TRAVEL : This is how we enjoyed the serenity of great Mto wa Mbu

Trying to balance a normal working life with an adventurous one is a challenge many of us struggle with, so recently my visiting friend wanted us to sneak out of the Arusha city’s stifling heat on a weekday. And I took a Thursday off.

We were in no rush, given the variety of tourist spots that surround the Arusha boundaries. To be honest: you can’t go wrong to any tourist spot in the neighbourhoods. Although each place is unique, they all offer breathtaking beauty, serenity, spectacular landscapes and a lively cultural setting.

“And what about visiting a place that’s close to home, affordable and easy to organize?”, my friend suggested. We all got hooked up by Mto-wa-Mbu.

Mto-wa-mbu, the astounding town does promise a different mix of cultures, natural landscapes, the Great Rift Valley view and a few degrees less humidity too.

Described by locals as a melting pot of cultures being a short distance from the popular tribes in the north of Tanzania, Mto-wa-Mbu is the perfect place to disconnect from the city life, relax and rejuvenate.

And to the tourists, Mto wa Mbu is a favourite holiday town accessible through a relaxing easy road trip with some interesting stops along the way, and a kingpin of cultural tourism.

There are also tourist popular lodges such as the Burudika Manyara which was voted by tourists as the best value for money eco-lodge.

It’s nearly a two-hour drive from Arusha city north of Tanzania if you are keen to be adventures along the way.

The drive was pleasant enough and after encountering one village after another, it began to feel a little like a day of discovery. The repetitive scenery gradually began to diversify the closer we drove towards Mto-wa-mbu. The road is lined with a variety of simple rural houses and few shops selling tourist souvenirs surrounded by lush green farming land and many trees.

Located in the Arusha to Ngorongoro highway, Mto-wa-mbu is also close to the entrance of Lake Manyara National park, one of Tanzania’s protected area sharing a friendly border with the town.

The backdrop of Mto-wa-mbu is awash with banana plantations, rice farming, sporadic palms, baobabs and acacia trees framed by the Great Rift Valley escarpment.

On arrival, we pulled over at the weekly local market for a few hours. Its buzz and vibrancy were extraordinary, far from the cities markets. It is not easy to tell the creativity made by locals in space management in displaying their goods in the market area.

You’d think that a market in a town or city would be a major sight, or at least something many people know, but it isn’t. Unlike in city or town markets, the sound of movements of people and cars didn’t drill out our ears as we walked around.

Window-shoppers were hardly seen and the market day looked busy with shoppers including a few tourists.

The market is a mix of local and cultural influences. The rapid population growth has turned Mto-wa-mbu in a melting point of cultures. Various traditional modes of production stand as an example of culture diversity.

At the market Maasai families seen in their tradition regalia with the tall, elegant, proud Maasai cattle herders draped in red cloths and hung with strings of beads and intricate earrings, all provided a good sighting.

We walked past various displays of an array of fruits, vegetables and other farm products grown in the neighbourhood, its strategic location makes it a compelling stopover for anyone travelling the route.

It has become a compulsory stop for all safari operators to buy a cold-coke to wash down their throats, visit the curio market selling carvings, Maasai spears and many more to the increasing number of tourists.

Dragging our feet away from the calm refuge in the market place, it was time to explore the town. Just like Arusha, Mto-wa-mbu gets great collections of boutiques for arts, crafts, and groups of people who sell more curios along the driveway to Ngorongoro and Serengeti.

Tourists and locals mingled in and out of camping sites, and restaurants in the town, with the rift valley wall providing a spectacular view, dazzling rays of cool refreshing air and the countryside looked greener.

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