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 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.
But 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
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