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Lake Urema and its Rivers

"All water flows to Lake Urema - the beating heart at the center of Gorongosa and a mecca for living things." - National Geographic (Africa’s Lost Eden)

Water is life and nowhere is this more true that Gorongosa. Life here ebbs and flows with the waters of Lake Urema, the vast shining jewel in Gorongosa's crown. 


Lake Urema receives water from several rivers originating on Mount Gorongosa, the most important being Vunduzi, which flows slowly but very consistently from the eastern slopes of Mount Gorongosa through the Midlands even at the peak of the dry season. The very survival of the Gorongosa ecosystem and all its inhabitants depends on the constant, life-giving flow of the Vunduzi. The lake also receives water from the Nhandugue and Urema rivers that flow from the northern part of the Valley, and Muaredzi that flows from the Cheringoma Plateau. During the rainy season several smaller rivers that often disappear during the draught also end up supplying water to Lake Urema.