Weird Food Offerings
 

After watching the Travel Channel last night on No Reservations. (Which by the way we don't have to worry about increasing Namibia tourism) The host last night was eating the "traditional" foods of the Kalahari bush tribes. It was really stomach turning. But it got me to thinking.... What is the strangest things you've been offered to eat while on Safari? Do you eat them or pass them up?

Kim

Not really THAT strange but at Djuma (S.Africa...Sabi Sands) we were served the African take on Chicken Ceasar Salad...Crocodile Ceasar Salad.
Eric

I havent seen that episode yet.....but, love Anthony Bourdin and his show.....

Hari

I watched this show last night and was excited to see that warthog would be served. What I would do for a warthog steak right now. For all those carnivores travelling to Africa, I highly recommend warthogs. However, the portions served to Anthony on the show were, to say the least, unappealing. Being in his shoes I would have definitely tried what was offered to me. I went on a township tour in Namibia and and some sort of beetle (not sure if it was the same as shown on the show last night). Nonetheless, it was very chewy and needed assistance from a local beer to go down. Not something I would eat on a day-to-day basis but worth trying.

I haven't had anything weird offered to me on safari (other than springbok and kudu, which I found strange since we were photographing them by day and devouring them by night). If you want strange food, head to Asia, where I've eaten all sorts of strange items, the strangest likely being barbequed bat in Cambodia.

I was offered some fruit from the Baobob tree from a Hadzabe Bushman. It didn't have much flavor and there wasn't much to it if I recall- just a bit of chewy stuff around a very hard nut. This was on my 1st safari in 2003. We were being so careful about what we ate and drank until that point. I never gave it a second thought until afterwards. It wasn't the fruit I was concerned about, but I did wonder about all the places the Bushman's hands had been and never been washed! I never had a problem though. The friend I was with was horrified that I would eat something they had handled. Later one of the children gave her a beaded necklace which she put on immediately. Later that day I caught her chewing on the beads of the necklace! She admitted it was a habit and never gave a thought to where those kids'hands might have been! But we both survived with no problems!
Lily

In Zambia we had the opportunity to try the local beer that was being made in a large old 55 gallon drum. the local women were squeezing the mash on a wire screen and tossing the leftovers out for the chickens. The beer looked like grey thick milk but it did smell like it was about 80 proof which I suppose would kill any germs. Enough African beer and about anything can be stomached.

Kim