Know your city
Moshi, a bustling town at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro, is home of the Chagga people
and the centre of one of Tanzania?s major coffee-growing regions. Most visitors
use the town as a starting point for climbing Mt Kilimanjaro which dominates views
from the town. The name Moshi means ?smoke? in Swahili, a reference to the clouds
which sit around the peak on most days. The lush foothills of Kilimanjaro support
much agriculture and their cooler temperatures and beautiful scenery attract many
visitors.
Moshi is at 800m altitude and isn?t uncomfortably humid like the coastal areas.
It has two rainy periods, the short rains in November and December and the heavier
long rains in April and May. The temperature ranges between 16 and 33 degrees Celsius
with an average around 28 degrees. It is particularly hot between January and March.
History of the city
Mount Kilimanjaro has always been a populated area as its volcanic soils are full
of nutrients and it support intensive agriculture. That, in combination with year-round
water from the mountain-top glacier, have meant it has been populated with farmers
for a long time. German colonialists were attracted to the area and set up vast
coffee plantations as well as building a railway stretching from Tanga at the coast,
through Moshi and up to Arusha. Unfortunately it is no longer in use.
Around Moshi
The town has some great coffee shops serving local coffee and cakes and there are
several good bars (particularly those on rooftops with evening views of Kilimanjaro)
and restaurants. Moshi is great for shopping, particularly the artists cooperative
Muungano Makonde where you can watch the carvers and painters at work.
Climbing Kilimanjaro is a popular, if testing walk talking 5-6 days. You have the
chance to complete a fantastic personal challenge and see different ecosystems,
and possibly wildlife if you?re lucky. There are several routes you can take including
the popular Marangu route (with handy huts to sleep in), challenging Machame and
quieter Rongai.
Around Moshi there are plenty of trips. Marangu is a sleepy town on the edge of
Kilimanjaro National Park with lots of day walks to waterfalls and even the first
hut of the Kili climb, a lovely place to relax and get away from it all. Towards
Arusha are the Maji Moto (?hot water?) springs were you can camp and dip your toes
in the cooler of the pools. Arusha National Park is only 45 minutes away and although
lacking the big predators, there is great game viewing with giraffe, antelope and
monkeys abound. A highlight is taking a walking safari with one of the knowledgeable
guides. Moshi has great transport links and is a convenient starting point for weekends
in the Pare and Usambara Mountains.
Culture and Customs
Moshi is home to three main cultural groups, the Chagga, the Maasai and Pare. However
most Maasai are employed as watchmen or are selling traditional medicines, their
real homes are further north. The Pare are from the Pare Mountains from about 50
km on the way to Dar. The Chagga people are very enterprising and expert businessmen.
They also value education very highly having been introduced to it by the first
German missionaries at the turn of last century. You can find Chagga all over Tanzania
running businesses, teaching and as politicians.
Usually you will be able to find people with a decent command of English, but people
appreciate it if you are able to use a bit of the native language, Swahili. It is
recommended to invest in a Swahili phrasebook.
The special local brew is called mbege and is brewed from savoury bananas and millet.
