When our time in South Africa had ended I was excited to get to Tanzania. After another full day of travel by plane, we finally made it to Kilimanjaro airport. Coming into Tanzania you can see endless plains, Norongoro Crater and most impressively, Mount Kilimanjaro. Much like I first noticed the moisture in the air in Cape Town, the first thing that hit me in Tanzania was the dryness. The air feels hot and dry, even early in the morning. We met our driver and made the hour drive into Arusha.
Flying all night was quickly met by a much needed nap in the lodge, Arumeru.
We had our own small cottage on this peaceful property.
On our first full day of exploring in Tanzania we headed back towards Moshi to make it to our coffee tour in Uru. Driving through the dusty streets of Arusha and Moshi, you notice the impressive presence of Coca-Cola and motorcycles taxis. Zipping all around you these taxis are ideal for traveling up the bumpy roads that cannot be accessed by the larger buses and so many locals choose to travel by bike.
The two most important foods in Arusha are coffee and bananas. We quickly learned that bananas are used in everything, and there is a banana for everything: dessert bananas, soup bananas, beer bananas, red bananas and kid bananas – it was bananas! These, along with other fruits and vegetables are sold right on the street.
Uru is located outside Moshi in the foothills of Kilimanjaro. Culturally, the coffee bean is the center of focus in Uru because it is the backbone of their economy.
Many families in this very poor region are dependent on their coffee farms. They are also very proud of their coffee. The Arabica bean of region gets its unique flavor from the Kilimanjaro soil.
Our coffee tour, naturally, started and ended with a cup of coffee. Our guide for the day and one of the local farmers was Josepher or Jos for short. We walked to a local coffee farm and he took us through the entire process of making cup of coffee, from picking the bean, drying it, roasting it and enjoying the delicious cup of Joe at the end.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.