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Day trip · Full day · From Moshi

Materuni Waterfall & Coffee Farm

Up above Moshi into the green farms on Kilimanjaro’s lower slopes: a walk through banana and coffee plots to the Materuni waterfall, and an afternoon with a local family roasting, grinding and drinking their own coffee.

MoshiMateruniMoshi

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LengthMost of a day · 6–7 hours

WhereMateruni village, above Moshi

Starts & endsYour hotel in Moshi

PaceModerate — a steep, sometimes slippery path

Best monthsJune–February, outside the long rains

Overview The route The day Rates Included Add-ons When to go Getting there FAQ Enquire

IOverview

A waterfall, a village, and coffee from bush to cup.

Materuni is a village on the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro, in Chagga country above Moshi, where most families still farm small plots of bananas, vegetables and coffee under the trees. A local guide from the village walks you through the farms and down into a gorge to the Materuni waterfall — cool, loud and a relief after the heat of town.

Back up in the village, a family shows you coffee the way it has long been made at home here: beans picked, hulled, roasted over a fire, pounded by hand and brewed, and then drunk together. We have called it a full day because, with the walk, the coffee and an unhurried lunch, it takes most of one. It is a village visit, not a show, and the pace is set by the people who live there.

Major attractions · 3

01Materuni waterfall
02Chagga farms on Kilimanjaro’s slopes
03Home coffee roasting with a local family

Trip detailsPrivate

Length: Most of a day · about 6–7 hours door to door
Pick-up: Your hotel in Moshi (Arusha on request — a longer day)
Start / end: Moshi, both ways
Activity level: Moderate — a walk with steep, uneven sections that can be slippery
Group size: Maximum per vehicle
Meals: Lunch — a simple local meal in the village
What to bring: Walking shoes with grip, a light rain jacket, swimwear and a towel if you want to go in, water, cash for anything you buy
Best period: Jun–Oct · Dec–Feb
Minimum age: Ask us

Request a free quote →Questions? WhatsApp +255 762 914 714

IIThe route

Up the mountain road from Moshi, and back down by afternoon.

About 45 minutes each way from Moshi; the last part climbs a narrow, partly unpaved road into the village. The solid line is the way there and back; the dotted lines are other roads nearby.

01Moshi → Materuni → Moshi~1½ h road

Overnight stopPassing throughSchematic, roughly to scale

IIIThe day

The day, hour by hour.

The whole day as it usually runs, from pick-up to drop-off. Times are approximate and bend around the traffic, the weather and how long you want to stay.

MateruniADD IMAGE · Coffee beans roasting in a pan over a wood fire in a Chagga family’s yard, Materuni

01/ 01

About 45 minutes each way. The walk to the falls is the only effort.

03°21′S 37°21′EDay 1 · Moshi → Materuni → Moshi

The waterfall walk and a family coffee

Travel: ~1½ h road
Length: 6–7 hours
Meals: Lunch
Sleep: Homeward

About 08:30
Pick-up from your hotel in Moshi and the drive north, climbing out of town through farms and villages towards the forest line.
About 09:15
In Materuni you meet the village guide. Fees are settled here unless they are already on your quote.
About 09:30
The walk: along farm paths between banana and coffee plots, then down into the gorge to the waterfall. Some sections are steep and can be muddy; the guide sets the pace.
About 11:00
At the falls. Time to sit, take photographs, or wade and swim in the pool if you do not mind cold water. Then the climb back up.
About 12:30
Lunch, then coffee with a local family: roasting the beans over the fire, pounding them in a wooden mortar, and drinking what you made. Take your time; this is the part people remember.
About 14:30
Back down the mountain road to Moshi.
About 15:15
Dropped at your hotel.

Kilimanjaro views

On clear mornings the peak shows above the village. It is often in cloud by midday, so the earlier you arrive the better your chances — but nothing is promised.

IVRates

Priced by group size, because the vehicle is shared.

Park fees, accommodation, vehicle, guide and meals as listed — per person, no booking fees. Rates move with the month and lodge availability; your quote is fixed once you book.

Private · price per person, sharing
Group size	1 person	2 people	3 people	4 people	5 people	6 people
From year	rate	rate	rate	rate	rate	rate

Single supplementamount

Children

Child policy: ages, sharing discount, lodge minimum ages

What moves the price

What changes itHow much

How many share the vehicle
The vehicle and driver-guide cost the same for one person or six, so the per-person price falls as the group grows.
Where you are picked up
Moshi is the standard. A pick-up in Arusha adds about three hours of driving to the day.
Village fees
Set by the village, per person, and shown on your quote as their own line.

Not sure which level suits you? Tell us your dates, group and budget and we will send an itemised quote with named properties.

Request a free quote →

VThe fine print

What is in the price, and what isn’t.

✓Included

Private vehicle and driver-guideYours for the day; nobody else joins
Pick-up and drop-offAt your hotel in Moshi
A local village guideFor the walk to the falls
LunchA simple local meal in the village
Drinking water in the vehicle

–Not included

Village and waterfall feeIncluded in the price, or paid on the day? Amount
Coffee and crafts you buyEntirely optional
TipsDriver-guide and village guide — we send guidance with your booking

VIAdd-ons & changes

The plan is a starting point, not a package.

The changes people ask for most, each with what it costs you in days or hours. Not in the standard price — arranged on request, and most can be combined.

Next dayprice

Chemka Hot Springs

A clear spring-fed pool on the dry plains below the mountain, about an hour from Moshi. Green slopes one day, a warm swim the next.

Makes senseYou have two free days in Moshi

Chemka Hot Springs →

Before or afterprice

Climb Kilimanjaro

Materuni sits on the same mountain. It makes a gentle first look at the slopes before a climb, or an easy day after one.

Makes senseClimbers with a spare day

The Lemosho route →

Half dayprice

Lake Duluti instead

If you are staying in Arusha, Duluti is closer: a canoe on a crater lake and a forest walk, half an hour from town.

Makes senseYou are based in Arusha

Lake Duluti canoe & forest walk →

Same spiritprice

A Maasai village in the Monduli hills

A different people and a different landscape: a day with a Maasai community in the highlands west of Arusha.

Makes senseYou want more time with people than with animals

Maasai village & the Monduli hills →

+6 daysprice

Go on to a safari

From Moshi to Arusha and out to Tarangire, the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater.

Makes senseYou have a week

The Great Midrange Journey →

VIIWhen to go

Rated for this route, not for the country.

Materuni is green all year and the waterfall runs in every month, fuller after rain. The dry months, June to October, and the warm spell from December to February give the best footing. In the long rains, April and May, the path to the falls is muddy and slippery and the village road can be hard going — the trip still runs, but more slowly.

Jan

Warm, dry spell

Feb

Warm, dry spell

Mar

Rains building

Apr

Long rains, muddy paths

May

Long rains

Jun

Dry, cool

Jul

Dry, cool

Aug

Dry

Sep

Dry

Oct

Dry, warm

Nov

Short rains

Dec

Green, warm

Three bars — the route at its bestTwo — good, with trade-offsOne — possible, and quiet

VIIIGetting there

Getting there.

Pick-up

From your hotel in Moshi

We collect you in the morning and return you to the same door in the afternoon. The drive up is about 45 minutes.

From Arusha

A longer day

Possible from Arusha, but it adds roughly an hour and a half of driving each way. If you are staying in Arusha, ask us whether it is worth it or whether Lake Duluti suits the day better.

With a climb

Before or after Kilimanjaro

Most climbs start and end near Moshi, so Materuni fits the rest day before you go up or the easy day after you come down — the walk is short enough for tired legs, if you take the steep part slowly.

What else to budget.

Not part of the safari price, in order of how much they matter.

Village and waterfall feePaid to the village
Amount, and whether included
Coffee to take homeSold by the family, if you want it
Varies
TipsDriver-guide and the village guide
Guideline

IXWhy book with us

Only what we can prove.

Arusha, since 2010

A Tanzanian company, locally owned, running safaris and climbs from Arusha for more than fifteen years.

Licensed and registered

TALA-licensed through the Tanzania Tourist Board and registered with BRELA. Ask us for the numbers; we will send them.

One guide, one vehicle

The vehicle and driver-guide are yours for the day. Nobody else joins you.

Every fee on its own line

The village fee is shown separately on your quote, so you can see what goes to the community.

XQuestions

Ten parks, three circuits.

Where the trip lands.

The roof of Africa.

The people behind the journey.

How you see it.

Honest reasons a trip costs less.

Out and back before dark.