Beautiful Machame Rainforest and Waterfall Trekking

Sustainable tourism

The trekking started at the Machame Gate, one of the starting points for climbing Kilimanjaro, the mountain with the highest summit in Africa. Right at the gate, we found a bunch of people who were ready to conquer this very mountain, good luck to them! Back to our trekking, Machame is located at the south-western slope of Kilimanjaro, with the reputation of its mosaic landscape including valleys, rivers, waterfalls and rainforests; it is also the home base of the Chagga tribe. The first 2.5-hour trek was easy and gave us a tropical view of the area. The trek was very informative, and our guide, Hilary, showed us different plants. Even if you are not a plant lover, you will be amazed at how diverse the vegetation is in this area. Along the way, we met some local Chagga people, and Hilary also taught us how to greet them in a Chagga way.

After lunch, we went to a local household to learn the local way to prepare a cup of coffee. The entire process was demonstrated before us, from harvesting to coffee bean roasting and grinding. They even invited us to join in the preparation. While tasting the coffee we had prepared, the house owner was sharing the local lifestyle and customs with us. After regaining energy from the coffee, we headed to another trek to a waterfall. The route was not challenging; it took us about an hour to reach the waterfall.  We were provided time to swim in the waterfall and some of us even got to the top of the waterfall and jumped down, what a thing! When we returned to the house, some local food and brews were already there waiting for us. This allowed us to enjoy the authentic local produce and experience the local taste. We were also taught the traditional way to drink the brew.

The next day, we trekked to an old Chagga cave, which the Chagga people used as a shelter during the wars.  Inside the cave, we heard the whole story about the cave and some mysterious events that were claimed to happen there. Later, we helped local people to collect banana leaves and feed the cows. The trip ended with a stunning view of Mt Kilimanjaro on our way back to Moshi.