Rivertrees Country Inn occupies a former coffee estate on the banks of the Usa River, east of Arusha. Lawns run down to the water under jacarandas and eucalyptus, and a troop of black-and-white colobus monkeys works the canopy above the gardens. The sound of the Usa River carries into most of the rooms. Mount Meru stands over the property, and Kilimanjaro shows itself on clear mornings.
The sound of the Usa River carries into most of the rooms.
Most guests come at the start or the end of a northern Tanzania safari, and the grounds are built for both. Stone paths loop between flame trees and bougainvillea to river decks, to shaded clearings, and to a pool set among the lawns. Breakfast comes early for those leaving for the parks, and is packed up altogether for anyone going before dawn.
The estate began as Blackburn Estates, a coffee plantation established under British rule. The Gehrken family bought the land in the 1960s, and their daughter Martina married Richard Trappe. Coffee eventually failed here, on soil that had gone too acidic. Martina converted two farmhouse bedrooms for guests, and the inn grew from there in stages.
Coffee eventually failed here, on soil that had gone too acidic.
Nothing here was planned all at once, which is why no two room categories quite match. Martina Gehrken Trappe, who founded the inn, has since handed it into the care of Les and Caroline while turning to other ventures, and the tone she set has stayed domestic. Family antiques and portraits fill the old farmhouse, and log fires are laid in its sitting room on cool evenings.
Kilimanjaro International Airport lies thirty to forty minutes east along the Arusha to Moshi road, which keeps the arithmetic of arrival simple. Guests off an overnight flight can be under the trees within the hour, rather than driving on through Arusha town and out the far side of it. The same works in reverse: a slow last morning in the gardens, a massage in the banda beside the pool, then a short and predictable run back to the terminal. Arusha’s domestic airport handles the light aircraft heading out to the northern parks.
Arusha National Park is close at hand, its giraffe, buffalo and colobus monkeys gathered below Ngurdoto Crater, and walking there is done in the company of an armed park ranger. Lake Duluti, a forested crater lake fifteen minutes away, is paddled by canoe. Guided walks follow the Usa River through its birdlife and plant life, and mountain bikes go out through the neighbouring villages. The coffee tour runs with the Aranga Coffee Group, the smallholder families farming the land around the estate. Day trips reach Tarangire and Lake Manyara.
Arusha’s domestic airport handles the light aircraft heading out to the northern parks
Meals lean on what the gardens produce, and the kitchen bakes its bread, rolls and jams each morning. Lunch might be on the paved terrace under the big trees, dinner in the main dining room beneath its timber trusses, or at a single table laid on the riverbank. The wood-fired pizza oven has a following of its own, drawing people in from the surrounding farms as well as guests staying the night. The buildings themselves are local stone and ochre plaster with dark timber and ironwork, the roofs pitched deep over the verandas.
Children are welcome, and the flat lawns, the pool and the monkeys overhead keep them occupied while the adults do very little. Interconnecting garden rooms and larger multi-room houses give families and groups space to spread out. Along the lawns and the river there are hornbills and resident owls, part of a recorded list running into the hundreds of species. The colobus start up at first light, and the last night of a safari here tends to be a quiet one.
accommodation
Rivertrees has around thirty rooms and cottages. Garden rooms sit among the lawns with verandas and en-suite bathrooms, river cottages stand closer to the water, some with fireplaces and outdoor showers, and the old farmhouse holds a few en-suite rooms sharing a veranda and sitting room. A larger multi-bedroom house suits groups.
activities
Ranger-led walks and game drives in Arusha National Park, canoeing on Lake Duluti, guided river walks for birds and plant life, mountain biking through neighbouring villages, and coffee tours with the Aranga Coffee Group's smallholder farmers. Day trips run to Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks. Massages are taken in a garden banda beside the pool.
conservation
The inn keeps its ten acres along the Usa River as a bird and wildlife sanctuary, with guided walks along the river and into the village. Coffee tours go to the Aranga Coffee Group, twenty-eight smallholder families who grow and process their own beans nearby, and the owner has channelled proceeds from weddings and events into local health, education and water projects through a small trust of her own.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
Kilimanjaro International is about forty minutes away by road, which is the shortest airport run of any of the Arusha area places we use. Arusha Airport, where the light aircraft leave for the northern parks, is around thirty minutes depending on traffic.
That makes it a natural first night: land at Kilimanjaro, sleep, and be on a morning flight into the Serengeti. We arrange both transfers as part of the booking.
Treat it as lower risk rather than malaria-free. The Usa River sits at around 1,200 metres, and both the CDC and TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, place the altitude at which Tanzanian malaria risk falls away at 1,800 metres, so this is inside the advice and tablets are usually recommended.
Have a travel clinic or your doctor settle it and confirm again close to departure. The gardens run down to a river, which is exactly where mosquitoes are at dusk, so repellent and covered arms in the evening are worth the habit.
Yes, all ages are taken across most of the room categories, and the grounds are the real attraction: lawns, a river, and colobus monkeys moving through the trees overhead.
One restriction to plan around: young children are not taken in the River House, so a family books the garden rooms or the river cottages instead. Tell us the ages at enquiry and we will book the right category first time.
Warm days and cool evenings the year round, softened by the altitude and the trees. The long rains fall around March to May and the short rains near November, mostly as afternoon storms.
Bring a warm layer for the evenings, walking shoes for Arusha National Park and the river walks, a hat and strong sun protection, and insect repellent for dusk on the lawns. Soft bags if a light aircraft follows.
Any month, because this is a staging post rather than a destination in itself, and it works whenever your safari flights do. The gardens are at their best just after the rains, from around April into June.
The question worth asking is not when to come but how long. One night either side of a safari is the usual pattern, and two is worth it if you want Arusha National Park, Lake Duluti or the coffee estates rather than just a bed near the airport.
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