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25-620: The power station is located across the Kilombero River at the southern end of the Kihansi Gorge before the convergence with the Ulanga River in Tanzania, approximately 643 kilometres (400 mi), by road, southwest of Dar Es Salaam , Tanzania's largest city. This is approximately 163 kilometres (101 mi), by road, south of Iringa , the nearest large town. The geographical coordinates of

50-454: A navigable waterway from the coast to the mountainous district of Uhehe . From Perondo von Prittwitz navigated the Kihansi in a canoe, determining that the Kihansi was too difficult to navigate due to the great number of sharp curves with narrow channel obstructed by hippopotamuses . The Ulanga with its broad smooth curves was easy to navigate by a light-draught steamer. The Ulanga River forms

75-652: The African skimmer . The valley is home to a number of species only found there, such as the Udzungwa red colobus monkey and three species of birds, the Ulanga weaver and two undescribed species of cisticolas . The river supports 23 species of fish that are caught on a regular basis, including three species of fish not found downstream in the Rufiji: Alestes stuhlmannii and two species of Citharinus congicus . Fish from

100-437: The government of Tanzania . The power station is located across the Kilombero River at the southern end of the Kihansi Gorge before the convergence with the Ulanga River in Tanzania, approximately 643 kilometres (400 mi), by road, southwest of Dar Es Salaam , Tanzania's largest city. This is approximately 163 kilometres (101 mi), by road, south of Iringa , the nearest large town. The geographical coordinates of

125-477: The Kihansi Gorge over a distance of about 3 kilometres (2 mi). The turbines use that gradient to generate power in an underground power station, and return the water to the river about 6 kilometres (4 mi) downstream. The Kihansi Dam destroyed an 800m-high waterfall, affected over 20,000 villagers, and was directly responsible for the extinction in the wild of the Kihansi Spray Toad . The dam reduced

150-416: The Kihansi Gorge over a distance of about 3 kilometres (2 mi). The turbines use that gradient to generate power in an underground power station, and return the water to the river about 6 kilometres (4 mi) downstream. The Kihansi Dam destroyed an 800m-high waterfall, affected over 20,000 villagers, and was directly responsible for the extinction in the wild of the Kihansi Spray Toad . The dam reduced

175-682: The Rufiji river system migrate upstream to the Ulanga to spawn, usually at the beginning of the rains in November with peak spawning activity coming around in December. The eponymous boat in C.S. Forester 's novel The African Queen (1935) and its subsequent film adaptation (1951) was a steam-powered launch, owned by a Belgian mining corporation, that plied the upper reaches of the Ulanga River. The German animal painter Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert depicted

200-647: The Ruhudji River winds eastward, losing height quite rapidly, to the head of the great floodplain of the Ulanga Valley. The floodplain occupies the flat floor of the Ulanga Valley at 210–250 m.a.s.l. The valley is oriented south-west north-east, between densely forested escarpments in the Udzungwa Mountains, which tower at 2,250 meters above the valley floor ( 7°47′0″S 36°36′0″E  /  7.78333°S 36.60000°E  / -7.78333; 36.60000 ), on

225-453: The amount of silt and water coming down from the waterfall into the gorge by 90 percent. This led to the spray toad's microhabitat being compromised, as it reduced the amount of water spray, which the toads were directly reliant on for oxygen. This also meant that the toad may have been more susceptible to a chytrid fungus , which was believed to have been transported to the area by conservationists' boots. This chytridiomycosis , which in 2003

250-452: The amount of silt and water coming down from the waterfall into the gorge by 90 percent. This led to the spray toad's microhabitat being compromised, as it reduced the amount of water spray, which the toads were directly reliant on for oxygen. This also meant that the toad may have been more susceptible to a chytrid fungus , which was believed to have been transported to the area by conservationists' boots. This chytridiomycosis , which in 2003

275-528: The boundary between the Ulanga District and Kilombero District of the Morogoro Region in the southeast of Tanzania . The majority of the villagers in the Ulanga Valley are subsistence farmers of maize and rice, though many make a living fishing. There are large plantations of teak wood in the Ulanga valley. In the north-west of the district, Illovo Sugar Company's sugar-cane plantations occupy most of

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300-702: The highlands of the southwest of Morogoro Region , Tanzania , on the eastern slope of the East African Rift . The river flows northeast along the northeastern border of the Lindi Region before it flows into the Rufiji River . The Rufiji eventually flows into the Indian Ocean on the southern coast of the Pwani Region . The Ulanga Valley is an intact natural wetland ecosystem comprising myriad rivers, which make up

325-549: The inland areas of the colony—right up to the Belgian Congo —was more difficult as large parts were still unexplored. For this reason, Governor Gustav Adolf von Götzen led an expedition to claim these hinterlands. He took with him Georg von Prittwitz and Hermann Kersting . The Ulanga River and its tributary the Kihansi were first surveyed in 1897-98 by von Prittwitz in an attempt to determine whether either river would afford

350-579: The largest seasonally freshwater lowland floodplain in East Africa. The Ulanga River supplies two thirds of the Rufiji waters. The Ulanga River is formed by the convergence of major rivers coming from the south, that flow north from the mountain ranges of the Njombe and Iringa regions on the eastern slope of the East African Rift and south from the Udzungwa Mountains and Mahenge Mountains . From south

375-498: The lowlying area. The Ulanga Valley is characterized by its large populations of large mammals such as the buffalo , elephant , hippopotamus , lion , and puku . The majority of the world population of puku antelopes live in the Ulanga Valley. The valley is home to one of the largest populations of Nile crocodile in Africa and is an important breeding ground for bird species such as the African openbill , white-headed lapwing , and

400-477: The north-western side and the Mahenge Mountains on the southern side ( 8°45′0″S 36°39′0″E  /  8.75000°S 36.65000°E  / -8.75000; 36.65000 ). The Ruhudji receives several important tributaries and then divides on the floodplain into a number of channels, which produce a network in the central part of the floodplain. Other affluents draining the mountains on opposing sides of

425-895: The point of confluence the Ulanga River swings sharply southeast and leaves the floodplain (and the Ramsar Site) on the border of the Selous Game Reserve. The Ulanga River then continues for 65 km to confluence with the Luwegu where they merge at the Shuguli Falls to become the Rufiji River . The Rufiji then flows northeast through the Selous Game Reserve on its way to the Indian Ocean . Starting in 1885, Karl Peters had begun claiming areas of East Africa for Germany . The Tanganyikan coast proved relatively easy, but conquest of

450-546: The power station are:08°34'30.0"S, 35°51'05.0"E (Latitude:-8.575000; Longitude:35.851389). The Kihansi Dam is a concrete gravity dam owned by the Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited . Its construction began in July 1995 and was opened by President Benjamin W. Mkapa on 10 July 2000. It cost $ 275 million to construct. Its installed capacity is 180 megawatts and it provided approximately 13 percent of

475-416: The power station are:08°34'30.0"S, 35°51'05.0"E (Latitude:-8.575000; Longitude:35.851389). The Kihansi Dam is a concrete gravity dam owned by the Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited . Its construction began in July 1995 and was opened by President Benjamin W. Mkapa on 10 July 2000. It cost $ 275 million to construct. Its installed capacity is 180 megawatts and it provided approximately 13 percent of

500-489: The river in his 1898 painting The Gallery of Trees Ulanga River . Kihansi Dam Kihansi Hydroelectric Power Station , is a 180 megawatts (241,384 hp) hydroelectric power station located in Kilombero District of southeast Morogoro Region in southern Tanzania . The power station is one of the largest dams in the country. The Tanzanian electricity company, Tanesco operates the power station on behalf of

525-422: The total electrical power in Tanzania, at the time it was commissioned. The concrete dam measures 25 metres (82 ft) in height and 200 metres (656 ft) in length. The resultant reservoir can store a total of 1,000,000 cubic metres (35,314,667 cu ft) of water, creating a lake with a surface area of 26 hectares (64 acres), when full. The river drops approximately 900 metres (3,000 ft) in

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550-418: The total electrical power in Tanzania, at the time it was commissioned. The concrete dam measures 25 metres (82 ft) in height and 200 metres (656 ft) in length. The resultant reservoir can store a total of 1,000,000 cubic metres (35,314,667 cu ft) of water, creating a lake with a surface area of 26 hectares (64 acres), when full. The river drops approximately 900 metres (3,000 ft) in

575-471: The valley join the network so that in the central part there are ten major channels flowing roughly in parallel. A zone of permanent swamps, 45 km long, extends up to 4 km away from the west bank of the Kihansi River. The Kihansi was dammed in its upstream ranges above the Kihansi Gorge in 1995. The southern central parts of the floodplain descend 40 meters over a distance of 210 km. At Ifakara

600-513: The valley narrows in to be about 4 km wide and the rivers are united into the main stream of the Ulanga River. East of Ifakara the Ulanga flows through a delta of oxbow lakes and is joined on its left bank by the Msolwa River. This stream comes from the high escarpment of the Udzungwas and traverses the northern part of the floodplain, skirting another zone of permanent swampland to the west. From

625-460: Was confirmed to be in dead animals of the species, was possibly responsible for the sudden population crash after the world's largest sprinkler system was installed in that area in August 2003. This system was installed to try and conserve the toad species from becoming extinct in the wild, but did not succeed. Kilombero River The Ulanga River , also known as the Kilombero River , rises in

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