Locals refer to
the Kitulo Plateau as Bustani ya Mungu
- The Garden of God – while
botanists have dubbed it the Serengeti
of Flowers, host to ‘one of
the great floral spectacles of the
world’. And Kitulo is indeed
a rare botanical marvel, home to a
full 350 species of vascular plants,
including 45 varieties of terrestrial
orchid, which erupt into a riotous
wildflower display of breathtaking
scale and diversity during the main
rainy season of late November to April.
Perched at around 2,600 meters between
the rugged peaks of the Kipengere,
Poroto and Livingstone Mountains,
the well-watered volcanic soils of
Kitulo support the largest and most
important montane grassland community
in Tanzania.
One of the most important watersheds
for the Great Ruaha River, Kitulo
is well known for its floral significance
– not only a multitude of orchids,
but also the stunning yellow-orange
red-hot poker and a variety of aloes,
proteas, geraniums, giant lobelias,
lilies and aster daisies, of which
more than 30 species are endemic to
southern Tanzania. Big game is sparsely
represented, though a few hardy mountain
reedbuck and eland still roam the
open grassland.
Kitulo – a botanist and hiker’s
paradise - is also highly alluring
to birdwatchers. Tanzania’s
only population of the rare Denham’s
bustard is resident, alongside a breeding
colony of the endangered blue swallow
and such range-restricted species
as mountain marsh widow, Njombe cisticola
and Kipengere seedeater. Endemic species
of butterfly, chameleon, lizard and
frog further enhance the biological
wealth of God’s Garden. |
