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Uluguru Nature Reserve to attract more tourists

EFFORTS to improve tourism at Uluguru Nature Forest Reserve that includes construction of new infrastructure and improving services has started bearing fruits, following an increasing number of tourists this year.

The forest reserve under the Tanzania Forest Services (TFS) Agency Eastern Zone office is located in the three districts of Morogoro Urban, Morogoro Rural and Mvomero . It has an area of 24,115. 09 hectares and it is surrounded by 62 villages and streets.

According to Uluguru Nature Forest Reserve Conservator, Ms Bernadetha Chile, the number of tourists reached 309 last year, but following the efforts to improve infrastructures in the area the number has started to go up significantly from last month.

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“We have seen the number of tourists starting to increase from the beginning of this financial year as we have already received a total of 185 tourists from last month to date. We are very sure that this number will keep growing more for the days to come”, she said.

Expounding, she said that some of the major works which have been done include construction of an 8 kilometres tarmac road from Kibaoni village to Bunduki village where there is attractive Hululu Waterfalls.

The waterfalls, which is found in Mvomero district is located in Vinile village and has the length of 80 metres;it is one of the major tourist attractions in the area.

TFS Eastern Zone Manager, Ms Caroline Malundo expressed gratitude to the government for realising money that has been spent in construction of walking trails.

“Walking trails are very important for the tourists who need to go up the mountain and get close to the waterfalls. They make the walking easier and safe too”, she explained.

Ms Malundo detailed that the office has also bought camping tents, improved camp sites and done maintenance to the rest house as part of improving services for the tourists.

It is an ideal place where visitors can enjoy doing ecological tourism through hiking, bird watching, visiting waterfalls, doing picnics, photographing and camping. The forest is also visited by a good number of researchers every  year.

The forest is a home to an endemic type of bird known as Uluguru bushshrike (Kurumbizi) which cannot be found  anywhere else in the world. Other attractions found in the forest include rare type of flower called Saint Paulia, beautiful mountains peaks and Lukwangule plateau.