NGO Lifted Strong - Traditional Tanzanian Cooking Class

Recommended by 100% of travelers

Arusha, Tanzania

3 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

This small-group class in Arusha will teach you how to cook traditional Tanzanian dishes and learn some Swahili, too, by a group of resilient women in the community. By booking this tour, you will also contribute to supporting Lifted Strong Community Organization (LISCO), which aims to help women facing hardships.

Either meet at the center or arrange for pickup
Learn to cook traditional Tanzanian food and Swahili names
Suport LISCO and their pursuit to empower women
Tour for around 3 hours, then the rest of the day is free

Sample Menu

Main

Samosa's

A samosa is a fried or baked pastry with a savoury filling, such as spiced potatoes, onions, peas, meat, or lentils.

Main

Vegetable and Coconut Soup

Learn how to scrape out coconut flesh the Tanzanian way!

Main

Ugali

One of the most popular local dishes

What's Included

Lunch

All of the produce will be provided to make the dishes but please bring any drinks you wish to have over the course of the afternoon.

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

MJHR+GF, Arusha, Tanzania
Lifted Strong, nestled off Ngaramtoni Road - Near CRDB BANK, Arusha, Tanzania. Arrive with ease via arranged meet-up or direct taxi drop. For returns, back to your starting point. Locate on Google Maps for precise directions.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.2:00 pm

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible

Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

LeonieAnna_S

We did the cooking class and really enjoyed spending our time there, meeting these nice women, learning about the project and get some amazing food out of it. We made the Ungali with vegetables and rice and the cooked banana. Both dishes were amazing and we were even allowed to take some home because we made so much. Highly recommended!

Reviews

4.9

based on 48 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Amazing food and an even more amazing experience!

Samantha_B, Dec 2025

Wonderful experience! Joyce and Eva run this school with their students. It was amazing to hear about the work they are doing to help the girls and community. They were great communicators and made sure we had the best experience like asking what we wanted to learn to make. We chose mandazi as one of the dishes which was amazing! We got to use local tools like the little “goat” stool to shred coconut and a wooden whisk to blend the banana soup. They also helped to arrange our pick up and return to our hotel. And they packed up the extra mandazi donuts for us to enjoy with breakfast the next day. What a great way to start our Tanzania holiday! Thank you!

Response from Host, Feb 2026

Thank you so much for the wonderful review Samantha. We real had a great time with you. Karibu sana whenever you visit Arusha

Excellent Class!!

Elizabeth_M, Sep 2024

My friend and I had the best time in this cooking class! We appreciate learning about Lifted Strong and their mission and goals. We also appreciate learning how to make samosas and soup. We had a lot of fun getting to know the ladies. I would absolutely do this class again!

Response from Host, Dec 2024

Hello Elizabeth,We are happy to hear that you had a great experience together with your friend.Thank for coming and for choosing us .

Great project and experience

LeonieAnna_S, Sep 2024

Incredible charity and amazing cooking experience that we will never forget!

Lyoni_M, Sep 2024

We loved our NGO Lifted Strong cooking class, booking was simple and easy. Joyce and her team were really accommodating and even moved our booking to the morning so that we were able to squeeze the cooking class in before our flight. You have the opportunity to choose several traditional dishes and we decided on the samosas and soup! As soon as we arrived we were made to feel welcome and were introduced to the charity and provided a background on all of their great work that they do for the local community. Then it was time to cook! We headed outside to a traditional cooking area and were shown the traditional methods of making samosas with a variety of fillings from scratch. It was a hands-on and enjoyable experience and it was great to chat to the amazing woman who volunteer for the charity. Finally it was time to enjoy our morning’s work and it was safe to say the samosas and soup were delicious! We sat with the team and discussed more of the fantastic work the charity has been doing in supporting women to be self-sufficient in Tanzania. Truly a worthwhile experience and one we won’t forget! Thank you to the Lifted Strong team, what you do for the community is incredible. You have played a huge part in making our trip to Arusha incredible and we highly recommend this class!

Good Fun, Good Food, and Good Cause!

Michael_M, Sep 2024

My husband and I were interested in connecting with the local community in Arusha and doing an activity that would be fun and make a difference. The cooking class with Lifted Strong was enjoyable and inspiring for the work they do in helping empower women. Shiphrah, Faubriah, and Zalai were welcoming and showed us the many steps involved in preparing from scratch the food enjoyed by the Masai tribes in Tanzania. A great experience and highly recommended!

Response from Host, Aug 2025

Thank you so much for choosing us and participating into this amazing experience.

Meaningful and fun

Ann_H, Jun 2024

We had a wonderful experience with Joyce and her team learning about the work that Lifted Strong does with women and girls . The cooking class was fun and the food was delicious! We highly recommend this experience.

Great food and lovely woman

Laura_K, Feb 2024

Its more like "cooking together" than like a real cooking class but it was a nice afternoon with those lovely women and we really like the food. Don't bei afraid to take the walk to Lifted Strong, it's just a little bit far from main street, but no worries!

Excellent experience!

Harley_C, May 2023

We took a school group of girls to the cooking class to learn how to make samosas. From start to finish the experience was amazing. The ladies were incredibly welcoming and were very encouraging to our kids. Everything was extremely well organised and there was plenty of freedom for the students to get as involved as they wanted with the process. Beyond the cooking class, Lifted Strong is an incredibly inspiring and wonderful organisation that is having a true impact on the local community. Hearing about all the ways in which they engage in outreach left our girls feeling motivated to make their own impact and to continue their support of the organisation well after the class ended. We are extremely grateful to Lifted Strong for this great experience and I would strongly recommend it to anyone.

Wonderful cooking class

Lara_S, Apr 2023

After doing some researches, I found this Tanzanian Cooking Class. The booking with viator was very easy and worked perfectly. One day before my class, I got contacted from lifted strong and I could wish the topic of the cooking class. Two very kind girls, with whom I was going to cook, picked me up at the meeting point. I got introduced to the "lifted strong family" and the local kitchen. Then we prepared Sambusa (three different types!) and a soup. It was so interesting and a lot of fun, cooking outside in trational way. and of course the tasting in the end was delicious. I was further allowed to take some leftovers with me. So I had a great afternoon at lifted strong and I am going to cook Sambusa at home agian :-)

Response from Host, May 2023

Thank you so much for your review and coming to visit us! We are so glad that you enjoyed your afternoon.

Fun experience with strong women

Frederikke_S, Feb 2023

The mamas and Girls were so Nice and welcoming. We made samosas and learned every technique, and the results were amazing aswell. The samosas tasted so good. Thanks for the experience Lifted Strong, will definitely recommend

Essen lecker & starke Frauen - Highlight unseres Urlaubs

Nina_F, Jun 2024

Der Kochkurs war klasse! Sehr zu empfehlen. Am Vortag schrieb mich Joyce an, um mit uns abzustimmen, was wir im Kochkurs gemeinsam zubereiten wollen. Vegetarisch und auf Allergien abgestimmt kochen war gar kein Problem. Beim Kochkurs haben wir viel gelernt, auch von der ansteckenden guten Laune der Kochkursleiterinnen. Neben dem traditionellen Essen haben wir auch viel über die NGO erfahren. Die NGO von Frauen für Frauen hat uns sehr beeindruckt. Von Business-Wissen, gesundheitlicher Aufklärung (wie funktioniert die Gebärmutter? Wie sich gegen HIV schützen?), Englisch-Kursen bis Näh-Kursen unterstützt die NGO "Lifted Strong" Frauen der Community ihr kleines Unternehmen aufzubauen, zum Lebensunterhalt der Familie beizutragen und starke Frauen zu sein. Über freiwillige Ärztinnen wird auch medizinische Versorgung für alle Menschen angeboten, darunter auch Palliativmedizin. Die Frauen der NGO unterstützen Frauen aller Religionen, klären auf und sind wahnsinnig stark. Ihr Motto ist Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe - Frauen, die wissen, was der Breakeven Point ist, die können auch besser wirtschaftlichen und Englisch ist ein Schlüssel zu vielen besser bezahlten Berufen, u.a. im Tourismus. Wir hatten eine tolle Zeit beim Kochkurs und freuen uns sehr, dass es "Lifted Strong" hoffentlich noch lange gibt!