Journey to Kilimanjaro
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Pics and Vids from Coffee Tour
Materuni Coffee Tour & Waterfall
Written by Tina Sibley in March 2022
What do you do when you arrive at your hotel in Moshi at the base of Kilimanjaro after more than 26 hours of travelling?
Go on a day trip of course!
Details of this amazing day coming soon!
The trip to Materuni
On my way to breakfast, I was introduced to Ursula, a lady from my Kilimanjaro group who had booked a day trip to Materuni and invited me to go with her.
The trip began at 10am and sounded great so although I was very tired after travelling, I decided it would be a good idea and help prevent jetlag.
The drive to Materuni was an amazing start to my time in Africa. Ursula was great - originally from Germany and now living in Canada, she has pretty much travelled all around the world and had amazing stories to tell.
The guys taking us were also good fun. Deo and another guy whose name I couldn't wrap my head around were our driver and guide and gave us lots of information about the local area.
Materuni village is in the foothills of Kilimanjaro a little east of the Mweka gate that we would ultimately use to end our Kili hike. To get to it, we had to first go through Moshi and then start climbing up into the hills.
This would be my first sight of Moshi and wasn't at all what I was expecting.
There were hardly any buildings that you would normally associate with a main town and Moshi is known as the main town of the Kilimanjaro region. There were one or two concrete buildings that actually resembled buildings as we know them, but mostly Moshi is made up of single storey shacks. The building that was most recognisable as an actual building was the shopping centre. The atmosphere was amazing and the first thing I noticed was that people seemed to be so cheerful.
The children were especially cheerful and as our jeep passed them, they shouted 'Jambo' (hello) at us and waved and cheered.
The culture of the people around Kilimanjaro is really interesting. The villages in the hills above Moshi are occupied by Chaga or Chagga people, and the Chaga people were coffee growers. The northern slopes of Kilimanjaro were occupied by the Maasai and the two tribes were adversaries for many years.
Materuni Coffee Tour
When we arrived at Materuni, we parked at the visitor centre, a log cabin and were asked to sign their register. We were invited to use the 'bathroom' - a wooden hut with a hole in the floor and a tap and bucket to 'flush'.
We were introduced to a local guide, Bazil who would take us through the day's activities! We soon learned that it customary to have many guides - one is never enough!
Bazil led us up a path, to the 'coffee plantation'. This was a couple of wooden shacks with an open area protected by a tin roof and banana leaves. There were also banana trees in the plantation as both coffee and bananas are grown extensively in the area. It seemed as if one of the shaks was home to a family and just outside there was an old lady and three very young children.
We were invited to sit down on a bench and Bazil began putting coffee beans in various forms on the table in front of us.
There were beans still on the branch, with the leaves, very green beans and beans at various stages of the process, ranging through white, yellow, brown and roasted.
We were told about the different types of coffee bean and that Arabica beans are considered the best in the world. This is because they only grow between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and only above a certain altitude. They were very proud to be producing Arabica coffee beans in Materuni.
Bazil began explaining the process of growing and harvesting the beans and how the beans are processed. He was joined by three other guys and they showed us how the beans are thrown to remove the husks and how they manually fish out bad beans.
We were shown how the beans are pounded to remove more layers and how they are soaked and then dried before being roasted.
The guys went through each process as though they were having a great big celebration, singing and dancing while the beans were worked on - especially when being pounded with a huge stick like a giant pestle and mortar. We were invited to join in - with the pounding and with the singing and dancing.
It was so much fun!
Then it was time to roast the beans over the open fire. We were shown how this was done, and once again invited to join in.
The fire was super hot and, as it was already a hot day, we really began to feel the heat.
The roasting was once again accompanied by singing, dancing, clapping and cheering - and it seemed as though a huge bundle of joy was being worked into the whole process.
Once the beans had been roasted, it would be time to let them cool and then it would be time to grind them. This once again involved the giant pestle and mortar and, of course, involved lots of singing, dancing, clapping and cheering as the beans were pulverised into ground coffee.
Once the coffee was fine enough, it was thrown into a pot of boiling water and the coffee frothed up like I've never seen before. The smell was amazing. After a couple of minutes in the water, it was filtered through a large mesh strainer into a flask.
Then it was served with a little sugar - no milk.
It was the most divine coffee I have ever tasted in my life!
Absolutely gorgeous.
Of course, that was the moment when we were invited to buy some. And, of course I bought some! They only sell the beans as those keep fresher for way longer than ground coffee so I bought a bag of beans. I have only just bought a coffee mill to grind them, so will keep you posted on whether it tastes the same when I make it. Somehow I doubt it - I think you actually have to be there and drink it the way they make it to get that amazing flavour.
Update: My new coffee mill didn't work, so I pounded the beans by hand in a wooden pestle and mortar and then threw them in a pan of boiling water and strained it in the same way. It tasted gorgeous! Maybe not quite the same as being there but a beautiful cup of Arrrrrrrabica coffee! I need to go back - just to buy some more!
Having seen how Arabica is only grown above a certain altitude and the lengthy hand made process, I can understand why this is considered the best coffee - and why it's the most expensive!
Materuni Waterfall Hike
After we had tasted the coffee and some gorgeous fruits, we elected to delay our lunch and hike to the waterfall first, so we weren't hiking just after eating. The hike was just under an hour each way and was absolutely stunning!
We set off on a narrow path and saw the coffee plants as well as banana trees. The vegetation was rich and lush - on the border of the cultivation zone and the rainforest zone on the lower slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro.
There were amazingly beautiful birds that filled the air with their song and we also saw a chameleon, which Bazil picked up for us to hold and watch him change colour. He was very cute, but I don't think he liked being picked up, so I was happy to see him put back where he belonged.
The hike was a very welcome stretch of the legs after spending over 26 hours travelling, cooped up on planes or sitting in airports. It felt good to get the legs working again and would be a nice warm up for the big hikes to come in a couple of days.
The views over the valley were spectacular and we passed lots of small huts where locals were selling fruit and drinks.
The waterfall itself was very pretty and fell into a small lake where some chose to jump in and swim. Not having any change of clothes and learning that water was very cold, we passed on this option!
After taking photos of the falls, we turned and hiked the same way back to the coffee farm. It was a little tricky in parts as the path was narrow and slippery with some recent rain.
Lunch with the Coffee Guys
After the hike, we got to have our packed lunch with the coffee guys and it was amazing! The lunch had been provided for us by the kitchen staff at Stella Maris Lodge and considering it was a boxed lunch, it was so varied and nutritious. We had vegetable rice, chicken, eggs, potatoes, fruit, mango juice and more that I can't quite remember.
The guys were great company, continuing to sing, dance and laugh and the atmosphere was just so happy!
Then it was time to head back to our vehicle and back to the Stella Maris.
Finally - a rest
Finally, after all my travelling, it was time for a rest and chill out. It was so good to jump in the shower - my first since leaving Spain!
After unpacking a few things and sorting out my gear, I rested on my bed for a while, looking at Mt Kilimanjaro out of my window. I could barely believe that I was about to embark on a mission to get to the top of it in less than 48 hours.
Dinner at Stella Maris Lodge
After my welcome shower and rest, it was time to meet Ursula in the restaurant for dinner. The menu was massive and very varied! I decided to try a local dish and had chicken cooked in local spices. It was absolutely spectacular - I learned that the local cooking was something that I would enjoy immenseley and miss now that I'm home. I'm going to have to experiment with Tanzanian spices for sure!
One of the popular ingredients for Tanzanian cooking is bananas! Banana stew is a favourite and bananas are used in starters, mains and deserts! They can't get enough of them. I love bananas, so have lots of new ideas to try cooking with them.
I followed up my dinner with a simple ice cream - that was anything but simple! It was a glorious concoction of chocolate and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and trimmings!
While others enjoyed the local Kilimanjaro beer, I had made the decision to avoid alcohol until after the big hike as alcohol isn't the best for altitude sickness, so I discovered that in Africa they have pineapple flavoured Fanta which is absolutely delicious and something else that I miss since coming home!
