Location
  • Tanzania
    • Kilimanjaro
Length
3 weeks

Program Details

Language
English
Age Min.
18
Timeframe
Year Round
Housing
Hostel
Travel Type
Budget

Pricing

Starting Price
19
Price Details
Volunteering through Hostel Hoff is free! Costs cover accommodation and mandatory Tanzanian Volunteer Visas, in addition to any personal expenses such as transport and internet. Prices start at USD$19 per night and include breakfast, dinner and laundry.
What's Included
Accommodation Activities Meals
Jul 17, 2019
Mar 23, 2021
10 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

Hostel Hoff offers volunteer placements at a grass roots level, where you simply pay for your accommodation and we organise your volunteering for free, as it should be! We are a small family run organisation working with approximately 20 different volunteer projects in Moshi, Tanzania. Projects include women and community groups, orphanages, centres for children with disabilities, manual work such as farming, teaching projects and medical centres. There is a large variety of work on offer and we are careful to provide sustainable, ongoing support to the organisations we help. All of our volunteers stay at hostel, where they can share their experience with like-minded travellers! Karibu (welcome to) Tanzania!

Consider your impact: Volunteering abroad can be a rewarding experience for both volunteers and local communities, and at Go Overseas, we believe all volunteers should have the resources to make informed decisions about the type of volunteer project they want to partake in. However, despite best intentions, some organizations offering placements in orphanages may unknowingly place children in danger. You can read about the potential dangers of orphanage volunteering here.

Video and Photos

Program Highlights

  • Low cost volunteering
  • Provide sustainable ongoing support
  • Home away from home
  • projects diversity
  • intenships

Related Programs

Program Reviews

5.00 Rating
based on 9 reviews
  • 5 rating 100%
  • 4 rating 0%
  • 3 rating 0%
  • 2 rating 0%
  • 1 rating 0%
  • Impact 4.8
  • Support 5
  • Fun 4.7
  • Value 4.9
  • Safety 5
Showing 1 - 8 of 9 reviews
Default avatar
Anna
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Once a Hoffer, always a Hoffer?

It's been a while that I have stayed at Hostel Hoff, but I remember my stay as if it was just yesterday. I'm currently planning my next trip to Tanzania once the pandemic has gone down... The staff was very friendly and were always open to give advice and to make my stay as pleasant as possible! Most of the guests and the staff were like one big family and we did a lot together. I almost never felt bored! The food was also great and the hostel in general was very clean. Hostel Hoff also connected me with their partner NGO that provides a second chance to education for teenagers, Good Hope. It was such a pleasure to work there and do practical English speaking exercise with the students and help the staff with computer related issues while also learning a lot about life and education in Tanzania in general, and especially about girls' and women's issues.

Both the hostel and the NGO will always be in my heart and I am looking forward to coming back again! Ninawapenda sana!

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
Don't be too afraid to hang out with Tanzanians as well. They are such loving people who always find great pleasure in teaching you Kiswahili. Both at the hostel and at the NGO people are more than happy to teach you. And as soon as you know some words of Swahili, people are even happier to sit with you! I am currently learning more Swahili in preparation for my next trip! So my second advice would be to learn at least some greetings before you head to Tanzania - even if you stay for only four weeks.
156 people found this review helpful.
Response from Hostel Hoff

Thank you alot Anna for the review. It warms our hears when people leave with a happy memory to keep forever. You are greatly welcomed to your second home at any time. ONCE A HOFFER, ALWAYS A HOFFER.

Default avatar
Shona
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Go go GO!

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What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
Don't be scared to come to this project as a solo traveller. You will meet many people who will become your lifelong friends!
138 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Diana
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Best Choice I've Ever Made

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What was the most nerve-racking moment and how did you overcome it?
There was an infant rushed to the pediatric ward (where I was volunteering,) who was not breathing and had no pulse. The local doctor was not trained in CPR (a common occurrence I later learned,) and as a nursing student I've been trained in pediatric/adult/infant resuscitation and CPR. I had never done CPR before, let alone seen it performed on a real person. As my fellow volunteer ran into the room holding her and yelling she needed CPR, it was very nerve-wracking. But I took a quick breath and ran right over to begin compressions and rescue breaths on her. We fought for her for the next 2 hours, intubating, continuing CPR, etc., etc.
169 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Joseph
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

The Hoff

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What would you improve about this program?
Hard to say. The volunteering is free, the facilities are great, and the support staff are extremely helpful.
141 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Stephanie
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

The hoff

The hostel hoff, is an amazing place to stay. You feel really safe and the staff is so wonderful. When you stay at the hostel it is like you become a family. The staff is also part of the family, and they are so nice and helpfull. If you are going to Moshi to volunteer, i would definitely recommend that you stay at hostel hoff.
The hostel is only a 15 min walk from town, although it is placed in a quite area, which is nice at night. The hostel has dogs to guard, and guards as well. They are really nice, and also part of the big hostel hoff family.

146 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Kate
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Home, not a hostel

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What would you improve about this program?
Although I know that the hostel does make an effort to ensure that the volunteer placements are of benefit to both the volunteers and the projects they work with, it would be great if a more structured role for volunteers was in place at each project to maximise the benefit for the projects themselves. I think that the hostel could be stricter about ensuring that there is a need for volunteers at a specific project before allowing volunteers to be placed there, as well as encouraging volunteers to volunteer at the projects in need of more help.
180 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Kajsa
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Great stay!

I've stayed at the hostel twice, once in 2007 and then again 2012 and I love it! They are involved with many great projects and are very helpful in finding one that's right for you, no matter what your plan is (a friend and I needed a project for our Uni studies and they were very helpful!).

The hostel has good food, laundry included and many wonderful people to hang out with. So it's easy to come and just enjoy your stay in Moshi.

I we've recommended several people to go and know that all of those who have has enjoyed their stay.

155 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Tricia
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Happy to be a Hostel Hoffer

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What would you improve about this program?
The price to stay at Hostel Hoff was a bit much. It was over $500 per month and when you are volunteering and not making any money it can really become a struggle to have that much money each month.

Also I would have liked more of a variety of food. You were served breakfast and dinner there and the food was delicious (made by our lovely Jessica), however it was the same foods over and over each week while also being more western style foods than Tanzanian.
151 people found this review helpful.

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