The park is not large but at its center the grasslands reach to the horizon in all directions.  To get out of the vehicle and walk along trails was a delight, as flowers of all type abounded.  Plants flower at all times of the year and we were not there during the greatest period of flowering.  In addition to many types of flowers of all colors, there were other interesting plants, cacti, grasses, sedges and etc., that appeared strange to a person who knows only the plants from temperate climates.

Our guide took us to the obligatory waterfall.  Apparently, all the tourists want to see the waterfall. We could not get to the greatest waterfall that is featured prominently in photographs on the internet and had to make do with a second rate version that was beautiful and impossible to safely photograph.

I was strongly impressed with the beauty of the park and the efforts to conserve its resources.  And I only regret not being able to see more of the montane grasslands. Our guide said visitors can takes tens-of-kilometers-long hikes on foot or by mountain bike and even camp overnight along the trial.  Our visit was cut short by afternoon rain that began about 3 pm and only got stronger with time.

We spent another night in Matamba and took the 6 am bus toward Makambako.  There were at least three buses to choose from at the main intersection in town that was the bus station.  We got a bus that was not too crowded and headed down a different road than the one we on which we arrived hoping it would take the less steep road back to the main highway.  And it did follow a road that was longer and not as steep as the first approach road.  We were very fortunate to catch a bus to Makambako after only 20 minutes waiting on the highway.  And then in Makambako bus station we caught a third bus headed north that pulled in behind ours immediately after our arrival. So we got home early afternoon after only 6 hours on buses, a remarkable feat.

Nanenane bus station in Mbeya, where is the bus to Matamba?

Try not to look.  Think happy thoughts.

Chipati and chai breakfast at Joyce Grocery.

Landscape outside park.  The elevation is high, 8,000 feet and more, and every piece of land is allocated to agriculture or timber production outside the park.

Matamba, gateway to Kitulo National Park.

The best restaurant in town.  “Grocery” means bar in Tanzania.  They had food.

Return bus by less steep route from Matamba.