the people behind the landscape
Spend time with the Maasai, the Hadzabe, the Datoga and the Chagga in northern Tanzania, on a day trip or over a full week.
Most visitors come to Tanzania for the mountain and the wildlife, and go home talking about the people as well. In the north you can move between very different ways of life within a few hours' drive: cattle herders on the plains, hunter-gatherers beside a soda lake, coffee farmers on the slopes of Kilimanjaro.
A Maasai village, Materuni or a coffee farm near Arusha takes a single day, and fits before or after a climb or safari. Lake Eyasi, home of the Hadzabe and Datoga, is part of a longer trip: our five-day safari or our seven-day cultural tour.
Northern plains and Longido
Cattle herders whose way of life shapes the land you drive through. A local Maasai guide walks you through the village and explains why cattle matter so much, what the traditional dress means and how homes are built. At Longido you can stay the night with a community and walk on the mountain with herders.
Maasai village visit
Lake Eyasi
One of the last hunter-gatherer peoples in Africa, living around a soda lake on the floor of the Rift Valley. You set out at dawn on foot and learn how they track and forage.
Safari with a Hadzabe morning
Lake Eyasi
Neighbours of the Hadzabe around Lake Eyasi, with a very different way of life, known for their blacksmithing and craft. An afternoon with a Datoga community is part of our seven-day cultural tour.
The seven-day cultural tour
Slopes of Kilimanjaro
Farmers of the mountain's lower slopes, and the place to see where your coffee starts. At Materuni you walk through plantations to a tall waterfall, roast and brew your own coffee, then sit down to a traditional Chagga lunch with music and dance.
Materuni day trip
Town and coffee farms
Tanzania's safari town has its own story, told at the Arusha Declaration Museum and in the Maasai and Central Food markets. Just outside town, a walking tour follows coffee from the plant to the cup you brew yourself.
Arusha city tourYou are in someone's home. Your guide will tell you when it is welcome.
Ceremonial practices are shared to be observed only. Everyday activities and dances are different, and you may be invited to join in.
Ask questions and let the day move at its own pace. The conversation is the point of going.
If you would like beadwork or crafts, buy them where they are made, and ask your guide what is a fair price.
You visit: Lake Eyasi
You visit: Lake Eyasi · Ngorongoro · Serengeti · Tarangire
Plan Your Safari
