Arusha · Experience
Coffee, from the branch to the cup
On a smallholding near Arusha you pick the cherries, pulp them by hand, roast the beans in a pan over a wood fire, pound them in a mortar and drink the result. You will not look at a cup of coffee the same way afterwards.
What happens
The visit follows the bean in order. Cherries are picked from the bushes and fed through a hand-cranked pulper; the beans are roasted in a pan over a wood fire in the farmhouse kitchen, pounded in a tall wooden mortar, sifted, and brewed. You do the work rather than watch it.
Where
A family smallholding near Arusha. It is a working farm, so what you see depends on the season: harvest, drying or roasting.
Who it suits
Anyone. It is unhurried, mostly in the shade, and children like the pounding.
Fitting it in
An arrival or departure day, or alongside Lake Duluti or the Napuru waterfall for a full day around Arusha.
A sense of the place
Questions
Questions, answered
Is it a plantation tour?
No. It is a family smallholding rather than an estate, and the interest is the process, not the scale.
Can I buy coffee there?
Ask on the day. Buying is never part of what we sell you.
Pairs well with
Arusha
Lake Duluti
A small volcanic crater lake at Tengeru, east of Arusha, ringed by forest reserve. Canoe it, walk the rim, or both.
Arusha
A Day in Arusha
The town every safari begins in, given a full day: the Cultural Heritage Centre, the markets and the streets, with Mount Meru above it all.
Arusha
Arusha Town Walk
Arusha on foot with a guide: the clock tower, the markets and the streets between them. Ask us for the route.
Arusha
Napuru Waterfall
A waterfall in the Meru-Usa forest on the lower slopes of Mount Meru, outside Arusha, reached on foot through the trees.
Ask about this