Bvumba
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The Bvumba Mountains or Vumba Mountains straddle the
Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
border, and lie some 10 km southeast of the city of
Mutare Mutare, formerly known as Umtali until 1982, is the capital and largest city in the province of Manicaland. It is the third most populated in Zimbabwe. Having surpassed Gweru in the 2012 census, with an urban area, urban population of 224,802 ...
. The Bvumba rise to Castle Beacon at 1,911 metres, and are, together with the
Chimanimani Mountains The Chimanimani Mountains are a mountain range on the border of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The mountains are in the southern portion of the Eastern Highlands, or Manica Highlands, a belt of highlands that extend north and south along the internatio ...
to the south and Nyanga Mountains to the north, part of the
Eastern Highlands :''"Eastern Highlands" also refers to Eastern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea, and part of the Great Dividing Range, Australia.'' The Eastern Highlands, also known as the Manica Highlands, is a mountain range on the border of Zimbabwe ...
of the
Manicaland Manicaland is a province in eastern Zimbabwe. After Harare Province, it is the country's second-most populous province, with a population of 2.037 million, as of the 2022 census. Making it the third most densely populated province after Harare a ...
and adjacent Manica provinces. They are referred to as the "Mountains of the Mist" (Bvumba being the
Shona Shona often refers to: * Shona people, a Southern African people ** Shona language, a Bantu language spoken by Shona people today ** Shona languages, a wider group of languages defined in the early 20th century ** Kingdom of Zimbabwe, a Shona stat ...
word for "mist"), as so often the early morning starts with a
mist Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in the cold air, usually by condensation. Physically, it is an example of a Dispersion (chemistry), dispersion. It is most commonly seen where water vapor in warm, moist air meets ...
which clears by mid-morning. Although lying mostly within Zimbabwe, the mountains extend north-eastward to Mount Vumba (or Monte Vumba) in Mozambique. They are capped by cool, green hills which shelter country hotels, a casino and golf course at the Leopard Rock Hotel and a Botanical Garden with one of the best views in Africa. The mountains are also known for their
coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...
plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...
s.


Access

On the Zimbabwean side, the Mountains are accessible by a tarred road from
Mutare Mutare, formerly known as Umtali until 1982, is the capital and largest city in the province of Manicaland. It is the third most populated in Zimbabwe. Having surpassed Gweru in the 2012 census, with an urban area, urban population of 224,802 ...
. The Mozambican side of the mountains can be reached from a road to the Vumba Water Bottling Plant, which leaves the main EN6 highway just west of Manica.


Mountain hikes

The climb to the prominence, Castle Beacon, is up a large
granite dome Granite domes are domical hills composed of granite with bare rock exposed over most of the surface. Generally, domical features such as these are known as bornhardts. Bornhardts can form in any type of plutonic rock but are typically composed ...
. The lower slopes form a mist belt with sub-montane vegetation.
Protea ''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). It is the type genus of the Proteaceae family. About 92% of the species occur only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mo ...
s are found on the higher levels.Hyde, M.A. and Wursten, B. 2008. ''Flora of Zimbabwe''
Location details: Castle Beacon
/ref> Vumba Mountain, on the Mozambique side, is a steep hike to a summit with a good view of Manica and environs.


Geology

The Bvumba Mountains are composed mainly of granite which forms the eastern margin of the Zimbabwe Craton. The Vumba granite has been dated at over 2,600 Ma. The granites are intruded in places by Umkondo dolerite sills which are dated to about 1,110 Ma.


Flora

The mountains are dominated by savannah woodland, including ''
Brachystegia ''Brachystegia'' is a genus of tree of the subfamily Detarioideae that is native to tropical Africa. Trees of the genus are commonly known as miombo, and are dominant in the miombo woodlands of central and southern tropical Africa. The Zambezia ...
'' /
miombo Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located in central and southern tropical Africa. It includes three woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) chara ...
. There are also extensive sub-montane grasslands, local mist-belts with mosses and epiphytic and lithophytic ferns and sub-montane evergreen forest in the deeper ravines.Hyde, M.A. and Wursten, B. 2008. ''Flora of Mozambique''
Location details: Bunga Views, Vumba
/ref>Hyde, M.A. and Wursten, B. 2008. ''Flora of Zimbabwe''
Location details: Globe Rock, Vumba
/ref> The higher levels of the mountains are sparsely vegetated with shrubs such as
protea ''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). It is the type genus of the Proteaceae family. About 92% of the species occur only in the Cape Floristic Region, a narrow belt of mo ...
s,
aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering plant, flowering succulent plant, succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Acc ...
s and
Strelitzia ''Strelitzia'' is a genus of five species of perennial plants, native to South Africa. It belongs to the plant family Strelitziaceae. A common name of the genus is bird of paradise flower/plant, because of a resemblance of its flowers to bird ...
. In the centre of the mountains lies the
Bunga Forest Botanical Reserve The Bunga Forest Botanical Reserve conserves mist-forest along the southern slopes of the Bvumba Mountains in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. It is the largest conserved area in the Bvumba highlands, and can be accessed from various points alon ...
and neighbouring Bvumba Botanical Garden. The latter is landscaped around a number of small streams and includes an important cycad collection, with 59 of the 189 known species, including ''
Encephalartos manikensis ''Encephalartos manikensis'' (Gorongo Cycad, Gorongowe Cycad) is a species of cycad that is native to Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Description This cycad has a tree-like structure, growing up to 1.5 m tall, sometimes with additional stems growing fr ...
'', '' E. ferox'', '' E. lehmannii'', '' E. pterogonus'', '' E. cycadifolius'' and '' E. eugene-maraisii''.


Fauna

Although small in area, the mountains are a botanical paradise and home to some of the rarest butterflies in the region. The Bvumba mountains offer exciting and varied birding opportunities. The area is probably best known as one of the main breeding areas of
Swynnerton's robin Swynnerton's robin (''Swynnertonia swynnertoni'') is a species of passerine bird belonging to the family Muscicapidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Swynnertonia''. The common and Latin names commemorate the entomologist Charles Swynnerton. ...
which lives and breeds in small patches of forest, some on private land, others within the Bunga forest.
Livingstone's turaco Livingstone's turaco (''Tauraco livingstonii'') is a species of bird in the family Musophagidae, which was named for Charles Livingstone, the brother of David Livingstone. It is distributed through the subtropical lowlands of southeastern Afric ...
s are present in large numbers. Their territorial calls are typically heard long before they are seen, yet their brilliant crimson wing feathers are striking from afar as they glide from one patch of canopy to another. A smaller number of mammals inhabit the Bvumba, perhaps the most notable of which are the
leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...
and the samango monkey, the latter's range being very limited. Savannah woodland adjoining the Mozambique side of the range is home to several rare reptiles including Marshall's leaf chameleon and Arnold's skink.National Directorate for Culture, Ministry of Education and Culture, 2008
''Vumba Mountain range''
Submission by the Mozambique government for listing of a World Heritage Site.


Archaeology

Chinhamapere Hill, on the Mozambique side of the mountains, has been a culturally important site since the Iron Age. There are well-preserved hunter-gatherer rock art paintings (comprising several human figures, some holding bows and arrows and others in trance) thought to be of around 8,000 years in age, as well as contemporary ritual sites, used for rainmaking, divining and healing. There are at least 86 Stone Age sites in the Zimbabwean portion of the mountains, and the cultural significance of some of these are still observed at the present time.


World Heritage Status

This site was added to the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
Tentative List on August 20, 2008, in the Cultural category. It was proposed by
Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
.


Places of special interest

*
Bunga Forest Botanical Reserve The Bunga Forest Botanical Reserve conserves mist-forest along the southern slopes of the Bvumba Mountains in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. It is the largest conserved area in the Bvumba highlands, and can be accessed from various points alon ...
* Manchester Gardens – a landscaped garden with the Reserve arranged about a series of artificially created streams and dams * Elim Mission Memorial – a plaque at the start of the
Eagle School Eagle School was an independent, preparatory boarding school for boys aged 7 to 14 years situated in the Vumba Mountains near Umtali, Rhodesia (now Mutare, Zimbabwe). The school was founded in 1948 and closed in 1976. The remaining pupils wer ...
Road - to the memory of the innocent victims of the Elim Mission Massacre 1978 * Leopard Rock Hotel – a golf resort and casino * The Refuge or Castle – now a sunset balcony for Leopard Rock Hotel guests and a wedding venue * Leopard Rock * Chinziwa Scout Park * Kwayedza Lodge * Cloudlands * Cripps Family Burial Plot * White Horse Inn – at the end of the tar on Lauranceville Road * Map-off – a place with various fauna and flora overlooking the border * Prince of Wales view – a cliff that overlooks Forbes border post near Cloudlands * Castle beacon or Bvumba Heights, situated 1,900 m above sea level


References

{{Authority control Eastern Highlands Eastern Zimbabwe montane forest-grassland mosaic Geography of Manicaland Province Mountain ranges of Mozambique Mountains of Zimbabwe Mutare District