Usambara Mountains

For the visitor who is willing to head off the main tourist trail to explore the diversity of Tanzania, the Usambaras offer incredible natural biodiversity, a fascinating cultural history and some great walks culminating in breath-taking viewpoints.

BAOBAB trips to the Usambara Mountains are arranged on a tailor-made basis. Please examine the accommodation guide for example prices and itineraries and then contact us for a precise quote for your chosen holiday (or for further assistance to help you make up your mind!!).

Accommodation in Western Usambaras

All BAOBAB’s prices are excluding the international flight, which provides you with more flexibility, especially when you are based outside the UK. BAOBAB will arrange all aspects of your holiday once you are in Tanzania, including transfers to the Usambara Mountains & to your accommodation and day trips.

This little known mountain range is one of the gems of Tanzania. Located northwest of Dar es Salaam, the Usambaras are part of an ancient 25 million year old necklace of mountains called the Eastern Arc. The Usambaras offer incredible natural biodiversity, especially bird-life and great walkings culminating in breath-taking viewpoints.

You will be based in the Western Usambaras, which is a densely populated region of Tanzania due to the cooler climate - good for arable farming. It is a perfect place to get to know some of the local people and try some of the locally run Cultural Tourism Programmes.

Things to do

Visitors come to the Usambaras to enjoy its nature, relax and hike. The main centre for visitors in the Western Usambaras is Lushoto town. In Lushoto, you can walk through the arboretum, hike in the forest, look for old buildings from the German and British colonial eras.

A fascinating stop is the herbarium (pressed plant library) in Lushoto, which houses 1000s of pressed plants from Tanzania dating back to German times (1886-1916).

The Usambaras are a bird-watching paradise. Abundant and diverse species can be spotted and according to experts, the Usambaras is one of Africa’s best bird-watching locations. While looking for birds on one of self-guiding walks and trails of various lengths directly from Grant’s Lodge, you might just see colobus monkeys high in the forest canopy.

Irente Viewpoint guided walk: A couple of hours walk takes you to Irent Viewpoint, from where you can see the village of Mazinde almost 1000 metres below and the vast Maasai plains beyond. On the return trip to Lushoto you visit the Irente Farm cheese factory and can enjoy a homecooked lunch at the Farm (Tanzania - Cultural Tourism Programme).

The Growing Rock walk is a pleasant walk to the top of Kwamongo Mountains Peak – famous for its butterflies and view of Lushoto and the plains below. You then descend to the village of Magila at the foot of the ‘Growing Rock’ to visit a soil conservation project and learn why the rock is growing! (Tanzania - Cultural Tourism Programme).

October to May offers a comfortable relief from the lowland Tanzanian heat with mild temperatures, but it can get quite cold from June through September, particularly at night, so bring jumpers and long-sleeved shirts! Days are warm when the sun is shining, but it gets cool on cloudy and windy days. The main rainy season is between mid-March and mid-June.