Morning mist
Hills wrapped in cloud.
Graph Geo — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Senorhorst Jahnsen from Mumbai, India — CC BY 2.0 · Graph Geo — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ton Rulkens from Mozambique — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa — CC BY 2.0
The Bvumba Mountains are a green range on the Zimbabwe–Mozambique border, southeast of the city of Mutare. They are known as the «Mountains of the Mist», since bvumba is the Shona word for mist, and mornings often start in fog that clears by midday. They lie about 15 km in a straight line from central Mutare. The range rises to Castle Beacon at 1,911 metres and, with the Chimanimani Mountains to the south and the Nyanga Mountains to the north, forms Zimbabwe's Eastern Highlands. The mountains are made mainly of granite more than 2,600 million years old. Cool, green hills hold forest and coffee plantations, country hotels and a botanical garden said to have one of the best views in Africa. Red aloes and proteas grow on the slopes, and the forests are home to bright birds such as Livingstone's turaco and the gorgeous bushshrike. Hikers climb to Castle Beacon over a great granite dome. A paved road leads up from Mutare. Bring warm layers for mornings and evenings, and take care driving in the mist. The mountains run along the border, so stay on known trails.
Hills wrapped in cloud.
Flowers on the slopes.
Turacos and bushshrikes.
Southeast of Mutare, Manicaland, Zimbabwe
Bvumba means mist in Shona, and mornings are often foggy.
By a paved road from Mutare.