News
30.05.2010
KARIBU SONGWA!
On May 22nd a group of nine men and women met in Dar es Salaam to start their African experience together. Guido Bernadelli and Lorenzo Carboni from La Marzocco initiated this trip and with a mixture of La Marzocco distributors / friends and Anke Erichsen from MAHLKÖNIG the travel group was complete. On Sunday morning the start to the part of Dar es Salaam airport for private charter flight was early and everybody still sleepy from the long overseas travels to arrive in Tanzania. After some search for a decent coffee we discovered that in the small shop / café Riftview coffee was served and enjoyed it before take-off. The flight time to Mbeya airport was approx. two hours and for some of the participants it was the first time to fly in a small Chessna and therefore a special experience. Mbeya is a tiny, little airport with one small house with large beer advertising on the top and one fire extingisher serving as rescue team. Everything indicates to the traveler: take it easy in Africa!
After a short drive on a rocky, dusty road we arrived at the wonderful Utengule Lodge – our stay for the next three days – and were amazed of the beauty of this spot: breathtaking views over the riftvalley, green trees and grasses, the first coffee trees, a round main house built of local wood, relaxing terraces and a swimming pool to refresh. The lodge is an unexpected surprise in a wild and untamed surrounding. After a friendly welcome with refreshing towels to wash away the travel dust and tropical juice, everybody was assigned their rooms, all with really incredible views over the Riftvalley. Most of the rooms are two story rooms with a roofed terrace to relax and to just enjoy the African breathe and nice sunsets. For all sporty travelers the lodge offers a volleyball field, squash and tennis court and a pool, for hiking and running several options are available.
From Monday to Wednesday the coffee education programme guided by Thomas Plattner, the former farm manager, took place including walks on the coffee fields, planting, a visit to the nursery and a visit to the mill CityCoffee in Mbeya.
The extensive and well prepared education programme included:
- Coffee origin and coffee botanic
- From seed to plant
- Nursery
- Fertilizing
- Irrigation
- Wet / dry processing
- From flower to ripe cherry
- Planting, pruning, pest and diseases
- Picking in the fields
The coffee fields made a great impression, the new planting was growing well and the trees were full with cherries to pick in the weeks to come. Especially the picking was a special task for all the participants of the trip because doing it ourselves we could see how much work is involved in harvesting coffee. We calculated that a cherry is moved approx. eight times before being delivered to the mill for further hulling, grading and bulking.
As Thomas has been living over 10 years on the farm and nearly 20 years in Tanzania he can answer any question regarding agriculture, coffee, politics and the way of life in East Africa. As evening programme a barbecue and bush dinner under the full moon perfected the stay!
After the extensive coffee education the next stop on our way to the Tendala Tented Camp at the entrance of the Ruaha National Park was Neema Crafts in Iringa. Neema Crafts is a workshop for handicapped people and is run by the Iringa Angelican Church. We all got appalled by the incredible stories of the people working at Neema Craft, now handcrafting paper out of elephant dung, weaving scarfs, assembling solar panels or threading bracelets out of recycled glass / plastic who before working at Neema Crafts had been the poorest of the poor, living on the streets or being hidden under the beds. The setup of Neema Crafts is supported by fundraising and they need every help you can imagine! If you are interested please have a look at www.neemacrafts.com!
From Iringa there is still a sandy road of approx. 110 km left to reach Tendala Tented Camp. Already before we arrived we saw the first elephant not far from the jeep. Arriving at the camp every visitor got assigned his own luxury tent with an „openair“ bathroom. Massais were watching every step to be aware of the wild animals. A lot of impressive baobabs (huge trees) were making the scenery unforgettable and even a small pool helped to cool down and relax after the long travel. The tasteful dinner in the wild under the clear sky and full moon was definetly one of the highlights of the trip.
Or perhaps it was the game drive the next day? The first massai giraffes were exciting ,but after a few hours and uncountable animals more (among them crocodiles, hippos, impalas, zebras, kudus, eagels) shortly before we stopped for lunch, we saw the most exciting what is rarely be seen in the wild: a group of lions eating an impala. The impressive male lion was devoring the meat while the rest of the group – two lionesses and four small ones – had to wait for him to finish and we were that near that we could hear the bones cracking and smell the meat. What a great experience!
Thank you Tanzania, we want to come back as soon as possible and experience more of this wonderful country!
Find out more on how to join a trip to SONGWA at: www.songwa-estates.com
Trip to SONGWA / Tanzania - Karibu SONGWA!
On May 22nd a group of nine men and women met in Dar es Salaam to start their African experience together. Guido Bernadelli and Lorenzo Carboni from La Marzocco initiated this trip and with a mixture of La Marzocco distributors / friends and Anke Erichsen from MAHLKÖNIG the travel group was complete. On Sunday morning the start to the part of Dar es Salaam airport for private charter flight was early and everybody still sleepy from the long overseas travels to arrive in Tanzania. After some search for a decent coffee we discovered that in the small shop / café Riftview coffee was served and enjoyed it before take-off. The flight time to Mbeya airport was approx. two hours and for some of the participants it was the first time to fly in a small Chessna and therefore a special experience. Mbeya is a tiny, little airport with one small house with large beer advertising on the top and one fire extingisher serving as rescue team. Everything indicates to the traveler: take it easy in Africa!
After a short drive on a rocky, dusty road we arrived at the wonderful Utengule Lodge – our stay for the next three days – and were amazed of the beauty of this spot: breathtaking views over the riftvalley, green trees and grasses, the first coffee trees, a round main house built of local wood, relaxing terraces and a swimming pool to refresh. The lodge is an unexpected surprise in a wild and untamed surrounding. After a friendly welcome with refreshing towels to wash away the travel dust and tropical juice, everybody was assigned their rooms, all with really incredible views over the Riftvalley. Most of the rooms are two story rooms with a roofed terrace to relax and to just enjoy the African breathe and nice sunsets. For all sporty travelers the lodge offers a volleyball field, squash and tennis court and a pool, for hiking and running several options are available.
From Monday to Wednesday the coffee education programme guided by Thomas Plattner, the former farm manager, took place including walks on the coffee fields, planting, a visit to the nursery and a visit to the mill CityCoffee in Mbeya.
The extensive and well prepared education programme included:
- Coffee origin and coffee botanic
- From seed to plant
- Nursery
- Fertilizing
- Irrigation
- Wet / dry processing
- From flower to ripe cherry
- Planting, pruning, pest and diseases
- Picking in the fields
The coffee fields made a great impression, the new planting was growing well and the trees were full with cherries to pick in the weeks to come. Especially the picking was a special task for all the participants of the trip because doing it ourselves we could see how much work is involved in harvesting coffee. We calculated that a cherry is moved approx. eight times before being delivered to the mill for further hulling, grading and bulking.
As Thomas has been living over 10 years on the farm and nearly 20 years in Tanzania he can answer any question regarding agriculture, coffee, politics and the way of life in East Africa. As evening programme a barbecue and bush dinner under the full moon perfected the stay!
After the extensive coffee education the next stop on our way to the Tendala Tented Camp at the entrance of the Ruaha National Park was Neema Crafts in Iringa. Neema Crafts is a workshop for handicapped people and is run by the Iringa Angelican Church. We all got appalled by the incredible stories of the people working at Neema Craft, now handcrafting paper out of elephant dung, weaving scarfs, assembling solar panels or threading bracelets out of recycled glass / plastic who before working at Neema Crafts had been the poorest of the poor, living on the streets or being hidden under the beds. The setup of Neema Crafts is supported by fundraising and they need every help you can imagine! If you are interested please have a look at www.neemacrafts.com!
From Iringa there is still a sandy road of approx. 110 km left to reach Tendala Tented Camp. Already before we arrived we saw the first elephant not far from the jeep. Arriving at the camp every visitor got assigned his own luxury tent with an „openair“ bathroom. Massais were watching every step to be aware of the wild animals. A lot of impressive baobabs (huge trees) were making the scenery unforgettable and even a small pool helped to cool down and relax after the long travel. The tasteful dinner in the wild under the clear sky and full moon was definetly one of the highlights of the trip.
Or perhaps it was the game drive the next day? The first massai giraffes were exciting ,but after a few hours and uncountable animals more (among them crocodiles, hippos, impalas, zebras, kudus, eagels) shortly before we stopped for lunch, we saw the most exciting what is rarely be seen in the wild: a group of lions eating an impala. The impressive male lion was devoring the meat while the rest of the group – two lionesses and four small ones – had to wait for him to finish and we were that near that we could hear the bones cracking and smell the meat. What a great experience!
Thank you Tanzania, we want to come back as soon as possible and experience more of this wonderful country!
Find out more on how to join a trip to SONGWA at: www.songwa-estates.com
