Banana Farm Hostel

I am Rating the Safari experience wie made with Banana Eco Hostel, Not the Hostel itself: While the first two days in Tarangire and Manyara were very nice, we started having problems with our car on the first day already and had to be picked up by another guide in the evening. On the third day the problems got way worse. While going to Serengeti, our car broke down. After standing there for about 1 hour, we were then brought to the gate by some other guide where we waited for another 2 hours for our car to come back. In the end, we could not do a game drive in the evening. We had to bring the other people joining us to their camping and after that arrived at our lodge at 10:30 pm. We were driving in the dark without finding the way properly. Also, as the windshield wiper did not work anymore and the roads were wet, the vision was really bad. We ended up having a little accident with a bus as well. All in all, this was extremely scary. On the next day, we did not do the morning safari as planned but startet at 8:30, and then obviously had to pick up the other people again. We then waited at the camp for about 1 hour to get the car packed. So in the end we spent over 4 hours just driving from camp to camp and waiting for the car to be ready to go. Instead of starting the safari, we then went to the visitor center and after that had only around 1,5 hours of safari in Serengeti left where we barely saw anything. Then our car broke down again. After waiting for about 1 hour, another guide could pick us up and bring us to Ngorongoro Crater. So all in all, we spent most of the 2 days in Serengeti waiting for our car to work again or someone to pick us up, or driving to pick up other people. As you can imagine, this is not exactly how we pictured it. Especially when paying 600 dollars per day for this experience. Also, as our car was so bad, we had to go very slow all the time, which took additional time. We experienced that with the many cars that had to pick us up during these days, each one of them was in a much better condition and could go way faster. Also, our car did not have radio call and no chargers as was stated in the tour description. So while we had great first 2 days, this was way below our expectations and overall a bad and frustrating and sometimes even frightening experience. What was also very frustrating is that we did not get any response to our complaints Even After contacting the Hostel over several Channels multiple times.

Amazing and inspring place to stay. Founded and grounded by a Masai member, on this farm you will experience an warm and touching stay. This hostel is located at an bananafarm where they grow their own organic fruits, vegetables and koffie which is als served at the tastfull meals they offer to their guests. Staff is friendly and lead you around when in need of help. They share also their inspiring knowledge of producing biogas on this farm. Inspiring in times of climate change and giving local farmers opportunity to become more independent. The accomodatie is quit, clean, shower is large and warm. They offer many activities you can join suchs as painting and yoga classes

Probably the most beautiful place I've ever stayed. The staff are amazing. The tour of the farm site and valley was breathtaking. The food was delicious. Everything comes from the farm and you can enjoy free bananas and other fruit. My only regret is that we couldn't stay longer. If you're in the area you just have to visit. It's truly a small utopia and inspirational for what you can do to live sustainably and in harmony with nature.

We spent 3 nights at a Eco cottage, great place to relax, nice soroundings, very nice people Regina, Veronica and Victor. We did also some excursions around the Po LACE, saw walterfalls and other beautiful places. It ist a very quite place, near a small Village. We had an oportunity to be a part of a local church Celebration. We enjoyed the stay very and can recommend this nice place to everybody.

Small rooms, chunked bed, not really appropriate for more than 1 night. Worst is the restaurant: the food is untasty and the staff members offer very poor service - they are obviously neither concerned by our presence nor our requests. In a word, you don’t feel welcome, rather a nuisance.

Our stay here was by far the best value-for-money on our entire trip to Tanzania. The staff - Godwin, Veronica & the entire team was super friendly throughout, excellent organically-grown food for very reasonable prices (5 USD/person for dinner!), beautiful, huge property with a free farm tour every day at 3:30pm (lasted for about 2 hours) & also included a demonstration on coffee making (self-grown). And did you know there are 15 different types of banana? All grown on the property? (and you can help yourself to some free bananas as a snack of course). All the staff – from the gardeners, to the cooks etc. seemed to be really happy and enjoying what they are doing. The room was basic but had all we needed. During busy times hot water can be a bit difficult to get, but after dinner we had a hot shower. There is a very nice outdoor lounge-/chill-out area, where there is a fire in the evening for having conversations with other guests around the fire. Overall the vibe was great & the entire property was designed & maintained with so much love for detail. We definitely recommend this place to anybody and will definitely be back!