Lunch, Coffee, And Waterfalls In Tanzania
Lunch in the village after our hike.
On our first day in Tanzania my family and I went to the Materuni village near Mount Kilimanjaro for a waterfall hike, a coffee presentation, followed by lunch. It was a long ride, almost 3 hours and the roads were very bumpy. When we arrived we signed in, met our guide, and began our hike.
The hike was one hour downhill and then another hour back uphill. We started by walking though the village and learning some things like how they use old glass bottles to make stairs. Once we started our hike we were in a little forest when our guide spotted something. It was a chameleon, It looked super cool and it was turning all sorts of different colours to try and match our guide’s bracelets. Once I got to hold it, it was moving a lot and its hands would grip onto me firmly. My dad had a try to hold it but it jumped out of his hands. We continued our hike and although it was a lot of downhill hiking and extremely hot, it was worth it. We came across a guy who sang us a song on his guitar, for a donation of course. It sounded very nice. After a lot more walking we reached a point where we took some photos on the rocks. Then we continued the last part of the hike up a hill to the bottom of the falls. My grandma stayed behind because it was very rocky.. We didn’t go all the way to the top because we weren’t going to swim.
When we headed back, Grandma got a ride on a motorcycle. My mom was very scared for her, but it turned out ok. The rest of us walked a very long time and we eventually arrived at the lunch spot. When I sat down I though the bench was super comfy. it was made out of wood so I put my finger under the wood to see what it was. All of a sudden I felt a sharp pinch at the bottom of my finger and I thought it was a splinter but I looked again and it turned out to be a termite (It was actually a wood borer) to make sure I was right I let it pinch me again and it was definitely a termite. Ouch!
Soon it was time for us to make some coffee. Coffee is a major crop in Tanzania. We started out by cracking open a coffee bean. Everyone’s coffee bean had 2 but mine had 3 so I thought that was super neat. After we did that it was time to see if they were spoiled or not. To do this you put the beans in some water and if they sink they and good but if they float they are bad. I had 2 good ones and one bad one. After this the beans had to sit in the sun for 3 weeks. We couldn’t wait this long so we just took some that were already dried. Once we got them we put them in a wooden bowl and smashed them to get off the outer layer of skin off. To do this they are put in a big wooden bowl and everyone sings to motivate the person who smashes them. Once the outer coat is smashed we have to roast them. We watched and stirred till they were nice and brown. Lastly it was time to smash them into grains and pour them for us to drink. It was delicious.
The last thing we did that day was eat. We got a fresh banana soup to warm our tummies. Then it was time for the main course. We had rice, meat, and fruit. The food was excellent and I had 4 passion fruits for dessert. Before we left we bought some bracelets and some coffee, and then we were on our way. Over all I think it was super fun and educational but had lots and lots of walking. I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone who is reasonably fit and has an extra day in Arusha before their safari.
