We wake up to torrential rains which doesn’t bode well for our activity today – biking through the town of Mto wa Mbu. We learned that means Mosquito River. Great. Luckily, the town is an hour away and we get past all the rain. We show up in the town with beautiful sunny skies to greet us. Phew.

Emmynamae was waiting for us with our bikes. Well past their prime and well past any kind of future if you live in N. America, but here, they were the best bikes on the road by far. And once we got going on our way, we realized it wasn’t the bike that we needed to worry about, it was the roads! Hahahaha. It was hilarious trying to negotiate the terrain and not look like a newb on a bike.

The company has been around since 1996 and their mission and goal is to better their town. With their profits they have been able to create a central irrigation system that is available to anybody who needs it. All that is asked in return is help with the upkeep and cleaning of it. They have spear headed many other projects to improve the quality of life of the citizens and as a result, we, as tourists, are encouraged and allowed to take as many pictures as we would like to, the locals understand that it is a small price to pay for what our cost of admission buys. We are discouraged, however, from handing out candy to the kids as they are worried it’ll teach them that begging will get them places and that they’ll choose not to go to school. I appreciated that outlook and honesty.

Our tour starts with a view of the irrigation canal and the rice fields. They are able to get two harvests/year. During one month of the growing season in order to keep the birds from eating the grains, it is two people’s jobs to rotate, day and night, and scare off the birds. I asked why they didn’t just cover it with netting or something and the answer was simple, they just don’t have access to the materials. It is easy to forget sometimes just where we are and that you can’t just go to Home Depot to get what you need.

The rice is just one part of the benefits the rice paddies give the village. They use the stalks for animal feed and the grain husks for making wall mud stronger and longer lasting. It is nice to see how different cultures use everything they have at their disposal to enrich their lives.

Our next stop is at a banana plantation. We learned so much in the 15 minutes we were here standing in front of a banana tree, which isn’t really a tree, more of a reed. Here alone, they produce 30 different species, some for eating, some for cooking, some for frying, some for making soup and some for brewing the all-important banana beer.

It all starts with a flower bud. Under each petal, there are a bunch of stamen. As the flower opens up, each group of stamen are exposed and the length of the stem gets longer and longer. Eventually, the stamen grow into the bananas and you now have a large bunch of bananas, all facing down. Once they get big enough, they need more nutrients from the sunshine so they start to face upwards. As well, once this stage happens, the flower bulb gets chopped off so the nutrients go to the bananas instead of the flower.

The bananas are harvested while they are still green for a couple of reasons; 1) They are easier to transport green because they won’t bruise and 2) It keeps the wild baboons away from the plantation. Baboons will only go after ripe bananas so it is safer to harvest them before they get there.

Once the banana bunch is harvested, the tree (reed?) gets chopped down. It’s a good thing each reed typically sprouts a few offshoots that get transplanted so the life cycle keeps going. But yeah, in nine months, each tree only produces one bunch of bananas. There is no set harvesting date though, bananas will grow year round and are a staple in the diet of most Tanzanians.

We learned a little fun fact; what we call a bunch of bananas at home is called a hand of bananas here. A bunch of bananas is the whole stalk taken off the tree and you can buy it like that in the market.

Every part of the plant can be used. We saw some houses that used the leaves for fencing materials, roofing materials or even umbrellas. Excepting the bananas, nothing is sold for profit. If you need the banana leaves to fix your fence, just come and get them.

I love visiting the local markets, so when we turned into this one, I was very excited because not only do we get to take pictures, we have a guide explaining some of the things we were seeing. Like the meat stalls. I’ve always wondered how they make the meat last as it is rarely refrigerated and it is just hanging in the open, exposed to the elements and flies and bugs. Each morning, the butcher will slaughter one animal only. Whatever is not sold at the end of the day is destroyed and they’ll start fresh again the next day. Huh. Makes sense. Here, in this village, because they have so many different cultures and tribes living here, the vendor always gets a Muslim butcher to do the slaughtering so that those of Muslim faith will be comfortable, faith wise, eating their meat. It is just one of the ways the village has learned to live together in harmony.

One of the things Mto wa Mbu is known for is their red bananas and we got to try one in the market. These bananas take a year to grow as opposed to the usual 9 months so they are a little bit more expensive. They are delicious! The skin is a deep, rich, red colour and the flesh has a slight pink hue. They are incredibly sweet – if all bananas were like this, I’d eat way more of them!

Another thing we have always wondered, is how does all this produce get sold, every day? It always seems like so much food. Yes, each vendor manages to sell a good portion of their produce and make a decent living. Here, people can shop up to three times a day for their meals. Very few people, if any, have a fridge therefore they must shop daily for their meals. Wow. What a time-consuming part of life. I begrudge having to think about what to make for each meal, I couldn’t imagine having to shop for each meal separately as well!

Moving on to an African favourite: Banana Beer! The Chagga tribe is responsible for this creation. A lot of time, effort and skill go into the making of it and it has such a short shelf like that it is made continually. If it is not drunk within 2 days, the alcohol content rises to such a level that it becomes lethal. Luckily we got a brew that was freshly made. Honestly, it could have tasted a whole lot worse. We did the polite thing, had our sip, passed the cup and said, ‘Asante sana’. Time to move on.

Our last stop was to see the very talented Makonde Tribe wood carvers. They were impressive to watch. If we had had a little more time, we could have really spent some time and money there. But, it was not meant to be, we were on a tight schedule.

This bike tour was amazing. I wish we had planned on staying here one extra day so we could have spent the whole day with Emmynamae going through his village, trying all the neat restaurants we passed by and learning more about their way of life. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend spending a day in Mto wa Mbu.

Just make sure you wear your bug spray!