When planning my trip, I left a day open to rest up and perhaps take a single day animal safari.
However, the only day safari I could find entailed a seven hour round trip drive in a SUV. I just did not want to sit so long in a car, especially if I would have to endure the Nigerian pop music videos.
So, instead, I opted for the Materuni Waterfall & Coffee Village Tour.
Materuni Village is a settlement of Chaga people located on the foothills of Kilimanjaro. The Chaga are the third largest ethnic group in Tanzania and the predominant ethnic group in the Kilimanjaro area.
Due to the favorable climate of the area and successful agricultural methods -- which include extensive irrigation systems, terracing, and continuous organic fertilization methods practiced for thousands of years -- the Chaga are relatively wealthy by East African standards.
There are no "nucleated" villages on Kilimanjaro. Rather, each household lives in the midst of its own banana-coffee garden, and the gardens, one next to another, stretch all over the mountain.
After a 45 drive from Moshi, largely up a dirt road, I embarked on a 1 hour hike (as if I needed to hike more!) through lush, picturesque farmland, ending at the Materuni waterfall.
There is not much wildlife in this area, but I did see a chameleon,
Following the hike, I had lunch at a Chaga family home, along with some other tourists from Germany and the Netherlands.
After lunch, we made our own coffee. Rather than use a coffee machine, we spent 90 minutes creating it from scratch.
The mashing of the coffee beans was probably the most fun part!
It was a fun way to end the trip!
