Early last Tuesday morning, Jacquelyn, Imraan & I packed up the Escudo for the 8 hour drive to Amani Forest Reserve in the East Usambara mountains. With my giant research tent, propane cooker, full kitchen setup and peanut butter for days, we were ready to set up camp in the jungle for at least a week.
The drive out to Muheza is the best way to see the the North & South Pare mountains and the West & East Usambaras mountains, which make up the northern part of the Eastern Arc Mountain range.
We tried to stop as little as possible, but with a drive that long, you have to stop to stretch! We stopped along the Pangani river between Same and Mombo.
We arrived to Muheza just as the sun was setting, so it was completely dark by the time were were in Amani, looking for a place to camp. After talking to the staff at the entrance to the reserve, we were told to go about 10k to the Amani Guesthouse and someone there would lead us to a campsite. At the guesthouse, we followed a a guy on a pikipiki another 7k to what we found out was the Amani Research center. I thought maybe we were stopping for another reason, but they wanted us to camp in yard next to the Research center! By this point it was getting pretty late, but after imagining waking up on the lawn, we decided to go another 13k to a REAL jungle campsite. We finally arrived at the Emau Hill Campsite and set up in the dark. After a hot cup-o-noodles under headlamp, we passed out listening to sound of frog calls and the rain.
The drive out to Muheza is the best way to see the the North & South Pare mountains and the West & East Usambaras mountains, which make up the northern part of the Eastern Arc Mountain range. 
We tried to stop as little as possible, but with a drive that long, you have to stop to stretch! We stopped along the Pangani river between Same and Mombo.
We arrived to Muheza just as the sun was setting, so it was completely dark by the time were were in Amani, looking for a place to camp. After talking to the staff at the entrance to the reserve, we were told to go about 10k to the Amani Guesthouse and someone there would lead us to a campsite. At the guesthouse, we followed a a guy on a pikipiki another 7k to what we found out was the Amani Research center. I thought maybe we were stopping for another reason, but they wanted us to camp in yard next to the Research center! By this point it was getting pretty late, but after imagining waking up on the lawn, we decided to go another 13k to a REAL jungle campsite. We finally arrived at the Emau Hill Campsite and set up in the dark. After a hot cup-o-noodles under headlamp, we passed out listening to sound of frog calls and the rain.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.