Mount Usambara to Coast Bike Tour

After arriving at Kilimanjaro International Airport you are welcomed by your tour guide and transferred to Lushoto in a Tanga.

Drive from Kilimanjaro to the edge of the Usambara Mountains, which offer wide vistas, a cool climate, winding paths, and picturesque villages. You will spend the remaining hours at a very nice and comfortable lodge in Mambo village.

Mambo is a small village with about 5000 inhabitants. Development is still essential at all levels and in almost every aspect here. Despite the fact that life is tough, people from Mambo work hard and try their best to make something out of it.

Today’s ride takes us through multiple lush valleys and small villages into Shume, a former German colonial outpost where many of the early settlers’ buildings are still in use. Outside of Shume we have long ascents across two forested mountain ridges followed by a long descent into a densely settled valley.

Start with a climb up a steep dirt track into the forest, eventually opening up to stunning views in all directions. From there we have a long descent through villages nestled on the mountain slope. We continue over ridges with gentle drops to the fertile valleys below, and one long 5.5 km uphill ride hugging a mountainside.

The day’s ride ends at Bumbuli (42 km.) or 15 kilometers farther at Funta. Load the bikes onto the trailer and drive 50 kilometers across the hot and dry Lwengera Valley.

Camp is at the road’s end on the edge of the Nilo Nature Reserve.

The first several kilometers are on a dirt track through the dense forest of the Nilo Nature Reserve before opening out to views of the eastern Usambaras and a series of small villages along a mountain ridge. We ride this ridge as we pass between villages, forests, and numerous tea plantations.

After a long downhill ride, we enter Amani Nature Reserve and the final kilometers uphill to our Emau Hill camp.

The final day covers the most distance, but is almost all downhill.

Start with a gentle descent through dense tropical forest from Amani in the mountains to the gateway town of Muheza. Cross a tarmac road marking an abrupt change from lush mountain environment to coastal plain. The soil is sandy, the scent of the sea is in the air, and the tropical heat intensifies.

The coast is home to the Swahili people, whose livelihood comes from the sea, and whose villages have a distinctly different look and feel than those in the mountains. The Indian Ocean draws us along on this mostly flat section to our final destination at the beach.

Day at your leisure to enjoy the beach and ocean.

Note: lunch and dinner not included.

Depart mid-morning for the six-hour drive back to Kilimanjaro to catch your flight home or continue on to your next adventure.