Goatiness in Kenya

Whilst Kenya isn't exactly renowned for its cuisine, I hadn't quite expected the level of revolt from my team when it came to the food. This was all made worse by the fact that nearly everyone on the trip was sick at one point (yes, imagine being sick when all you have access to is a pit latrine), and even a week after we're all back home, some of us are still recovering from sore tummies and knowing a bit too much information about everyone's bowel movements.

Given that we were in the middle of the countryside, it was no surprise that the food was repetitive and pretty simple. A typical breakfast looked like some space-age creation with my malaria tablet being the main event, accompanied by a boiled egg, a mandazi (sort of Kenyan doughnut) and a cuppa (no milk please):

Lunch and dinner were pretty much the same everyday, a combination of rice, chapattis, goat meat, spinach/cabbage/peas, avocado and banana and oranges for afters. The chapattis in particular were very yummy, slightly sweet, but not quite so yummy after having them for 2 meals 7 days in a row. I actually quite liked the goat, particularly with a bit of gravy, but unfortunately it was what made most of my team's stomachs turn.

I have often heard horror stories of families asking the team leader to kill a chicken, which is a big honour. Thankfully it has never happened. Until I remembered that Julius owned a poultry farm, and until Rosita came to dedication with a chicken in her arms. Yes, I started panicking now, and backing away!!!! Thankfully, the team were all attuned to the fact that I am sooooo scared of chickens by now, and Martin chivalrously stepped in to accept the gift. And thankfully we didn't need to kill it there and then:

We named it Kiev, and ate her for dinner that night! Unfortunately Kiev was a tough old bird, wasn't really very tasty. Here she is!:

As is usual with all my Habitat trips, I usually take a few extra days after everyone's gone home for my own little R&R. Both Clare and Caris, who have spent more time in East Africa, advised me that Lamu Island was the place to go, so off I went!

Lamu is little known compared to its very developed cousins Mombasa and Zanzibar, but I think it was better for it. We stayed in Shela, with 12km of unlimited beach, and there were relatively few white faces to be seen. This may have explained the amount we got hassled for business everywhere we went, but the place remained charming nevertheless. Just look at the view from our guest house:

We stayed at a place called Banana House owned by a man who claimed he was called Banana. His wife is Dutch, and it was clear the couple understood what Western service is, unlike much of the Kenyan tourist market. The rooms were simple but stylishly done, hammocks swung everywhere. One of the other good things they offered was the use of their chef; give the chef some money to go to the market, tell him what you wanted to eat, and he'll cook it for you. So we gave the chef a tenner each and this is what he came up with:

Ellie who came with me had the simple criteria for our food in Lamu: only fish and vegetables. Ok, we probably broke it a little by having lobster and vegetables that night, but oh bliss it was. Can someone marry soon please just so I can go back to this place for my honeymoon? Anyone will do! Haha...