Materuni Village & Waterfalls

A tour of Materuni Village and Waterfalls is a good way to spend a day away from the bustle of Moshi town life. The walk to Materuni Waterfall offers a glimpse into the nature of Tanzania while giving you a bit of a workout to either prepare your body for the forthcoming climbing to the highest point of Africa – Kilimanjaro, or ease your muscles after the climb.

Start your mini-adventure with the short but fascinating drive from Moshi up the lush slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro to the village of Materuni, approximately 1,800 meters above sea level. This is market garden territory and has the perfect mixture of climate and soil to produce some of the best coffee in Africa. You’ll visit a coffee farm and learn about how coffee is grown, harvested and processed, and you’ll try your hand at roasting and preparing a fresh cup of coffee the Chagga way. After a delightful coffee break (so much better than the ones at work!) you’ll take a beautiful 45-minute hike through the hills and valleys route to Materuni Falls.

You’ll pass through banana and coffee plantations, up and down mini-valleys, across ridges, and through narrow splashing rivulets. Along the way, your guide will teach you about local plants and how they are used for food and traditional medicine, as well as give you more insight into the local Chagga culture. It’s your chance to ask questions about a lifestyle that’s probably very different from your own! You’ll hear the falls before you see them, and once they come into view, you might be lucky enough to see a rainbow sheen as the splashing waters split the sunlight.

The Falls are hidden away in a pristine valley with cliffs towering 200ft overhead. The mountain waters fall straight down in a shimmering curtain to splash in the rippling pool where you can float, take a swim and chill out – literally, as these are pure mountain waters and not yet heated by the sun. But it’ll be welcome after your hike, we bet.