Day 01
Materuni Coffee Experience and Waterfall Hike
- Start your mini-adventure with a short but fascinating drive from Moshi up the lush slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro to the village of Materuni, approximately 1,800 m above sea level. This market garden area has the perfect mixture of climate and soil to produce some of the best coffee in Africa.
- Visit a coffee farm and learn how coffee is grown, harvested, and processed, then try your hand at roasting and preparing a fresh cup of coffee the Chagga way.
- After a delightful coffee break, take a beautiful 45-minute hike through the hills and valleys on the way to Materuni Falls. Pass through banana and coffee plantations, up and down mini-valleys, across ridges, and through narrow splashing rivulets. Along the way, your Tanzania tour guide will teach you about local plants and how they are used for food and traditional medicine, while also giving you more insight into the local Chagga culture. It's your chance to ask questions about a lifestyle that is probably very different from your own.
- Hear the falls before you see them, and once they come into view, you might be lucky enough to spot a rainbow sheen as the splashing waters catch the sunlight. The falls are hidden away in a pristine valley with cliffs towering up to 200 ft overhead. The mountain waters plunge straight down in a shimmering curtain into the rippling pool, where you can float, take a swim, and chill out - literally, as these are pure mountain waters not yet heated by the sun. It will be wonderfully relaxing after your hike.
