Amani Nature Forest Reserve finds niche in Yoga tourism

Gabriel Ponera, a tour guide at the reserve, told this paper in an interview recently that Yoga tourism is thriving in the largest forested block within the East Usambara Mountains, where a total of five dedicated spots have been cleared for mediation.

“People want to directly connect with nature while meditating and performing Yoga,” he said, adding that this is the latest and most popular type of tourism emerging in Northern Tanzania.

“Yoga tourism in pristine natural surroundings is only practised here at Amani Nature Forest Reserve with other hotspots in Tanzania offering wildlife, heritage, beach and other types of tourism,” he said.

The word Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root 'Yuj', meaning 'to join' or 'to yoke' or 'to unite'. As per Yogic scriptures, the practice of Yoga leads to the union of individual consciousness with that of the universal consciousness, indicating a perfect harmony between the mind and body, human and nature.

Tourists visiting Amani Nature Forest Reserve recently discovered the spiritual value of many of its natural hotspots that have now been dedicated to meditation.

Members of the Journalists’ Environment Association of Tanzania (JET) on a study trip organized under the USAID Tuhifadhi Maliasili activity came across this new type of tourism said to be beneficial to both the environment and economic development of surrounding communities.

Alphonce Nyululu, senior conservator who is acting conservator in-charge at Amani Nature Forest Reserve, said that the forest is home to most of the species of African violet Saint-Paulia, named after Baron Walter von Saint Paulia Illaire who was German administrator of Tanga Province in the 1890s.

Yogis consider violet Saint-Paulia as a plant of spiritual significance with supernatural powers to heal and grant wishes to anybody who supplicates to the pink flowery shrub, endemic to the eastern Usambara Mountains.

“The Amani Botanical Garden, established in 1902, is one of the oldest botanical gardens in Africa, covering 340 hectares and containing more than 1,000 species of plants taken from all over the world,” said Nyululu, adding that the legendary garden is used for conservation, education and research.

Aloyce Mkongewa, assistant researcher in the precinct who also serves as tour guide, said that other tourists love to swim or take natural showers at several waterfalls dotting the forest, an activity also believed to have some spiritual values by enthusiasts.

The natural forest cover is internationally recognized for the high number of endemism, with species found nowhere else in the world. More than a quarter of the 30 species of amphibian and reptiles in East Usambara are found nowhere else in the world. Among plants, the sub montane forests are especially rich in endemic species.