Parque Nacional da Gorongosa Moçambique

The Park is nestled in a 4,000-square-kilometer section of the Great African Rift system, Africa's most dramatic geological feature. The Rift extends from Ethiopia to central Mozambique. Massive tectonic shifts began forming the Rift about 30 million years ago. Other warpings, uplifts, and sinkings of the earth's crust over millennia shaped the plateaus on both sides and the mountain to the west. All that commotion, together with sun, wind, and rain at the surface, created a rich collection of soils--even distinct types and many other varieties. Mozambique's tropical savanna climate, with an annual cycle of wet and dry seasons, has added yet another factor to the complex equation: constant change in soil moisture that varies with elevation. The valley is located 21 kilometers west of Mount Gorongosa at 14 meters above sea level.

The result is an astounding number of plant species in complex associations that in turn support many different reptiles, frogs, and fish; more than 400 bird species; about two dozen wild ungulates, including elephants, buffalos, zebras, wildebeest, elands, sables, hartebeest, oribis, nyalas, and kudus; six primates (including 2 bushbaby species); and more than a dozen large predators, including lions, leopards, wild dogs, and crocodiles.

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