Saturday morning, 8.30AM. Our group made up of volunteers and hostel guests was picked up by bus and thus started our journey heading towards Moshi. Unfortunately, once again Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro were hiding behind the clouds, while here we could expect a nice sunny day. At first our bus followed the main road, in midst of the typical busy Tanzanian traffic. Just behind Moshi Town, we left the main road. Our bus struggled through a narrow winding mud road up the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. Two and a half hours later we reached our goal and started our hike.
The Hike
First we walked on bumpy dirty roads and narrow trails, which were surrounded by lash green nature, plenty of avocado and banana trees, corn fields, coffee plantations. We followed a ever-changing path which lead us up- and downhill. Forty minutes later we finally spotted the Materuni waterfall. From the shelter we had a perfect view. The experience was quite impressive. In the basin of the waterfall there were some people standing and many photos were taken. Soon after we went down to the stream bed of the waterfall too. Be aware though, the water was pretty cold, so it should be a very hot day before you enjoy a bath under the waterfall.
The Coffee Plantation
After the cold but refreshing shower in the waterfall we returned to the main path. What followed was a twenty minutes tough hike on a steep muddy path, where we finally reached a little garden and were offered a delicious local lunch: banana soup, vegetables, rice and fruit, which felt very rewarding after the tough hike. Our afternoon was crowned by a coffee presentation. We were shown the whole process the red bean has to undergo before you can drink the Coffee. Drying, peeling, stamping, roasting, grinding, cooking, and of course, drinking. What a fascinating process! The whole procedure was accompanied by singing and laughter. Even for people who didn't like the taste of coffee this was an interesting experience!
As almost everywhere there were artists offering their craft pieces, where we could buy a small memento. Soon after it was time to leave. It took us about fifteen minutes to reach the bus to drive back to Arusha. We reached our hostel just in time for dinner. What an amazing day!