TUKUYU TOUR OPERATORS

Rungwe is known for its high quality tea.  The rolling hills of this lush area are covered with the green tea bushes.  The farmers of the Rungwe Smallholder Tea Growers Association(RSTGA)are inviting you to come and have a look on their Farm.  Your guide,a tea farmer,will tell you anything there is  to know about tea.He or she will also show you around on the expansive Rungwe Tea Estate with it beautiful views.On your way to the tea estate you pass small villages and schools and you will have the chance to get a view of every day life in Rungwe.  If you have booked in advance,you can finish the tea tour with a tour of the tea factory.  Here you can see how the tea leaves are being processed to packed tea.  You might even be able to do some tea tasting!

Malamba waterfalls is the highest waterfalls in Tukuyu, It's about 16meters,Malamba is located west of Tukuyu town 30km by passing through Katumba tea factory,on the way to Malamba you can see different crops from Village.  Crops like bananas,avocados,tea,coffee etc.  Malamba is nice place to visit,never miss to visit you never regret. 

This beautiful crater lake is the perfect place to swim,picnic or even camping.It is especially known for its history.  The Germans dumped coins and other items in the lake when they were being chased by the British forces during the first world war.

Distance from Tukuyu:19km/40 to 50 minutes by car 

Mount Kyejo is one of the main mountains of Rungwe area,Hike up this 2152m.  high  active volcano along the lava pathways.  From the slopes of Kyejo Mountain you have great views on the surrounding tea growing villages.

Distance from Tukuyu town 26km/50  minutes up to 1 hour's drive.

The Kipunji also known as the highland mangabey,is a species of old world monkey that lives in the highland forests of Tanzania, The Kipunji has a unique call,described as a 'honk-bark' which distinguishes it from its close relatives, the grey-cheeked mangabey and the black crested mangabey, whose calls are described  as whoop-gobbles.Though it was originally thought to be a member of the Lophocebus genus genetic data later placed it as its own separate genus Rungwe cebus.The Kipunji is the first new monkey genus to be discovered since Allen's Swamp Monkey in 1923.The Kipunji was independently discovered by researchers from the Wildlife conservation society, the University of Georgia and Conservation International in December 2003 and July 2004,making it the first new African monkey species discovered since the sun-tailed monkey in 1984.  Originally assigned to the genus Lophocebus, genetic and morphological tests showed that it is more closely related to the baboons (genus popio)than to the other mangabey in the genus Lophocebus, and that Lophocebus was diphyletic,meaning that species with differing genealogies have been mistakenly lumped together.  Scientists have assigned it to a new genus,Rungwe cebus,named after Mount Rungwe  where it is found.  Approximately 1,100 of the animals lives in the highland Ndundulu Forest Reserve, a forest adjacent to Udzungwa Mountains  National Park,which is adjacent to it.The forest at Rungwe is highly degraded,and fragmentation of the remaining forest threatens to split that population into three smaller population there is smaller.

The lake shore beach lies on the foothills and the end point of Livingstone Mountains at the place where these scenic ranges ends majestically into Lake Nyasa.  Travelling to Matema beach is made up of beautiful views of real African life of the local communities.A winding road passes through high,Livingstone Mountains and tea estates before it descends to the tropical shores of Lake Nyasa.  From Matema beach,you can make canoe trips with fishermen over the lake to the nearby village where women specialize in pottery.  There is a superb snookering rockshoreline,also  a water fall from Livingstone Mountains. Matema lakeshore village is a fishing settlement where local fishermen are easily seen selling their catches.  The village was the regional headquarters of German Governor during Germans rule in Tanzania before the mosquitoes forced him and his team out of place.  The beach is an expanse lakeside giving a beautiful view of its horizon and clear,shining water of lake Nyasa giving a chance for water ports,ornamental fish viewing,water surfing, diving and beachside recreations on the soft sands.  From the beachside a visitor can take a breathtaking of Livingstone Mountains as they drop majestically into lake Nyasa.  Apart from the beach Matema is a historical site where Germans built a Lutheran Mission House found there today and with Bavarian architectural style.  Mount Livingstone hiking and visits to potteries are the other tourist activities in Matema.

Distance:130km drive from Mbeya City 

Kitulo hosts more than 350 species of vascular plants,including 45 varieties of terrestrial orchids,which erupt into a riotous wildflower display of breathtaking scale and diversity. Kitulo is a rare botanical marvel.

Park highlights 

-Remote,unspoiled wilderness,Wildflowers as far as the eye can see,Hikers paradise,Rare resident bird species.  Kitulo has recently become a  fully protected national park,is situated on the Kitulo plateau,which forms part of Tanzania's southern highlands.  It is situated in the remote southwest corner of Tanzania on the Zambia border.  The area which is known locally as 'Bustani ya Mungu'(The Garden of God),is also known as the Serengeti of flowers.  As it is such a remote destination it is hardly visited.  But yet the park's importance is unprecedented as the area is a rare botanical marvel.  Between December and April Kitulo hosts one of the great floral spectacles of the world

Kapiki waterfalls is one of beautiful waterfalls in Tukuyu,is located near God's bridge just 4km from bridge.

Drive or bicycle through a typical Rungwe landscape,with views of the highlands,banana plantations and tea fields,to the village of Isuba from here you start on a hike in to the valley,to the hanging bridge.  After that you will first pass through the authentic village of Isuba with traditional houses and traditional bar before reach the breath taking waterfalls.  Also without to forget camping under the cave of Kapologwe waterfalls you make memorable and unforgettable night,Welcome Kapologwe waterfalls to see a GOD work.

Distance:30km from Tukuyu town/4 to 5 hours  Hike,Village visit,and visit to the  falls 

Mount Rungwe is the first highest mountain in Mbeya region and dominates the skyline for several kilometers around.It is composed of 10 or more dormant volcanic craters and domes.Rungwe mountain Rising above the small town of Tukuyu,at 2981m,Rungwe mountains is the southern Tanzania's first peak.  The mountain is surrounded by the catchment forest reserve that gazetted in 1949,which incorporates mountain forest and mountain grassland,with lesser amounts of bushland and health at the upper elevation found in low bushes along streams and at the edges of mountain forest.  The southeastern slopes of these mountains receives up to 3000mm of rainfall a year,the highest rainfall in Tanzania.The mountains has spiritual significance  to the Wanyakyusa  and Wasafwa tribe for medicine and praying.  The forest home to variety of significant forest  flora and fauna,including the threatened Abbot's Duiker and it is regarded as important bird area with two species listed as vulnerable' there are also two new species of primate and over 530 species of orchids.  Catchments  from the reserve feeds numerous villages and towns from Kiwira to Katumba to Tukuyu and Kandete  and all streams from the north,south and southwest flow into the Kiwira River.  all of the above rivers flow into Lake Nyasa.Well-defined hiking trails have being established to enable hikers to reach the top.  The famous route is from Kyimo junction and can be measured in a day.

5km from main road(Kyimo junction )to starting point.