Text and Photos : Amy Richmond
Mto wa Mbu, or Mosquito River in Swahili, is a unique village situated on the road to the national parks in Northern Tanzania. Mto wa Mbu is unique due to its ethnic diversity, where over 120 different ethnic groups are currently residing in the same small area. The village was dry and thinly populated until an irrigation project in the 1950’s and the government “villagization” policies of the 1960’s resettling people from rural areas into town where they could better provide social services. Through the Cultural Tourism Programme of Mto wa Mbu, visitors can take a tour of the village to see how different tribes are living together peacefully. You can visit a banana beer pub run by a Chagga family, Sandawe people making traditional bow and arrows, as well as find Maasai warriors grazing their cattle in the surrounding pastures.
The Cultural Tourism Programme is a community-based organization that provides cultural tours through the village for a small development fee that goes toward community-wide projects from the improvement of irrigation systems to the production of energy-saving stoves. The Cultural Tourism Programme in Tanzania was developed in 1995 by SNV- the Netherlands Dutch Development Organisation -and the Tanzania Tourist Board to help local villages directly benefit from tourism. Over a dozen modules were created through community based decision-making and are now run by local community groups.
Various tours can be arranged from half a day up to one day. A campsite and guesthouse, including a swimming pool, are also near by making Mto wa Mbu easy for safari-takers to experience a variety of local cultures as well as help tourism contribute to local people on the way to and from the national parks. During the Mto wa Mbu farming tour, you can first enjoy some banana beer at a village hut while the guide tells various stories of different local traditions, legends, and history. The walk will then take you through the local farms, banana plantations, and the village milling machine. Before continuing your journey, you can stop by a local women’s group hut where they will prepare a traditional meal. Then you can continue through the village, passing waterfalls and finally up the “hill of misfortune” where you can rest by a huge baobob tree and enjoy a view of both Lake Manyara National Park and the Rift Valley Escarpment.
Contact
Wesley, Coordinateur du Mto wa Mbu CTP
P.O. Box 100, Red Banana Café
Mto wa Mbu, Arusha Tanzani
Tel : 027 2539115 / 2539101
Email : mtoculturalprogramme@hotmail.com
Internet :
http://www.geocities.com/mimi_samuel/northernsafari2.htm
http://infojep.com/culturaltours/mtowambu.html
Languages : English and Swahili
To arrange a cultural tour at Mto wa Mbu you can either :
a. Contact Wesley directly
b. Go by daladala from Arusha to the Cultural Tourism Programme Office at Red Banana Café in the centre of Mto wa Mbu, first take a daladala from Arusha to Makuyuni (90 km) then to Mto wa Mbu (37 km)
c. Ask your tour operator to stop by if you are on safari, or
d. Arrange a tour at the Tourist Board Office in Arusha on Boma Road next to the Clock Tower.
Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB)
47 E, Boma Road
P.O. Box 2348, Arusha
Tel : (+255) 27 250 3842
Email : ttb-info@habari.co.tz