Materuni Village

Why visit Materuni Village

Materuni is a Chagga village on the green lower slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, about 30 minutes' drive above Moshi. Small farms of bananas and coffee, cool forest and steep valleys make it one of the most rewarding cultural and walking day trips in the Kilimanjaro region, and on clear mornings the summit of Kibo can be seen above the village.

The Chagga are known for their skilful mountain farming, growing coffee in the shade of banana plants on Kilimanjaro's volcanic soil. A visit to Materuni usually includes a hands-on coffee experience with a local family — roasting the beans over a fire, grinding them by hand and brewing your own cup — and a walk of about an hour through farms and forest to the Materuni Waterfall, which drops some 80 metres into a cool pool. A traditional Chagga lunch and a chance to try banana beer complete the day.

When to go

Materuni can be visited all year. The trail to the waterfall is wetter and muddier in the rainy seasons (roughly March to May and November), but the vegetation is at its most vivid then. Good walking shoes are essential.

Because it is close to Moshi, Materuni works well before or after a Kilimanjaro climb, as a rest-day outing, or as a cultural day on a longer trip. See our Materuni waterfall and coffee tour.