Matoke (Bananas); The wonder Tropical Plant.

Travelers to East Africa cannot miss to take note of big gardens and plantations of tall leafy plants covering extensive landscapes; flat plains, valleys, hills sides of the region.  Though most often mistaken for trees these are actually herbaceous plants for their real stems do not grow above the ground. This is Matoke (Bananas)! Most exciting about safaris to Uganda in particular is around the Lake Victoria and the entire great lakes region is that you will discover that each part on banana plant has cultural, economic, social, or other importance in the community. 

Local banana transport to the main market.

Mature banana plants produce green starchy firm fruit fingers that are used in different form as plantain and staple food to indigenous people in hotels and restaurants. The fingers can be boiled and is very delicious with beef, chicken, fish and other stew in or peeled and mashed when boiled, steamed or mashed into banana bread eaten in each homestead. Flesh and firm fingers on each banana cluster are peeled, sun dried and ground into banana flour which when mingled with boiling water makes one of the finest fresh bread that can be washed down with Tilapia fish stew and a chilled drink.

Harvested mature banana when kept under warm temperatures ripen into yellow and become soft, more sweet and mushy. These can be enjoyed raw as sweet bananas, sliced to make chips or peeled, mashed and squeezed to make one of the most natural sweet juice on the African soil with no additives. With more ingredients, additives and stored in airtight favorable conditions, the juice when fermented makes the sweetest local banana beer always a constant accompaniment for community leaders when discussing and making constructive decisions about developmental projects in their areas, sold on commercial basis to generate household income and each cultural ceremony can hardly take place without this brew. Under more scientific processes the brew can be made into one of the strongest gin anywhere on planet earth. 

Banana fiber materials used for decor in hotels and homes

 

With other wonderful uses for rest of other banana plant parts like fibers from false stems used in making textile for fabrics, paper, cosmetic flavors, African crafts for décor in homes, offices and hotels, there is no doubt each traveler on an adventure safaris into Uganda will unknowingly by luck or design use bananas in one or more forms at any of Uganda tour safari destinations.