WATERFALLS
Mount Meru is home to many incredible waterfalls, which pour down from the volcanic slopes. The river that runs in the hostel from Mount Meru has waterfalls that you can hike to from the farm. The closest ones are 30 minutes hike and its 4 beautiful waterfalls in one place.
There are 5 beautiful waterfalls, with principal advantage of them being its proximity to the hostel. The journey from the hostel to these falls takes only 40mins with by foot. To some of these falls there’s abit of steep ground and some clambering, but is quite manageable, even for young children. It is a good place to visit when you’re at the farm. The full-day /half-day tour with a guide will lead you through a number of villages, across a lush landscape where the locals grow and sell coffee, maize, and other types of vegetables and fruit.
The other fall is located 1 hour and 30 minutes hike from in the forest of Mount Meru.
Restrictions: Waterfall tour requires participants to be in moderately good shape and may be unsuitable for those with medical conditions. So please discuss this with us before you go. Bring comfortable walking and waterproof shoes. Most people with average fitness and a sense of adventure will be okay as it is nothing technical. Be prepared to get wet.
PLEASE NOTE; there’s an entrance fee for hikes to the waterfalls. Also there’s an extra fee or tip to a guide.
TRADITIONAL HEALER’S VISIT
While at the farm you can visit the most known traditional healer in our village known as Maretu and No, he is not a witch doctor but someone who knows what herbs to pick from the forest to cure sickness. Loats of people around Arusha and neighboring villages have utilized the traditional healer at some point in their lifetime. The healer is sought for delivery of babies and treatment of multitude of ailments such as malnutrition, typhoid, malaria, allergies, arthritis, gynecology issues, and sexual dysfunction. Learn about many different herbal remedies that he prescribes for each situation.
The healer is 100 years old as of now and can still be visited in his house where he spent most of the time in bed. He has been a traditional healer in our village from his early 20s.
LAKE DULUTI
Lake Duluti is 7km from Banana Farm and is surrounded by a thick forest that is home to a number of reptiles like lizards while the lake itself is a sanctuary for various bird species. You can walk there, go with a bicycle or take a motorbike there (bodaboda).
Exploring the area around Lake Duluti is quite fun. Enjoy canoeing at Lake Duluti as well as the hike/forest walk at the Duluti Forest and get to see the different animal and plant species. You could also enjoy bird watching or spot fishing.Since the area is quite popular with cultural tourism take time to visit the local market within the area happening on Wednesday and Saturday.
You can easily grab a daladala down at Highway heading east and ask the conductor to drop you off at Sang’si and from there you can cross the highway and walk for 1.5km to the lake. Distance from the hostel to the lake is 7km.