Kitulo National Park
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 metres (8,500 ft) 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.
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