From the early colonial period, the Amani forest was recognized as a naturalist's dream; endemic species of birds and plants,
trees and reptiles, and a place where tea farms flourished.

The Amani Nature Reserve, in the Eastern Usambaras, is part of the Eastern Arc Mountains, stretching from the Taita Hills in Kenya to the Makambako Gap in the southern Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania. Because of its
close proximity to the Indian ocean, the Amani Nature Reserve has a high level of diversity and endemism, only comparable to other African tropical rainforests found in Gabon and Cameroon and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), and because of the apparent high
level of speciation, it is also a centre of evolution as well as a centre of diversity. From our base in Amani, we explore the Amani forests on
mountain bikes, on foot in the rainforest and surrounding plantations,
including a fascinating night walk with a trained local guide.