Advertisement
Published: November 27th 2023
Millet banana beer
Banana wine in beer-style bottleHappiness met us for a guided cultural walk in her town,
Mto Wa Mbu . She is part of Cultural Tourism Enterprises, a community organization that encourages and supports local businesses through tours and experiences for tourists. She said that in the town’s population of 18,000 there are a hundred different tribes, and they all work together. She was accompanied by Feliciter (
fe lees tah) and a trainee.
We met her beside the local banana beer pub, our first cultural stop. Seated inside, I peered with trepidation at a large plastic beaker holding some sort of banana brew. In fact, on the top of the liquid was the sprouted millet used to ferment the beer in a separate room. Happiness passed around samples of the miniscule millet seeds, the sprouted seeds, and powdered crushed millet. On the first day of brewing, after fermentation, the beer has only one per cent alcohol and on the second day three per cent. Then any remaining beer is discarded. Happiness held up a commercially bottled product called banana wine, although the bottle and the taste was of beer. It had ten per cent alcohol. She poured samples into little glasses – one sip was enough for
me. The flavour was of a strong new beer.
Down some short paths and around some compounds, we came to Mtakuja Art Group, an artists’ coop. Seven artists work together, painting and making stretchers for canvases. They also volunteer in the local schools, because there are no art teachers, and they want to ensure a future for Kenyan art. One of the artists described and showed us the styles they favoured. “
Tingatinga ” was developed by a well-respected local artist and is naïve, like children’s cartoons. “Knife” is done with a palette knife and features elongated figures. “Fine Art” is done with a brush and is based on post cards. Because they work only in oils, rain does not affect their paintings, permanently displayed in the open.
We walked along the main street for a few minutes, our guides identifying trees and plants. I was delighted to take photos of my favourite Flamboyant trees in bloom. Here they are called Christmas trees, because they are red and green and flower near December. On the roadside, many people were handling bananas. For local transit, banana bunches are packed on small trailers, with banana leaves between to cushion them. Feliciter
Flamboyant
aka Flame Tree showed us the three types of bananas grown in the town: yellow sweet, cooking, and red. All are harvested while they are green, before the baboons can get them. The banana flowers are chopped and fed to cattle. The banana leaves, which also form the stalk of the tree, have many uses, including roofing.
In another artists’ coop, we were introduced to
Makonde carving . These Makonde people migrated into Tanzania during the civil war in Mozambique and brought their carving skills with them, passing them through three generations. (This made me feel old, because I remember the civil war as an adult.) We were shown a cross-section from an immature ebony tree, which had a small dark core in brown wood, and from a mature ebony tree, which had mostly dark wood with a narrow brown band below the bark. Mature ebony is very heavy and does not float. Finally, we were shown white mahogany, which surprised me because I knew the darker kind. Softer, carving it is much easier.
The most unusual artwork was a stylized map of Africa, made from banana leaves cut from different parts of the stem. The background consisted of several light brown
shades, made by pressing together pieces of shaped leaves. The picture was made from tiny pieces of the dark outer leaf pressed into the background. The whole was varnished to hold it together and preserve it.
Naturally, we wandered through the shop, where hundreds of figures, bowls, animals, beaded items, and banana paintings were on display. I bought three small carved animals, for US$20, which seemed quite high, but the salesman and his colleague would not budge. They claimed that carving such small figures was more difficult than the large ones. We all have to live.
Close by, a lunch of traditional dishes from several tribes was being prepared for us. In a shady shelter, we watched three women cut vegetables, fry both green bananas and sweet bananas, simmer stew, and make chapatis. They cooked on a long, multi-holed, stone stove, fuelled by wood, pieces of which were pulled out or added to adjust the heat. (I had seen a similar stove in Cuba.) All the pots were clay, although they had been used so often that we mistook them for cast iron. Twenty dishes were laid out and described to us, including boiled casava, beans, okra, beef
stew, stir-fried cabbage with carrots and onions, corn (similar to the school lunch), sharp-flavoured julienned greens, and a local vegetable delicacy that was too gummy for my taste. I considered this one of the best meals we have had eaten on the trip. The flavours were harmonious, and the variety suited everyone’s preferences.
On the road again, we turned south towards the other end of
Lake Manyara . The landscape was barren of anything except acacia trees and dried grass-like plants. Deep washes from an earlier wet season had cut gashes through the bone-dry land. Lucas assured me that, when the rains came, all would turn wonderfully green. We turned off onto a smaller dusty road and eventually came to
Osupuko Lodge just outside
Tarangire National Park .
Our individual cabins were modern rondavels. Wide windows looked over a wide valley dotted with trees. After a good swim in the infinity pool, I sat on the small patio in front of my rondavel looking at the magnificent view – I could ask for nothing more! Electricity is on from late afternoon until morning, and internet is available only in the lounge, where we met for drinks and dinner. The chef introduced the
meal himself, and when he learned I did not want the cream soup, he quickly made a delicious tomato and potato soup for me. The pork resembled a Chinese stir-fry and the vegetable stew was well spiced. The Serengeti beer was refreshing.
View map to date. [youtube=
]
Advertisement
Tot: 0.182s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 11; qc: 27; dbt: 0.1303s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Isabel Gibson
non-member comment
Our farmers work hard but at least they're spared having to time harvest to fend off baboons! Loved the video of the cooks.