Lake Manyara Hotels & Resorts

Visit Mto wa Mbu to experience life in a thriving village which lies on an escarpment in the Great Rift Valley. This is a very successful agricultural area because of the volcanic soil and spring water that runs down from the escarpment, allowing for year-round irrigation. Mto wa Mbu also sits on the road from the Serengeti to Ngorongoro, so it’s become a key trading point, home to people from over 120 different tribes. It’s a great place for you to get a taste of local culture and farming traditions.

The walking tour usually lasts two hours and can be tailored to your interests. As you explore, you’ll see farmers on motorcycles transporting bunches of bananas and women carrying huge baskets of produce on their heads, chatting with their friends. You’ll pass the school and walk around the market, which is full of stalls selling vegetables and fruit. Along the way, you’ll get to talk to the traders selling their crafts, as well as food vendors who serve meals straight from a large pot. If you’re brave enough, you can even test the fiery, locally-brewed alcohol.

Guests enjoy touring a nearby rice paddy and banana farm, where you’ll get to meet the farmers and learn how food is grown and harvested. Local people know that a fee is paid for the tour, which goes back into helping the community, so they’re very happy to have visitors.

Explore Mto wa Mbu, a culturally-diverse farming hub, on this fun half-day tuk-tuk tour. Visitors really enjoy this local form of transport as they feel immersed in the scenery and daily life. Mto wa Mbu is a successful farming town because it’s set on an escarpment in the fertile Great Rift Valley. It’s also on the road from Serengeti to Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro, making it a key trading hub.

People from over 120 tribes in Tanzania live, work and trade in and around Mto wa Mbu, so it’s very interesting culturally. On the tour, you’ll go through the market and pass homes where women might be hand washing outside or peeling vegetables.

You’ll learn about local farming industries when you stop at rice fields and a banana plantation.  As well as meeting skilled tinga tinga painters, a highlight is visiting the Makonde tribe, who are famous for their wooden carvings. Guests love touring the banana farm, where you get to meet the farmers, taste some plantain and try the banana beer. It’s a beautiful setting for a homemade African lunch.

What’s extra special about the tuk-tuk tour in Mto wa Mbu is that it’s run by a social enterprise that supports Tanzanian women who make biodegradable lunchboxes for Lemala. The organisation also hires local families to cook traditional meals for guests and provides free training for young women from disadvantaged backgrounds to become tour guides.