It's not only the place that makes you feel welcome. It's the people.
Bente Luther-Medoch is originally from northern Germany. More than 33 years ago, she decided to move to Tanzania with her husband, Ralph, who works as a coffee buyer.
She found her destiny a few years later when the government released the Machare Coffee Estate for cultivation in 1998. Without any previous knowledge of growing coffee, but with a lot of energy, she made her way to the coffee expert she is today.
From the start, the do-it-yourself woman has been constantly investing in her coffee plantation. And more: She has since then launched a number of sustainable projects to support the people in her neighborhood. No wonder, the people call her “Mama Bente”.
Our lodge is nestled within the 236 hectares of our organic coffee plantation at an elevation of 1,550 meters above sea level, flanked by the perennial rivers of Kyarongo and Ngomberi to the East and West. It is the highest coffee estate in the Kilimanjaro region, with the lush montane forest of Mount Kilimanjaro gracing its northern boundary. Our neighboring community are the Chagga people, the indigenous inhabitants of the Kilimanjaro region. The estate is adorned with several springs, waterfalls, and river valleys, as well as a forest and river conservation area.
