The Baton Rouge Eater: Eating in Africa

Words cannot describe the amazing experience of our recent two-week photographic safari in Kenya and Tanzania. In fact, even though my husband and I each took hundreds of photos, they don’t really do it justice either.

However, I’d like to give you a “taste” of our adventures by focusing on a few of the more memorable meals enjoyed by the animals and the humans. (Warning: This is a rather long post. Get a snack. Pace yourself.)

The Herbivores

In the grazer category, we admired the graceful bounding of herds of gazelles, elands, antelopes, topis and other deer-like animals. The herds of Cape buffalo, with the profile of their horns resembling a 1960s “flip” hair-do, were captivating as well.

Cape buffalo

Impressive in terms of sheer numbers were the thousands of zebras and wildebeests we saw. Sometime in July, these animals will begin gathering for their “great migration” from the seasonally grazed-out plains of the Serengeti in Tanzania north to the lush grass of the Maasai Mara in Kenya.

Our guide estimated that approximately 3 million wildebeests and 1 million zebras will embark on this treacherous journey (along with other herbivores) and many will fall victim to lions, leopards, cheetahs, and especially crocodiles when the herds must cross the croc-infested Mara River.

Zebras on the move

A grazing wildebeest

Here are a few of our favorites in the browser category, those who dine mainly on the vegetation above the grass line, such as bushes, trees, fruits, etc. Included in this “guest list” is my husband’s favorite animal, the wart hog.

A giraffe reaches for a tasty leaf with his tongue

An olive baboon

A warthog. So ugly, he's cute.

The Carnivores

Although the dining habits of the meat eaters are a little more "raw" (literally), observing these animals partaking of their natural prey was breathtaking. (Trigger warning: There are blood and guts in the following pictures.)

Cheetahs dining on a gazelle
(Yes, that's blood on his face.)

A cheetah munching on a wart hog

A lion enjoying every last bit of a zebra

A vulture on clean-up duty

The Omnivores: Humans

Most of our meals were served buffet-style in the dining rooms of our hotels, in the lodges of our tent camps, or, once, in an actual tent itself.

(Lest “tent camps” causes you to have visions of us huddling in a pup tent, the tents we stayed in, while made of canvas, were very large house-like structures--some bigger than any hotel rooms we’ve stayed in--with mosquito-net draped four-poster beds and other furniture and wall-enclosed bathrooms with “real” plumbing.)

Breakfasts always featured lots of tropical fruits and juices, made-to-order omelets, and an array of side dishes. The British influence was apparent with the inclusion of grilled tomatoes and baked beans which are often standard fare in a traditional English breakfast.

Lunches and dinners included a wide-variety of salads, entrées and desserts. The entrées often reflected the Indian-influence on African cuisine, and curries, paneer dishes, and Indian breads. were in the regular rotation.

I’ll admit to being slightly disappointed that either African food wasn’t more prominently featured, or, if it was, it was rather bland.

While the Nile perch was delicious, rather flavorless and fatty roasted lamb, chicken and beef were more common, so I mostly ate vegetable dishes. The “pasta bars,” which featured either Asian or Italian ingredients, just didn’t appeal to me.

Following, however, are three of our more memorable meals.

Champagne Breakfast on the Maasai Mara Plains

One of the options on our tour was a hot-air balloon ride over the Maasai Mara plains. Having never been in a hot-air balloon, I found the experience exhilarating despite the 5:00 a.m. wake-up call.

When we landed in an open field, we were treated to a champagne breakfast which included a full bar, a substantial buffet with made-to-order omelets and crepes, and a beautiful table set with linen and china.

There was even an African "port-a-potty" set up at a distance which consisted of a square box with a hole cut out in the center enclosed in a small tent.

Carnivore

At the end of the trip, we returned to Nairobi and had lunch at the legendary Carnivore restaurant. This is an open-air landmark that specializes in grilled meats somewhat in the Brazillian churrasco style.

In a seemingly endless progression, waiters served us from skewers of leg of lamb, beef tenderloin, pork and beef ribs,turkey, chicken livers, pork sausages, lamb sausages, and chicken wings.

In the “exotic” category, we passed on the ox testicles but did try the ostrich meatballs and crocodile (which, yes, tasted like chicken). The waiters only stopped bringing the meat when we laid down the small flag on our table in surrender.

Amaica Café

Oddly enough, we had our most African meal in the Nairobi airport as we waited for our flight back home. Amaica Café is one of three Amaica restaurants in Nairobi which specialize in traditional African cuisine.

For an appetizer, we had tsiswa which are flying termites roasted in a dry pan with salt. We had heard from our tour guide that these are a delicacy and very high in protein.

They had the consistency and somewhat the taste of finely chopped or “shredded” walnuts. Indeed tasty and protein-rich, they might have been have been a meal on their own. The tsiswa were served with three sauces: a spicy red chili and tomato sauce, a green chili and garlic sauce, and a sweet tamarind sauce.

For our main course, my husband and I shared obwoba which was sort of a creamy ragù of wild traditional mushrooms. One of our side dishes was omushenye, sweet potatoes and cow peas boiled and mashed, which had the consistency of polenta and a slightly sweet taste.

The other side was lisutasa, black night shade leaves, which had the taste and consistency of collard greens. The proprietor was so pleased with our obvious enthusiasm about our meal that she stopped by our table and even explained how termites are harvested.