Recent Stories

As part of our 5 week trip around Mozambique our small party of 3 people in two 4x4 vehicles had planned to visit the Gorongosa National Park and Mountain. My parents had visited the park in the 1950s before the ravages of war had wrought their destruction, and it was at that time (and with the Carr Foundation should become) the best in Africa. A chance meeting with Hendrik Pott, and we found ourselves swamped with hospitality and a wonderful chance to climb Mount Gorongosa with Bart Wursten.

Gorongosa Mountain is an integral part of the whole Gorongosa ecosystem as it is the primary catchment area for the Urema floodplain and wetland system of the Gorongosa National Park. The mountain is under threat from the creeping slash and burn activities, which are accelerating their way up the slopes, and we could see the evidence of this on our hike.

Bart explained that he had joined the Carr Foundation with the responsibility of halting these slash and burn activities and replacing them with a sustainable ecotourism alternative. An agreement to introduce ecotourism had recently been concluded with the community that "controls" the western half of the mountain. Our trip was the inaugural trip under this agreement and the trip and overall project received a spiritual blessing in a ceremony conducted by the head of the community on the morning we set off.

We were impressed by the objectives and control associated with the project. Revenue from ecotourism trips will be paid into a trust, which is administered by a committee elected by the community, to be used for the upliftment of the community.

Our trip commenced with the blessing, and then we set off from Nhancucu village at an altitude of 804 meters above sea level. The party was 8 persons including 3 porters from the village, the porters being a mandatory requirement to ensure that community members benefit directly. Five of the group were "mountain man" Bart, a very knowledgeable and experienced veteran, Jeff, a photographer doing work for the Foundation, Gavin, my brother, Cynthia, my sister-in-law, and myself. The porters were Jose, Frenesto, and Antonio from the Nhancucu village.

The first half hour was hiked through areas of cultivated land and buffalo beans! The next hour and a half was through grasslands and partially cultivated land to the forest boundary, at an altitude of 1038m. This was followed by 3 hours of hiking through some exquisite forest with huge specimens of trees such as Albizia schimperiana, Anthocleista grandiflora, Chrysophyllum gorungosanum, and Brachystegia glaucescens providing full canopy cover. We broke out of the forest at an altitude of 1704m into montane grassland, where Bart said blue swallows occurred. The initial blessing ceremony had delayed our start and we reached the grassland at 5pm, as the winter sun was setting. The summit was probably 1 hour farther along and 100m higher in altitude, but we had to pitch tents and never made it to the highest point. In addition to the grassland were patches of Protea caffra, Widringtonia nodiflora, and large patches of Strelizia caudata amoungst others, and a magnificent view. Water had been scarce through the forest and we had to send our porters to collect more!

The flora of the mountain is unique and a draw card by itself.

The night was cold, the dew was heavy but the sunrise was unbelievable. The mountain is very often in rain (above 2000mm annually) and mist, but we had clear sky above a blanket of cloud below us, stretching to the horizon.

The return trip commenced following an hour of exploration of the grassland plateau, and was at a pace to really enjoy everything. We detoured via a large waterfall and in total took 8 hours - significantly longer than the ascent. The total straight-line distance covered estimated from Google Earth was 16 kilometers but the winding trail probably doubled it.

What about the Green-headed Oriole? This bird is only found on Gorongosa Mountain, and tops the "most wanted" list of any serious birder. Nevertheless, it would not have mattered to us if there wasn’t one, the experience would have been brilliant without it. But it was there. In the 6 to 7 hours we spent in the forest we estimate we probably heard 20 different Green-headed Orioles each calling at a distance that would have made it easily observable with binoculars. But because of the foliage we only saw one. A success rate of 5%. With a very poor whistled imitation of its call we managed to keep this one in the canopy above us, in and out of visibility, for probably 20 minutes. Jeff behaved like he had won the jackpot! I recall the call as being somewhat different to the Roberts Multimedia recording, although a definite oriole call. Many other birds occur, but the forest birding is difficult.

Bart explained his, and the Carr Foundation’s, ambitious plans for the future. He aims to establish a hutted base camp some way up the mountain to make a day trip into the forests possible, starting from and returning to the base camp on the same day. Both catered and self-catered are being considered but it will always be basic. He would like the routes to be clearly enough marked to accommodate self-guided walks for those that prefer to. He also hopes to extend the ecotourism concept to the other half of the mountain, which is "controlled" by 2 different communities, and develop multi-day hiking trails throughout the mountain. The common thread will be sustainable ecotourism that benefits the community and provides an alternative to the creeping deforestation.

Until Bart's plans come to fruition, anyone tackling the Mountain should be prepared for a stiff hike, night out, and a fantastic experience.

We combined the mountain with a stay at the Gorongosa National Park — another special and different jewel.