Gatamaiyu forest

It was a cool, grey day in August when we visited Gatamaiyu Forest. The hills were covered in mist. We parked our car in the compound of an old fishing station. Two black and white cows grazed peacefully under tall Muna (Aningeria adolfi-friedericii) and Macaranga (Macaranga kilimandscharica) trees, their branches full of birds.

As we walked through the forest, water dripped from the canopy above. The air smelled fresh and earthy, and everywhere we looked, we saw different types of fungi—bright orange mushrooms growing on rotting wood, fuzzy white fungi, and bracket fungi clinging to tree trunks.

There was so much life in the forest! Ants had built nests high up in the trees, moss and lichen covered the trunks, and delicate tree orchids bloomed in the shade. Bird calls filled the air. We heard the call of apalises, and golden orioles—but they were tricky to spot. Suddenly, a pair of Hartlaub’s turacos flew by, their wings flashing bright red. A flock of Kikuyu white-eyes, small greeny-yellow birds with white rings around their eyes, fluttered by the path. We glimpsed a star robin, some starlings, and a group of Colobus monkeys high in the canopy.

Among the trees we saw were the parasol tree, Mutati (Polyscias fulva), which is used to make boxes and beehives, and the East African Camphor (Ocotea usambarensis), a majestic evergreen tree with scaly bark. These trees were once common but have now become rare.