Saturday morning 8.30 am, a group of volunteers and hostel guests were picked up by bus and started their journey direction Moshi. Unfortunately once again Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro were hiding behind the clouds, while we could expect a nice sunny day. At first following the main road in the normal Tanzanian traffic, just behind Moshi we left the main road and 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.
We walked on bumpy dirty roads and narrow trails, were surrounded by lash green nature, avocado and banana trees, corn fields, coffee plantations. A very varied path uphill and downhill. Forty minutes later we saw the Materuni waterfall. From the shelter we had a perfect view. Very impressive. In the basin of the waterfall there were some people standing and photos were taken. We also went down to the Bassin. The water was pretty cold. It must be a very hot day, before you enjoy a bath under the waterfall. After we enjoyed the waterfall we had to return to the main path and after twenty minutes tough hiking on steep muddy path we reached the little garden and were offered a nice local lunch: banana soup, vegetables, rice, fruit and 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, drinking. What an enjoyment! The whole process was accompanied by singing and laughter. This was even interesting for people who don’t like the taste of coffee. As almost everywhere there were some artists who offered their work of arts. Then it was time to leave. It took us about fifteen minutes to reach the bus to drive back to Arusha. Just in time we reached our hostel. What an amazing day!
