1 day · Day trip
Tanzanite Mines at Mererani
Tanzanite is found in one place on earth — a strip of ground 7 km long near Mererani, an hour from Moshi. With a permit, you can go down into the workings.
Is this trip for you?
Trip type
Private departure
A single day, planned around your pickup time and your interests, with your own vehicle and guide.
Ages
All ages
Day trips are the easiest way to travel with small children or with anyone who would rather not sleep under canvas.
Fitness
Easy to moderate
Most day trips involve an hour or two of walking on uneven ground. The Kilimanjaro day hike is the exception and asks for a full day on your feet.
Group size: 1 to 7 travellers per vehicle
Day by day.
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1
Mererani
Tanzanite is the blue-violet variety of zoisite, and the whole world's supply comes from a block of ground about 7 km long and 2 km wide in the Mererani Hills, some 62 km from Moshi. A permit has to be arranged in advance. Once at the mine you can, entirely at your own risk, descend with the miners into the pit and tunnel system a few hundred metres below the surface — or stay on the surface and watch the sorting and grading, which is interesting enough on its own. Tiffany & Co. introduced the stone to the world and gave it the name of the country it came from.
- Overnight
- Your own hotel
- Where
- Mererani Hills
- Driving
- About 1 hour each way from Moshi
- Meals
- Lunch
Where you sleep.
Not applicable
Day trips return to your own hotel in Moshi or Arusha the same evening. If you have not booked one yet, tell us and we will suggest somewhere in the right part of town for your pickup.
We book against availability for your dates rather than naming a property we may not be able to get you into. Your written quotation names every lodge and camp before you pay anything.
What is included
- All park entrance and administrative fees
- A packed lunch
- 1.5 litres of drinking water
- Transfers from and to your hotel
- 4x4 transport for the day
- Professional English-speaking guide
- Staff fees
Not included
- International airfares and departure taxes
- Visa fees
- All items of a personal nature
- Tips and gratuities for your driver and guide
- Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks
When to go.
Year-round
Every day trip on this page runs in any month. Waterfalls are at their most impressive during and just after the rains, and the Chemka springs are warm whatever the weather is doing outside.
Questions about this trip.
Do we have to go underground?
No, and plenty of people do not. The descent is at your own risk into a working mine a few hundred metres deep. The surface sorting and grading is interesting on its own.
Do we need a permit?
Yes, and it has to be arranged before the day. Tell us as early as you can if you want this trip.
Can we buy a stone?
You can buy in Arusha, not at the pit. We will point you at dealers who will certify what they sell you, and we do not take a commission on it.
On this route
Where you will be.
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Plan it with us
Make this itinerary yours.
Add days, drop a park, change the pace. This is a starting point, not a fixed departure.