Making Coffee from Scratch

I wake refreshed, having slept deeply and solidly. Our guide Isaac arrives at 7am for a briefing over breakfast; he outlines our itinerary and introduces his assistant, Goodluck. He collects cash from us for tips, which he will manage on our behalf during the trip.

This morning’s activity is a visit to a Chaga village (the tribe that dominates here) followed by a walk to a nearby waterfall where we will have lunch. Isaac explains that there are over 120 different tribes in Tanzania but that the official language is Swahili which has helped them to live peacefully together. The road to the village is steep and potholed, the houses mostly wood and mud, and everybody is wearing their Sunday best because they are either going to or have been to church.

We arrive at the home of the guy who guided yesterday’s coffee walk and he and his brother begin to tell us about their business, growing coffee, bananas and corn. A cute little girl, their sister or neice, works her way round the group snuggling up to each of the adults in turn and showing them her book where she is writing numbers. Later she tells us she is 5 and her name is Sien.

The brothers explain how coffee is made and demonstrate each of the stages; shelling the beans in a simple mechanical machine, roasting them over an open fire and then grinding them in a large pestle and mortar made of wood.

They sing as they grind the beans, and people are invited to have a go at grinding. We’re asked to reciprocate with a song from our country and after some deliberation we attempt to sing London’s Burning as a round. (Later, while drinking the coffee, we do somewhat better with Reach for the Stars!)

 

 

Sien is bringing round a light brown powder which she invites us to taste – it turns out to be finely ground coffee mixed with sugar. We sample the coffee we’ve made from scratch and it’s delicious. I buy a pack and also a small picture painted by one of the brothers. We’re offered the chance to use the facilities, which are housed in a mud hut with a cow loudly mooing behind it; while we wait I watch an older gentleman working on an extension to the house in his Sunday best.

We’re directed to a muddy slope behind the house and begin the walk to the waterfall. The landscape is lush and forested and the guides point out wildlife – mainly chameleons, which are really hard to spot among the leaves. There’s a wooden cabin where we stop for a box lunch. The clouds are beginning to clear and it’s getting warmer as we make the final approach to the waterfall, where we get soaked from the spray.

 

On the way back we're invited to stop and sample the banana beer which is made from the millet we saw drying by the roadside on the way to the lodge. We all try it an universally agree that it's neither beer nor banana-flavoured - more like gritty gruel. I've given my camera to one of the children that helped carry our lunches to the waterfall - he is having fun taking photos of us all.

We return mid-afternoon and relax at the lodge – I read by the pool with a cold Kilimanjaro beer. Tea and coffee is served on the lawn later and towards dusk the snow-capped peak of Kilimanjaro appears from behind the clouds. There’s a great view from our veranda so I order a gin and tonic to enjoy there before dinner. We’re a bit more lively tonight, but nobody stays up late.