Marangu-Mamba cultural tourism program

Babylon Lodge organizes guided tours leading to panoramic viewpoints ideal for photographing waterfalls and Mount Kilimanjaro.  As your walk through the banana and coffee fields, you will be in a position to see the elegant Mt. Kilimanjaro from different angles and also to take great photos.

•  Our cultural tourism program will give you a chance to pass historic sites of clan wars and ancient legends including large caves for hiding during the Chagga-Maasai wars. A morning visit to the ancient Makundi area recalls clan wars and historic legends. You can also enter the large hiding caves which were used to protect women and children during the Maasai-Chagga wars.

• A visit to local blacksmiths who continue using ancestral methods to prepare Maasai spears and tools. You will be in a position to see the men at work heating the iron in the fire and beating it into shape to get the required items. This method has long been forgotten in most parts of the world and seeing the Chagga men do this will be like going back in time!

• Opportunity to experience Chagga culture with a visit to a traditional Chagga house. This Chagga hut will amaze you and you will be in a position to witness the Chagga architecture. The hut although not looking so big from the outside could be used for sleeping, cooking, and keeping animals! The hut has been maintained traditionally and walking into it will make you feel like you know the Chagga people better.

• A visit to a Chagga beer-making factory.  You will have the opportunity of visiting a Chagga beer factory. Here you will learn how the (mbege) chagga beer is brewed from the materials needed and the process that is followed until the final product. For those who are courageous, they can even have a taste of the same!

A visit to the Kinukamori waterfalls. This might not be the greatest waterfall that you might have seen but its good environment and rich history will leave you fascinated. This waterfall which gets its water from Mount Kilimanjaro has a rich history of the Chagga people.