Pugu Hills Forest Reserve
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Milletia_puguensis_in_Pugu_Hills%2C_Kisarawe%2C_Kisarawe_DC%2C_Pwani.jpg/220px-Milletia_puguensis_in_Pugu_Hills%2C_Kisarawe%2C_Kisarawe_DC%2C_Pwani.jpg)
Geography
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Building_ruins_of_former_%28German%29_mining_activity_at_Pugu_Hills%2C_Tanzania.jpg/220px-Building_ruins_of_former_%28German%29_mining_activity_at_Pugu_Hills%2C_Tanzania.jpg)
The 22 km reserve extends over a large hilly area south-west of Dar es Salaam, the nearest populated place being Kisarawe. The source of the Msimbazi river, that flows into the Indian Ocean in the surroundings of Dar, is inside the reserve. A large fraction of its vegetation is composed of evergreen plants, as rain is common and abundant throughout most of the year. One of the largest kaolinite deposits in the world is located inside the reserve.
Fauna and flora
The Pugu Forest has 14 endemic plant species, two mammalian endemic species, and one endemic subspecies of birds. Wildlife include, Dikdiks, common warthogs, African leopards, elephant shrews, mongooses, civets, galagos, side-striped jackals, black-backed jackals, baboons, alligators, colobuses, as well as over 80 species of birds. Lions used to live in the reserve, but none has been reported in recent times. Some natural and human-made caves host large colonies of bats, such as horseshoe bat, Tanzanian woolly bat and Hildegarde's tomb bat.
Attractions
There are also enormous bamboo stands, the lake Minaki, bat caves, overlooks of Dar es Salaam City, places of worship, sacred ritual sites, the unique Mpugupugu tree (from which the reserve derives its name).
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Pugu_Hills%2C_Kisarawe%2C_Kisarawe_DC%2C_Pwani.jpg/220px-Pugu_Hills%2C_Kisarawe%2C_Kisarawe_DC%2C_Pwani.jpg)