Poa Kichizi Kama Ndizi

Nature is Neat.

Today we went for an awesome hike in Materuni Village to the huge Mnombe waterfall. Our guide, Richard, was awesome and explained a lot of things to us along the way. We saw many different plants (eucalyptus, spearmint, lemon leaves, guava plants, wild tomatoes, arabica bean, passion fruit, avocado, banana, and a lot more!) There were also a lot of plants that apparently are used for medicines (upset stomachs, malaria, and other illnesses). Everything here was so green and absolutely gorgeous.

 Driving into Materuni Village.

 Walking up to the falls. It was amazing!! 

The spraying water felt like rain if you were close enough. A little too cold to go for a swim though.

We climbed along the rocks behind the falls.  I was contemplating jumping in. But I didn't want to do it alone and the water was freezing!

After we spent some time at the waterfall we hiked back to Richard's house. He invited us into his home and showed us how to make coffee. The Chagga people are a tribe that lives in the area and are known for making coffee.  I don't normally like coffee, but for the sake of being in Tanzania and actually  making my own cup of coffee from scratch, I drank it.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN ARABICA COFFEE =)

Step 1: Pluck arabica beans from tree. When they are red that means they are ripe.

Step 2: Take the red shell off of beans. Soak the beans for 2 days and let dry in the sun. This step takes the longest and obviously we weren't around for this part of the process. When the beans are soaking they can also sort out any of the "bad" beans. The ones that float are separated and thrown out. 

Step 3: Twanga!!  In other words, pound the beans until the second shell is cracked and comes off. There is a local Chagga song that the group sings and claps to while one person pounds the beans.

 “Twanga, Twanga Marc twanga, twanga mara moja, mbili tatu nne, tano sita saba, nane tisa kumi"

Step 4: Separate the shells from the now green colored beans

Step 5: Roast beans until dark brown, continue to stir so they don't burn

Step 6: Twanga!!  Pound the beans and sift into a fine powder

Step 7: Boil water over fire.

Step 8: Add coffee to water and voila!  

Step 9: Enjoy fresh cup of homemade coffee.

POMBE

After we ate lunch and had a cup of coffee we drove down to another local part of the village for a homemade pombe, which is the native banana beer. Richard explained how exactly they make the beer, but it is quite a complicated process involving fermented bananas. They brought out a plastic pale full of this stuff and it looked like sand mixed with water. The millet rises to the top of the bucket and you have to scoop it out to drink the brew.  

Once you got over the texture of the millet, it didn't taste too bad! We also tried banana wine.  The banana wine was much stronger than the pombe (also stronger than most wine coolers and beer in the US).   Drink happy, and fly!  

 

Richard taught us a new saying in Swahili. Poa kichizi kama ndizi¸ which means "crazy cool like a banana". I'm not quite sure what it means, but it makes sense when we're drinking alcohol made from bananas! 

- K