March 9, 2025

March 9, 2025

Sunday

Burka Coffee Estate, Arusha, Tanzania

First full day here in Tanzania. We were both up early. Which doesn’t make too much sense since we changed two time zones and it is even Earlier in Italy now. It is probably just one of the things about being older. By the looks of it, it is going to be a beautiful day. The weather app suggests a 45% change of rain this afternoon. But at 08:00 as we walk to breakfast in the Grill Room  it is beautiful.

We do finally get to see some of this beautiful resort. We are indeed in the middle of a coffee plantation. Between the bungalows there are coffee plants. There are a number of large trees which provide shade of the coffee plants. The pathways are gravel but very well maintained. As we get closer to the main lodge they change to pavers. It is green and beautiful and the African Tulip Tree with is bright orange-red flowers in is bloom across the yard.

This safari was chosen because it is at the end of the summer season and outside the high season for tourists. It is obvious in looking at the Grill Room, they could easily seat 100 plus people. The room itself is quite beautiful.

Breakfast is included in our stay plan, although lunch and dinner aren’t. They are when we are at the camps and there are no choices available, but there are other choices in Arusha so here no. It is a typical European breakfast bar with fresh fruit, yogurt, cheeses, meats, and bread. In addition to that there is a menu of hot food as well.

Making a choice isn’t all that easy. Do we go “native” or stick with the traditional breakfast? The eggs Benedict actually sound very good. But, that is traditional. We decided on omelettes. Mary choose a charred corn, goats cheese and avocado omelette.

While I choose the East African Masala Pepper, mushroom with coriander chutney. Hey, it sounded like an opportunity to try something new.

As you can see from the photos they were beautifully prepared. Mary’s had a good mild flavor, kind of subtle. Mine was wonderfully spicy! Turns out the masala pepper is also known as Peri Peri (C. Frutescens). They are beautiful red peppers which grow up to two inches long. They are standard Bird Chilis brought to Africa by the Portuguese.

They are quite hot (H9). They are not marketed to any real extent in North America. In North America we tend to use Thai Chili which are not as hot. H9, for those not in the know as known as “Fire and Damnation” hot. On the Scoville scale they range from 50,000 to 100,000. H8 includes Thai chilis on the lower end of the Thai Chili scale, but includes Cayenne, Tabasco, Piquin and Sanaka. H10, aka “Hotter than the hearth grates of Hades” are the Habanero, Scotch Bonnet, Jamaican Hot and others. There seems to be a some discourse concerning the “exact” heat of the Peri Peri. Some sources seem to think they are just over 100,000 on the Scoville scale, some just under. When you are chewing on one, all that doesn’t matter. How close something to wash it down is. I totally loved the omelette.

Mary order regular coffee and I ordered cappuccino. Now we are at a coffee plantation so you would expect the coffee to be really good. Mary’s was outstanding, while my cappuccino wasn’t bad just not Italian great. My second cup was from Mary’s coffee pot and it was really good.

They make coffee here using the French press is also known as cafetière, cafetière à piston, press pot, coffee press or coffee plunger. No matter what you call it, it is a coffee brewing device. It is called a French press as the earliest device was patented in 1852 in France by Jacques-Victor Delforge and Heri-Otto Meyer.

For those unfamiliar with the French press, coffee is brewed by placing coarsely ground coffee in the empty beaker and adding 93-96 °C (199-205 °F) water. It works out to be about 30 grams (1.1 oz) of water to 500 ml (17 fluid oz) of water. The proportions are more or less to taste. After brewing 4 to 5 minutes, the plunger is depressed which holds the coffee grounds at the bottom while the coffee is served.

It is suggested that the French press allows the coffee grounds to steep in the water for a longer period, resulting in a richer and fuller-bodies brew. Unlike some other brewing methods, the French press does not use a paper filter, which means the natural oils from the coffee beans remain in the brew. You can actually see the oils floating on top of the coffee. Which is better – French press of my Moka pot? Depends on how you like your coffee. I like both. For the cappuccino I think the stronger moka pot with a dark roast is good. For a cup of coffee with a little milk and sugar or black, the French press seems to do a better job.

After breakfast we went back to our room. I took the opportunity to have a cigar on the porch outside our bungalow. We have an 11:00 appointment with a representative from Aisila to go over the safari plans. A little before 11:00 we walked to the main reception area and were told the representative was going to be a little late so we went and sat in the bar. Beautifully laid our bar around a common fireplace. Love all the dark wood.

A little after 11:00 Patrick Ndanshau from Asilia showed up and introduced himself. We sat in the bar and went over all the plans for the safari. We also discussed what was here in Arusha to see, and should we do see it. After a short discussion he suggest we at least go see the central market and the African cultural center. He then arranged a tour for us tomorrow at 10:00. We also arrange to have our coffee plantation tour at 15:00 today with the reception desk.

We were still very full from breakfast so we returned to the room. We were still a little tired from the traveling so we went back to the room and took a nap. We’ll, it rained and it rained hard from noon until 14:00. Not a gentle rain, but an all out downpour. Thunder and the whole works.

We stayed in bed until about 14:45 when I called the front desk to see if the plantation tour was still a go. It had stopped raining, but they did ask about our shoes. Did we have rubber boots – well no. We went to the front desk and met our guide, Johannes. After looking at our shoes he said it would be ok. They might get muddy but we’ll be fine walking on the paths.

The next hour was spent walking through the coffee plantation around the lodge. We are sitting on the slopes of Mount Meru at about 1,400 meters (4,600 feet). We are at about 3 degrees latitude, so not far off the Equator. There is a small band of are here in which coffee can be grown. They do grow both Arabica and Robusto coffee here, although here on this plantation they just grow the Arabica.

We learned there are several grades of coffee “cherries”, the pods that hold, generally two coffee beans. Tanzania has opted for the British nomenclature of grading which is done according to the shape, size and density of the coffee peas. The grades run for AA, A, AB, B, PB, C, E, F, AF, TT, UG and TEX.  However, generally here on this plantation they generally only use A, AB, and B. PB is peaberry. The others are considered inferior grades and sent off for us in things like instant coffee.

The peaberry is a coffee cherry that holds only one rather than two berries. These are often inferior and not used. The AA grade is often used for growing new coffee plants. A & AB is what they serve here on the plantation and use for export.

This plantation is sort of organic. They don’t use pesticides, but rather rely on lady bugs, praying mantis, birds and aardvarks. We didn’t see any of them but we did see several aardvark dens. Coffee plants have a seven cycle or life. It takes two or three years after planting before usable coffee cherries are achieved. Then if you are lucky you can get three or four years of production.

The plants require a lot of maintenance. They are pruned to a height of about 2 meters to produce the most cherries. They have to keep the base clean of suckers. There are certain bugs that produce worms which infest the plants, and the larvae bore into the plants. Men go through the fields and physically remove the larvae from the plants with a long wire.

We passed several termite mounds along the way. These are also a meter or two in height. The little buggers are apparently good for the soil by eating the foliage and storing it under ground. They are really small, although the queen can apparently get as large as a tube of toothpaste. By the way, she lays 100,000 to 300,000 eggs a DAY.

As we walked though the plantation we saw a very large tree which had fallen over in the storm. Johannes showed us that the tree had been weakened by termites and that is why it fell over in the storm. There was quite a bit of storm damage.  Dead branches had some down, leaves, and all types of material strewn about. People were out in force cleaning the pathways and repairing what damage they could.

Johannes took us into the coffee shop to demonstrate the roasting process. Here is put green coffee beans into a roaster and began roasting them. He pulled them out at various stages to demonstrate how important watching the beans while they were roasting is. Roasting goes from green coffee, to a cinnamon roast, to New England roast, the American roast, then city roast and finally dark roast. Dark roast is our Italian coffee. City roast is what they use to make coffee. Obviously New England and American roasts are for silly Americans. Each roast has its own unique aroma and flavor.

He then discussed the grinds, course, medium and fine. Which you use when depends on how you are going to brew the coffee. Course is for the French roast, medium is for the American percolator and fine for my Moka pot. Turkish coffee is made with extra fine.

He then made us a cup of coffee using the city boast, course grind in a French press. It was really good. When we finished the first cup he poured a second cup from the same pot. The second cup was more intense and flavorful. You could see the coffee oil on the surface. Again, it is all going to boil, excuse the pun, down to what the individual coffee drinker likes.

Johannes also took the time to tells us a little about life on the plantation and in Tanzania in general. He isn’t married, yet, but is engages. He and his girlfriend, Miriam, have a three month old child Elian. The average coffee picker, women, makes about $20 a day. They pick coffee from June through August. Apparently it is good work.

After the tour we went back to the bungalow. I had a cigar, Mary talked to Harry V and we just relaxed. About 19:00 we returned to the Grill Room for dinner. We started with trying the local Kilimanjaro Lager. Very nice.

We had the Red Bean and Coconut soup. Tasted a lot like split pea soup. Excellent. But honestly so filling we could have just stopped there. But we went on and had the Plantation Feast – flavours from Tanzania. This included, vegetable coconut mchuzi, mchicha, maharagwe, mzuzu, chapati, pilau and kachumbari.

So, vegetable coconut mchuzi is much like the bean soup. Mchuzi is a meat stock, again much like a soup. Mchicha is similar to a salad of greens and carrots, but cooked. Magaragwe is a bean, like string beans but mashed. Mzuzu is a fried banana. Very sweet and flavorful. Chapati is similar to a corn tortilla. Pilau is a rice dish which includes meat or a meat stock. Much like fried rice. Kachumbari is a salad of sliced tomatoes and red onions. It was all very interesting and not at all spicy. Even Mike would have liked it.

We got back to the bungalow about 20:30 and were quite ready for bed. Still adjusting to the time change and travel. Although the time change adjustment seems to be working in the wrong direction.

I added photos, I think to yesterday’s entry, just in case you missed them. Still having trouble uploading photos.

Buonanotte e ciao, Enrico e Maria.