Tumaini Hostel

The Tumaini Hostel in Lushoto Town Tanzania is is a clean and honest place to stay close to the centre of town.

Basic and clean throughout and the garden provides a nice place to relax when you are not out and about exploring this beautiful area.

We came to Lushoto wanting to get off the beaten track and enjoy something a bit different.

Lushoto is a delightful small town in an exceptionally beautiful setting and is still mainly untouched by tourism.

Up in the mountains it's good to get away from the searing heat and enjoy the cooler temperatures.

The Tumaini hostel is right in the centre of Lushoto.

The accommodation is quite basic but comfortable. Squeaky clean room, hot shower, double bed with mosquito net, power points etc.

We probably had the best room in the hotel with a sitting room and a wonderful balcony overlooking the fields at the back and filled with bird song.

No need for an alarm, the noise from the mosque, the roosters and the cheeky crows arguing jostled to be the first to wake us up each morning.

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 The service was a bit lackadaisical but the staff were friendly and any problems were easily sorted out. The restaurant at the front serves bland tourist food and there is an African restaurant at the back where the food is a bit tastier.

There are a few small organisations running guided tours and we chose the main group called the Friends of the Usumbaras as they were recommended to us by the CT in Pangani and also in the Rough Guide.

There's a choice of at least a dozen different trips, including multi-day tours with accommodation in local villages. We wanted something not too strenuous so we chose 3 single day treks which just lasted for a few hours.

We did the famous walk to Irente View Point with picnic lunch at the farm, Mkuzu Waterfall and the Mgamba Rainforest and they were all absolutely fantastic.

It's an enlightening experience walking with a guide who speaks excellent English and can tell you all about the local area and nature and point out loads of things you'd never spot without help. We saw chameleons, colobus monkeys, butterflies and birds and so much more. We also had loads of fun encounters with local people.

The Friends of the Usumbaras, developed in the 1990s by the villagers and officially backed by SNV and the Tanzanian Tourist Board, aim to promote the Usumbaras as a tourist attraction and use some of the funds to conserve nature and culture.

They also support many projects to benefit the local communities.

They are a lovely bunch of guys, enthusiastic and hard working; they also run an unofficial Tourist Information Office and can be contacted via their website www.usambaratravels.com. Highly recommended!!