Nyanga National Park
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Nyanga National Park lies at the northern end of Zimbabwe's Eastern Highlands. One of the first national parks to be declared in the country, it is administered jointly with the Mtarazi Falls National Park on its southern boundary. Most of its terrain consists of rolling downland, sometimes lightly wooded, lying at altitudes between 6,560 and 7,544 feet.
It is well watered by numerous streams and rivers and holds a number of exotic pine forests. The park is dominated by Mount Nyangani which lies at its north-eastern extremity and is the highest mountain in Zimbabwe (8,500 feet; see Inyangani). The Pungwe River rises at the foot of Nyangani and flows southwards through the park before dropping 787 feet into the densely wooded Pungwe Gorge.
The Mtarazi Falls, a few kilometres south of the Pungwe Gorge, have a 2,499 foot drop and thus are Zimbabwe's highest waterfall; they drop in two stages over granite cliffs into the Honde River valley, which lies outside the park and is a major tea-planting area. Among other picturesque falls in the park are the Nyangombe Falls.
A wildlife checklist compiled over several years reveals a remarkable diversity of mammals, including occasional sightings of species such as buffalo and lion that stray into the region from the Mozambique lowlands. Visitors are likely to see kudu, reedbuck, klipspringer and several other antelopes; predators, including leopard and hyaena, are also present.
The park is best known among wildlife conservationists for its populations of blue duiker and samango monkeys. Neither animal is found outside the Eastern Highlands. There is also an abundant and sometimes unique flora. The Nyanga aloe, Aloe inyangensis, is found on higher ground; and woodlands of dwarf msasa have developed on some westward-facing slopes.
Wattle, introduced into plantations outside the park, has become a problem; it has spread rapidly into several parts of the park and is now the subject of a continuous eradication programme. Lake Gulliver and the Mare, Udu, Purdon and Rhodes Dams have been stocked with trout from hatcheries maintained by the Department of National Parks (see Nyanga dams).
The rainbow trout is most widespread within the park's dams and streams but brown trout and American brook trout are also present.
Near Mare Dam are one of the many sites throughout the Nyanga downs which are evidence of former stone-building cultures. The Department of National Parks maintains visitor lodges at the Mare, Rhodes and Udu Dams, and at the Pungwe River causeway (Pungwe Drift). There is also a caravan park on the Mare River and a number of campsites throughout the area.
