Food Fun

We visited Queen Elizabeth Park in the west of Uganda, then returned for a one day trip to Lake Mburo National Park. We spent quite a bit more on accommodation for the one night we were here by booking Mihingo Lodge which is just outside the park. The lodge is upmarket for Uganda and we took the full board which we did not regret (it came out at about £75/person for one double room and one twin room).

We arrived for a late lunch having travelled via Mbarara from the west and were fairly hungry after driving through the park seeing zebras, impalas, etc.

The lodge is built on a series of grey rock outcrops, the restaurant being a thatched structure on one of them with the bar to the right.  We were offered a cold avacado and garlic soup as the starter. I am a fan of cold soups for refreshment in hot weather generally but this was one of the best soups I have ever eaten!

There was a main course cold buffet of quiche, roast pork, roast potatoes and coleslaw. A dressing with finely chopped chillies was offered as an option. I am not normally a fan of quiche but this was a great one. The coleslaw was based on red rather than white cabbage but had a delightfully light dressing which had yogurt but not to much mayo.

I almost forgot that the restaurant had an amazing view. Below the swimming pool there was a watering hole where we saw both antelopes and warthog pottering around.

The lunch was rounded off with a fruit salad - water melon, banana and pineapple - with a little ice cream.

The evening meal was even better. Before we even sat down we were shown bushbabies near the bar - illuminated by a red light. They have a curious ape-like face and looked very sweet. One was the normal sandy colour but two were an unusual melanistic variant.

There was a starter of leek and potato soup - not normally one of my favourites - but after the evening safari drive it was most welcome. The buffet consisted of spicy chicken in a peanut sauce, rice and baked aubergine. Thoroughly scrumptious.

The breakfast buffet was also excellent with high quality sausage (very meaty and nicely seasoned) and bacon along with fresh fruit and pancakes (if you could find room!). It was so filling, I could hardly eat lunch when we stoped at the Equator on the way back to Kampala.

I have not posted for a while because firstly I was trying very hard to get part-time work; I've not worked since my redundancy 5 months ago. Secondly I had a long-planned trip to Uganda to visit my son and to do some voluntary work. Hence a posting out of my usual comfort zone.

Mrs O and my 3rd son came with me and we joined my 1st son for a trip to the west of Uganda. On the main road from Kampala to Mbarara we stopped for a lunch break at Lukaya. There are numerous roadside stands grilling goat, chicken and gonja (a sort of banana) and each stand has a bunch of sellers who sell food directly to vehicles.

As can be seen with the bus above there is no shortage of sellers who press travellers hard to buy their wares. Our minibus was surrounded in a similar way.

One of the first things I learned in Uganda is that the banana varieties are different from those we import at home from the Carribean. Matooke is a savoury banana used as a starch accompaniment to meat dishes. Gonja shown above is a short, slightly sweet variety that is very tasty grilled. Its flesh is more yellow than bananas at home. Kabalaga is a sweet but short variety that looks similar inside to bananas.

A more pricey snack is a chicken kebab - though it is not expensive in European terms! - which I recall could be haggled for about 2,000/-. Goat however is cheaper at about 500/-

Selling techniques are very hard as is the haggling!

I had never eaten goat before but I liked it. It has a slightly greasy taste like lamb but a strong and pleasant taste.