Welcome to the green and fertile Usambara Cycling tour, where you can experience all facets of African rural life and enjoy the marvelous views over the area.
Usambara Mountains are situated in the North Eastern part of Tanzania between Mount Kilimanjaro and the Indian Ocean. The mountains rise up steeply from the surrounding plains and can only be entered via a few roads. The only tortuous tarmac road in the area winds along a small river to Soni and Lushoto the largest towns in the area. Because of its pleasant climate the mountains were favored by the Germans and the English during colonial times as this is evidenced by the numerous historic buildings from the past. From a distance the mountains are a colorful mosaic. On the fertile slopes around Soni and Lushoto, farmers cultivate small plots but further away from the large town. Areas are still covered by the dense tropical forests.
The viewpoints on the Southern and Western side of the Usambara Mountains are well known for the spectacular views of the Mkomazi and Handeni plains, Kilimanjaro can be seen on the horizon, and at the end of the day the sunset turns the area into tremendous palled of unforgettable colours.
ITINERARY:
DAY 1: LUSHOTO – LUKOZI- RANGWI - 40KM
Sight Scienery: Traditional Villages with traditional, Rain forest, Views nature of the road: All dirty with up and down hill, Dinner and overnight Rangwi Convent.
DAY 2: RANGWI – MTAE – 30KM
Sight Scienery: Traditional Villages with traditional staf like visiting women group who are making pots, Spectacular Views Over Maasai Plane And On Clear Day You Can See Kilimanjaro On The Horizon NATURE OF THE ROAD: All dirty with up and down hill Dinner and overnight at Mtae Lutheran Hostel
DAY 3: MTAE- LUKOZI- MULLERS – 50KM
Sight Scienery: Good views, traditional villages, forest, in the evening vist Mkuzu waterfall then back Mullers Lodge for dinner and overnight. NATURE OF THE ROAD: All dirty with up and down hill
DAY 4: MULLERS LODGE- MAZUMBAI FOREST RESERVE- 35KM
Sight Scienery: Good views, traditional villages, tea plantations and coffee plantations, in the mazumbai forest which is untouched forest you can make a short walk to see huge tree flowers, black and white Columbus monkey. Dinner and overnight at Mazumbai Hostel NATURE OF THE ROAD: All dirty with up and down hill
DAY 5: MAZUMBAI- BUMBULI- SONI –LUSHOTO- 45KM
Sight Scienery: Rain forest, tea and coffee plantation, traditional villages, views and you can make stop over at soni falls hotel for a drink and visit soni water fall the continue to Lushoto for overninght. NATURE OF THE ROAD: Mixture of tarmac and dirty road with up and down hill
“End of service”
PRICE: US $775 per person sharing.
INCLUSIVE: -Accommodation, all park fees, -food based on three meals a day - Bikes, guide fees -1-bottle of mineral water per day, -Service of English speaking guide, - Rescue car
EXCLUSIVE: - Things of personal nature Beverages, Alcohol -Tips to the guide is highly recommended -All things which is not mentioned in the Itinerary
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My customized 13-day trip in Tanzania was absolutely amazing!
From breathtaking Ngorongoro hiking to a taste of Kilimanjaro and local village visits, it was truly a life-changing experience.
My driver and tour manager went out of their way to accommodate my whims and made sure that my stay in Tanzania was a pleasant one. Unfortunately I fractured my ankle during one of the hikes I took, but I was taken to the hospital immediately, and taken a great care of.
I would definitely recommend this operator to anyone who's looking for a tour that's much more than just game drives.'
We went on a two day walking – canoeing trip in Arusha National Park. The tour operator also made hotel arrangements for the first three days we were in Arusha.
They stayed in contact for 11 months via email. The person I was in contact with Elifasi and our guide, Apolo Kihwil, meet us at the airport took us to our hotel. On our rest day we visited a school at our request and not part of the paid itinerary this was on their time.
Our guide Apolo was the best we had on our entire trip. He was informative, friendly and had a great sense of humor, we were rewarded with a dream trip my favorite giraffe and several at a time the last bunch we counted eleven, baboons, wart hogs, black and white monkeys, hundreds of thousand of lesser and greater flamingos on big Momella Lake he provide delicious lunches and was infinitely patient while we took photographs.
I would not hesitate to use them on my next trip to Tanzania and would request Apolo as our guide.
We had a most wonderful holiday in Kenya and Tanzania.
They looked after us very well and we were very satisfied with their service. The service provided value for money. The only comment we would make is that the email from them gave us the impression that we would be staying in a lodge but when we arrived we were in a tent. We were satisfied with the tented accomodation, however it could have been made clearer in the original email that it was tented accomodation.
The staff were very kind and helpful.
Tour Operators Reply:
Thank you for the client's feedback and contructive comment/suggestion. We are glad that they were very satisfied with the service we provided to them, despite their impression that they would be staying in a lodge instead of tent.
As per the first enquiry which the clients sent into our company, she stated that she will prefer to stay in Camping “Accommodation Preference: Camping” and the price given to them was based on Camping accommodation, and these was stated in the itinerary that “Dinner and overnight at the camp”
However, there was typing error at the end of the itinerary which indicates Lodge accommodation instead of Camping accommodation.
We will try our level best to make sure that this mistake will not happen again.
After having a wonderful safari in southern Africa organised through your webiste, we decided to return again to Tanzania after 45 years.
We booked a 19 day safari to visit six game parks...Selous, Mikumi, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Tarangari.
Our guide/driver, Hurumu, met us at the Dar airport and drove us to a hotel for our day of jet lag recovery. We drove to Selous first. We're not strangers to East Africa, having first arrived in 1963. By far, Hurumu is the best guide that we've ever had. He was extremely knowledgeable of wildlife, has great game eyes, a good conversationalist, and was very caring for all our needs. He understood our physical age limitations (74) but was not at all solicitous. Cool water was always available. Hurumu had the ability to always get the Toyota into position for the best photograph.
We made our initial contact the operator in 2009. Elifasi, in the office, worked with me to create the itinerary. He also was most helpful. While at Selous we requested an itinerary change. Elifasi made the changes without a problem.
The entire safari was most enjoyable and problem free.
The best of Kenya & Tanzania and they made that experience a reality. They were always on time, concerned about our well being and would without any reservations recommend them! The scenery and game viewing were all memorable and expectations met. Organizing the tour was also without any hassle
I went solo, a 50 something white woman, and me and _______ (I forget his name), rode around for 5 hours. It was a unbelievable experience.
He was a wonderful guide, I called him the "Mayor" because everybody knew him! He was so popular everywhere we went that I felt completely comfortable, safe, and like an invited family friend.
He showed me 3 or 4 neighborhoods, I met coffee makers, chapati breakfast cooks (had breakfast there with a Masaai family who stopped by!), a traditional herbalist (where I learned the treatment for meconium aspiration, I'm a perinatal pathologist!), herbal pharmacist (where I saw that fenugreek seed is used to facilitate delivery with prolonged labor), local market, fabric seller, and had a delicious lunch at an outside Swahili restaurant. I played with kids, talked with everyone, and really got a great sense of the community.
My guide also is very active in local projects and inspired me to help with a bridge rebuilding project he is spear heading. The bicycle riding was easy and really the only way to get around in these neighborhoods. It was by far the best experience I had in Dar, and one of the best I have had in my many travels in East Africa!
We could not have asked for abetter way to end our incredible adventures in Tanzania. We saw everything and did everything we could have ever imagined. From the big game watching in the Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Lake Manyara, to ascending the highly active volcano next to Lake Natron, it was all so unbelievably incredible. A total dream come true!
Our guide Huruma had he most expansive breadth of knowledge of the natural environment, he was a pleasure to talk to. He was also extremely flexible with us as lans often changed for various reasons, but ALWAYS for the better. Huruma made us feel safe and comfortable the whole time. Alex our cook as wonderful as well making sure we had the best quality meals possiblemade from the freshest ingredients.
Choosing a safari operator is tough, but I will just say that I will always recommend these guys. They are very professional and will do everything to make sure you have the best trip possible. Thanks again for our lifetime memories. We will be back, so you will hear from us again.
Thanks Elfasi for all your time, flexibility and support in orchestrating this dream trip.
I would without hesitation recommend this operatorfor any Kilimanjaro Climb attempt and most certainly would suggest that you ask for Florence and his team.
I am reasonably confident that should you be looking for other adventures in northern Tanzania that you give them a try
I am happy to inform you that I was really happy with their services they provided me.
A special thanks and recomendation to the manager Mr Elifasi who was very helpfull. He really did his best to make our stay a nice one : he came with the driver to the airport to pick us up, as well he came along as well to drop us again. He was very invloved and met us various times in the hotel, even onces on a sunday evening.
His guides were very profesionall and friendly. We did not reach the summit of the Kilimanjaro, but we definately can look back to a very nice time, a big part of this was due to the smooth organisation of the operator.
I had a REALLY enjoyable cycle tour with Mejah. It was one of the highlights of my stay in Tanzania and a wonderful way to end my trip.
Mejah's vision for both cycling and encouraging entrepreneurialism in Tanzania are an inspiration. I discovered a lot about parts of Dar Es Salaam that I would never normally be encouraged to visit and I also learnt more about Tanzanian culture and attitudes. Mejah's concern for local people, businesses as well as environmental issues was encouraging and very close to my own interests and concerns.
I really hope that you can encourage and sponsor more of this kind of tourism.
When I come back to Tanzania, this is precisely the kind of thing I would be looking for.
