Where to see the Wild Banana in South Africa

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Wild Banana at stays in or beside Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve, uMlalazi Nature Reserve and Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

The Wild Banana is most recorded in KwaZulu-Natal (77% of records), Eastern Cape (22% of records), based on 3,764 iNaturalist observations. 4 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the Wild Banana on site or nearby.

The Wild Banana is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve: year-round, dry season May-Sep; uMlalazi Nature Reserve: year-round, warm Oct-Apr; Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve: Spring and summer, Sep-Mar. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

Strelitzia nicolai, commonly known as the giant white bird of paradise or wild banana, is a species of banana-like plants with erect woody stems reaching a height of 6 m (20 ft) and the clumps formed can spread as far as 3.5 m (11 ft).