Location:
Region: Mbeya
Category: Waterfalls
To-do activities:
Swimming, photography, and trekking.
Best time to visit:
Throughout the year.
Accommodation:
Facilities available in the nearby town of Tukuyu
About Daraja la Mungu and Kijungu
Kiwira river is a prominent attraction just outside Tukuyu town. The locals have several beliefs concerning the river and its beautiful attractions. The river is known to boast some beautiful natural attractions such as waterfalls, rapids, and the famous Kijungu basin and Daraja la Mungu. The Kijungu basin has a "pot-like" shape and creates a whirlpool before continuing its journey down the rocks for about 8 km to Daraja la Mungu. This bridge is thought to have been formed, naturally, many years ago when water from the Kiwira river, which was pouring from the Uporoto Mountains, collided with lava from Mt. Rungwe. Between Kijungu and Kiwira is a man-made bridge (don't get lost)
There is a myth among some locals that at the two attractions - Kijungu and Daraja la Mungu - a dragon guards treasures in the riverbed and sacrifices people by dropping them into the river. They say anyone who tried to jump across the river perished because it suddenly widened during the jump.
The bridge had been used by the locals for ages, moving from one village to another, until the early 1960s when the Russians built a bridge nearby as they were exploring building a hydroelectric power plant around the area
Journey to Daraja la Mungu
After traveling for one hour from Mbeya City along the Mbeya - Kyela route, the road branches off at the settlement of Keikei just after Kiwira town. From there one can reach these two sights by traveling for about 10 kilometers down a dusty road that also leads to Kiwira Prisons Training College. To get to the attractions you'll need to go through the camp, so you'll need to sign and better to at least have a guide with you. The road can be easily reached by non-4WD cars (can be tricky during rainy seasons). Tukuyu is full of vegetation, so as drive down the road you'll be greeted by wonderful scenery on the roadsides
After visiting Daraja la Mungu and Kijungu we headed to Matema beach and camped on the lake shores for the night. Matema Beach is a brown sand lakeside coast that is found in Kyela, a town after Tukuyu, on the northern end of Lake Nyasa. Matema Beach's sand is brown and noticeably heavier in weight, as opposed to the majority of sandy beaches in the nation, which are white. Due to its secluded location, it is also one of the most serene and clean beaches in the nation.
