As you might have seen in part 1, we made a wonderful family holiday to Tanzania last summer. We've made many great adventures there. One of them was a day trip to the Materuni waterfall and finishing the day with a coffee tour. I love waterfalls (we don't have them in The Netherlands) and I also really like coffee, so this would be a perfect day for me.
The Materuni village is located on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. To get there we had quite a bumpy ride. The area is very fertile because of the volcanic soils and abundant rainfall. You can notice this because the area is very green. The locals also grow a lot of fruits and coffee on the hills.
We noticed it was quite moist. I didn't choose the best shoes for the climb to the waterfall. The path to the waterfall was about 2 kilometers from the village, but due to the muddy path it did take us a long time to get there (also because we didn't want to fall into this mud 😉).
On the way there were some locals. Some were selling souvenirs and drinks and one lady had found a small chameleon. The girls even dared to hold it to have a picture taken with it.
Although it was a tough climb, it was well worth it. The Materuni waterfall is beautifull. It drops about 70 meters from the rocks. The cool mist created by the waterfall was nice and refreshing after the challenging climb.
I took off my shoes to take a shot from below as well. The water was really freezing, so I quickly took the shot and went back out immediately after.
After a short break we headed back down again. Going down on the slippery paths was even scarier than going up. But in the end we all made it back without having slipped.
After the descent we had to walk all the way back to the village where we were going to a coffee plant to have a coffee tour.
At the coffee plant a guide explained the complete process of growing and making coffee. I did know a bit about how it was done, but I didn't know the process is so labor intensive.
The coffee cherries (that is how they are called when they grow on the bush) are all hand picked by the farmers. This is because not all the beans on the coffee bush ripen at the same time. They only pick the red ones. After that, the outer skin and pulp are removed to collect the actual beans inside.
The coffee beans are then roasted in a pot. The longer they cook, the darker the roast (duh!). We had a traditional coffee ceremony where the guides were singing songs in Swahili.
After the roasting it really started to look like real coffee. The beans were then put into a large wooden mortar and grinded with a stick. This traditional method required a lot of effort. We all could give it a try.
Back at the terrace we were treated to a well deserved cup of freshly made coffee. After a long walk and with these views it was a perfect treat! Knowing the process of growing and preparing the coffee beans did make me understand better why coffee is quite expensive in The Netherlands. I will even enjoy my coffee more now I know this.
Thanks for reading the second blog of my Tanzania series. I hope you enjoyed it. Follow me for the rest of the blogs. There are a couple of more adventures that I will share later.
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