Chimanimani is the name of both the village and the mountain range. The National Park is the southernmost section of the Eastern Highlands, a hundred and fifty kilometres from the town of Mutare.
It is an area of yellowwood trees and cedar, protea, ferns and orchids, clear mountain pools and waterfalls. These African heights are quite lofty, at over two thousand metres and are still very wild.
Accessible only by foot from a Base Camp, you can walk up an ancient pathway trodden by travellers crossing these mountains from Mozambique. As the park is only seven kilometres wide in any given direction it is easy to stumble across the border.
This was a no-go area during the war of independence and landmines were a serious hazard in the area.
