Out of Africa with John & Lynn: Moshi ~ Msuni

Thursday, February 6

Father Barnabas wanted to take us to his village, Msuni, up the mountain, (Mt Kilimanjaro).
The scenery changed dramatically as we got further from the town of Moshi ~ so much vegetation, so green ~ and the temperature got much more comfortable as we climbed into the foothills of Kilimanjaro. The cooler air was refreshing.

First we stopped at the church where the wedding will be on Saturday.

This is also the church he attended as a child ~ the church he walked two hours to get to each morning to be an alter boy ~ then after mass he walked another hour to school.

One of the classrooms of the school that is now part of this campus ~ Father Barnabas' brother, Peter teaches at this school ~

The hall where the reception will be ~

Of course the associate pastor of the church was there and invited us for tea ~ we had to accept.

Next Father B took us to The Union Coffee Tour Camp where we met up with his brother Felix. Many people take extended tours of the coffee plantations, waterfalls, caves etc in this area and they camp here.

We had dinner with Felix and his family two weeks ago so it was good to see him again. Felix works for the Union Coffee Co and had arranged a shortened tour for us ~ the actual tour is hours.
Of course we had to start with a cup of coffee ~

This whole area around Mt Kilimanjaro is where the Chagga tribe lives so our first adventure was a Chagga cave. In the early days, it was told the Maasai felt they had the only true connection with the animals and they were the only people that should have domestic animals like cows. They attacked other tribes that had cows ~ so the Chagga dug caves ~ all by hand ~ to hide in when attacked. These caves are quite extensive and it is amazing how they were built. We ventured in ~ at one point crawling to the next chamber ~ and decided that was enough ~ we got the idea!

Next was the only remaining Chagga hut in this village. This hut is over 100 years old and still holding up well. The thatching is made from the banana leaf and must be repaired annually.

This gentleman's mother owned the hut and wrote in her will that it never be taken down so he is trying to maintain it. Ironically it is holding up much better than buildings that were constructed after this.

Horn from a buffalo used for drinking ~

home built after the hut ~ now used for the animals ~

his current home ~

On to the coffee farm ~ coffee was first introduced in Tanzania by missionaries. It is now a major export crop and many changes have occurred in the process of farming the coffee. In 1933 a union of coffee farmers was formed ~ Kilimanjaro Native Co-operative Union ~ giving the farmers a more fair price for their crop and improved methods such as spacing of plants and irrigation. "Quality is a primary focus of KNCU. The Union believes that small-scale farming is the best way to achieve the highest quality coffee. Most of the members’ plots are between 0.5 and 1.5 acres per family, at altitudes of 1000-2000 meters above sea level. The core function of the Union is to “coordinate, organize and sensitize the farmers on the production of quality and increased quantity of coffee".

Irrigation ditch ~

The coffee plants are spaced three feet apart in the shade of the banana plants.

It takes a year and a half for a plant to produce flowers ~

and nine months after that to produce beans.

The beans are ripe when the pod turns red. Inside each pod are two beans.

Each farmer keeps enough beans for his own personal use and the rest are sold by the pound.

The beans are sorted and graded thus getting your different grades of coffee.

At the individual farmers level ~ the beans are dried ~ as you shake the basket the shells come off and are separated from the beans ~