Banana Juice Making Experience Tour

Our Banana juice-making tour in Rwanda typically lasts 4-8 hours and offers an immersive, hands-on cultural experience, either a full or half-day. The itinerary includes harvesting bananas, traditional mashing, and tasting, often paired with a local lunch.

Our banana juice-making experience tour from Kigali lasts 5-8 hours. The tour includes round-trip transport to Muhanga (approximately 1 hour each way), a traditional rural lunch, and several hours of hands-on activities with local artisans. 

The banana juice-making experience tour offers you a truly wonderful way to get a taste of the beauty and rigor of rural life and Rwandan culture while visiting Kigali City.  Traditionally shared during weddings and other celebrations, banana juice (and beer!) has long been a central part of Rwandan parties.

Although banana juice can be easily bought at the local store nowadays, the traditional technique for making your own brew is a much greater labor of love. This tour experience starts with a one-hour drive from Kigali to Muhanga in the Southern Province.

Banana Juice Making Experience Tour highlights include

* Learn to make banana juice in a local Rwandan village
* Enjoy a tasty lunch and lively conversation with your hosts
* Stop at a local handicraft store for souvenir shopping
* Participate in the juice-making process once the bananas have ripened
* Pick and cut green bananas to prepare them for the juice’s ripening process

In the morning, you will work with your rural host to collect the green bananas and the leaves needed to begin the process. Next, you’ll dig a hole and bury the bananas to ripen over time. After enjoying a simple meal with your host family, you’ll head into the valley to collect water.

The ripening process takes four days, but don’t worry- you won’t need to wait. Your hosts will have some already-buried bananas for you to dig up. You’ll then peel, mash, and strain the bananas using traditional techniques, and voila- you’ve made authentic banana juice.

The day finishes back at the Muhanga office, where we boil the juice so it is ready for you to taste and take away.

Booking Recommendations

✓ What to Bring: Wear comfortable clothing suitable for rural farm work, and be prepared for some light physical activity like fetching water
✓ Booking Lead Time: Many operators require at least 96 hours’ notice before the tour to allow the community time to prepare the bananas for your visit

0700 Hours: Pick up and depart from your residence/hotel in Kigali, and drive to Muhanga Town (about a 1-hour drive from Kigali).

0800 Hours: Welcome & Introduction in Muhanga.

0830 Hours: Arrive in your rural host community. Welcome to the artisan cooperative.

0835 Hours: Go to your artisan host’s family home, share introductions, and add a bit of local dress to your attire.

0845 Hours: Start the day’s activities by cutting and collecting green bananas, then digging a hole in the ground to bury the green bananas to become ripe.  The artisans will show you how to do each activity and will work alongside you.  They will encourage you to take a rest whenever you need to, or to sit out and watch if you prefer.

1100 Hours: Fetch water from the valley spring.  (You can choose to help with food preparation instead.)

1230 Hours: Lunch:  The artisans will serve a cooked vegetarian meal typical for local families, such as cassava and beans.

This is a good time to ask your hosts about life in their community.  They may have questions for you, too, about life in your home country.

1330 Hours: Dig up the ripe bananas and make juice using traditional techniques.

1530 Hours: Farewell & Departure from your host community.

1545 Hours: Arrive back in Muhanga for a cold drink and a chance to reflect on your Experience.

1600 Hours: Finally, there will be an opportunity to peruse all the beautiful, handcrafted goods from our artisan partners, including your hostesses!  This is a wonderful way to gather gifts and souvenirs, which you can be confident are fair trade and making an impact.

Banana Juice Making Experience Prices include:

✓ Lunch
✓ Gratuities
✓ Local guide, & Local taxes
✓ Bottled water & Round-trip transport from Kigali to Muhanga and back

Notes

* Not wheelchair accessible
* A minimum of 2 people per booking is required
* Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
* Child rate applies only when sharing with 2 paying adults
* Need to book a minimum of 3 days before the experience starts to allow enough time for the community to prepare the bananas. If you book sooner, the supplier will ask to reschedule

Mobile: +254-721-242-711
WhatsApp: +254-721-242-711
Reservations: +254 718-179-967
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://africanspicesafaris.com