More on Beer

This past Monday I was invited back to Yasigi Beer Garden the little craft brewery that I found a couple weeks ago. The head brewer asked if I wanted to assist on brew day as a guest brewer. Of course I said hell yes ill be there. I was there at 10am and 7 hours later I had officially participated in the brewing of 1000 Liters of beer. It was a great day, and the icing on the cake is that I convince the brewer that we need to make an IPA next week to cater to more refined taste like many of the expats here in Kampala have. Most African like a very mild relatively tasteless light beer, nothing with much flavor body or alcohol content. I am going to try to change that and help this guy expand the palate a bit. I also met the owners and they are totally on board with my experimentation and told me I am welcome to come brew as much as I wanted as long as they don't have to pay me. I can handle that for now. Next week the first IPA in Uganda will be born. (Insert evil laugh here)

Street Food

As I am sure most of you either already know or have discovered in my blog that I a bit of a Foodie. However, not in the sense that most people use it, I am not a pretentious eater that only goes to the nicest restaurants that have the best reviews. I am a Foodie I will eat just about anything that is or isn't supposed to edible, sometime not so good yet sometime wicked good. Here in Uganda the street food is a bit more creative than Gambia. I discovered a Rolex about two weeks ago, not the watch but the food. Let me set the scene for this wonderful magic. Its a bit of an elusive beast but well worth the hunt, its can only be found on dirty markets corners (I know my American friends from The Gambia are saying "He will never learn"). So as I was saying it starts out with a thick doughy tortilla called a Chapati that is cooked on a homemade steel skillet on a stand heated by charcoal. Then comes the guts of the sandwich, 2-3 eggs, tomatoes,onions, carrots, peppers all diced up and mixed in with the eggs and cooked on the same skillet like an omelet. Then its rolled up in the Chapati bread thing and presto you have a Rolex. OH MY GOD its a foodgasm in your mouth. And, it costs about .50 cents.

Another interesting thing here is pop-corn. We as Americans associate pop-corn with movie theaters, county fairs and K-Mart. Here its a bit of a cultural anomaly, you can find it all over the place; markets, grocery stores, along the street. Welders even custom make these fancy little popcorn makers and sell them along the roadside. It actually doesn't taste too bad either. This might cost about .25 cents

One of the more non palatable foods for us westerners in apparently only available during this time of year; November-early December. Fried grasshoppers. They look like giant green locusts and they are everywhere. The locals take them and remove everything but the Abdomen/Butt part which is about the size of a finger and then fry it in oil and a little salt. They walk the streets with buckets of these things and sell them to people stuck in traffic or just walking around. A newspaper rolled into a cone acts as a cup and its filled up so you can eat your insects at your leisure. I finally worked up the courage to try one yesterday. It was not my favorite but it was edible and I can see how folks would like them.

Visitors

I am sure that we are all aware of the difference between annoying guests and welcome visitors. Well we have both on a daily basis however they are of the Avian kind. Just about every morning as we have our coffee and breakfast on the back porch the welcome visitors stop by. They are charming and handsome pleasant to look at and they don't talk too much and it has only ever been two at a time. The African Grey Parrot these guys are endemic to this part of Africa so they are obviously wild parrots that come and go as they please. They are inquisitive and sit up on the roof cocking their head from side to side try to get a look at us while we look at them. They have a very pleasant vocalization, little whistles and clicks.

The annoying guest are those that come by and overstay their welcome, they are loud and obnoxious. They travel in larger groups and just set up camp in the yard and bark out these LOUD squawking sounds like a goose swallowed and kazoo and has the lung capacity of Cher. The Hadada Ibis show up in the morning and stay until late afternoon. Its enough that if you are talking to someone in the immediate area you both have to stop and start over again. Imagine what it is doing to my lazy afternoon naps.

Ill find some pictures or videos to post later.

BEER!!

As the blog title lends to the Beer aspect its only fitting to add the subject to at least 50% of posts. We were pleasantly surprised at the selection of beers here in Uganda. Especially after coming from The Gambia that has all of three beers that they produce and a select few mediocre imports like Heineken or Becks (Bleh). Uganda has a plethora of beer to chose from to appeal to any taste; Stout, Pale, Pilsner, Lagers, and in a good variety from a few different breweries. Granted these are all from the mass produced breweries that only do packaged brew. However, (speaking now in a whisper) we heard tales of an elusive microbrewery hidden on the rooftop of some obscure multi story half empty building. And....ITS TRUE...we found it. Supposedly the only craft brewery in the country and the only place that you can get beer on tap. It was empty aside from a bunch of construction I couldn't seem to find anyone that worked there. Low and behold I finally find the Bar owner, a turkish guy that has been her for a decade, he promptly disclaimed "My beer is shit, you can try it if you want but its shit". Of course we want to try it, so he rounds up his assistant brewer (A local boy probably about 18 years old that doesn't seem to know anything about beer). So this kid goes into the brew room with 2 glass pitchers and pulls off a pitcher each of both a Stout and a Pilsner straight from the secondary fermentation tank. They were beautiful looking, frothy, cloudy and cold. The owner was right about the Pilsner it was not good at all, the Stout however wasn't half bad. So after a tour and a chat I proposed he hire me to help him make and market good beer, we shall see what happens.

Then today, I got lost trying to find my way home after dropping Nikki off at work and (whispers) guess what I found?? ANOTHER CRAFT BREWERY, SAINTS BE PRAISED. The guys working there didn't speak a lick of english and the place wasn't open yet since it was 9am so we are going back tonight to try the brew and hopefully meet the brewer...Stay tuned.

Duke the Truck

We agreed to purchase a vehicle from Nikki's predecessor as to avoid the calamity that we endured when we got to The Gambia a couple years ago. First of all Uganda is a right hand drive, wrong side of road country. The first day we took the little mitsubishi out we were in for a surprise. Kampala is a a very hilly city, its name is actually derived from this fact. Our little truck "Duke" I will call him as it is written on his door doesn't do hills very well. We went to Nikki's new boss's house for dinner and realized upon trying to leave that Duke refuses to go up hills backwards. This became a problem as the only way out was backwards and straight up a very large hill.

It went like this: first trying to back straight up and only making it halfway, then trying the same in four wheel drive, then trying the same in four wheel drive and the teenage boy pushing, then having them move their car into the yard so I can get a run at it, then finally getting a run at it -in four wheel drive - without Nikki in the car and the teenage boy pushing me to get started up the hill. 

Lesson learned: back into driveways in Kampala. 

Upon further research I find out Duke has a 650cc engine which is the roughly the size of an average motorcycle.

New Arrivals

The first week in Kampala was a blur. We just came from a country that is roughly the size of Delaware with about 1.8 million people spread out across the whole country. We are now living in a city with the same amount of people, as everyone says "the traffic is horrible" and at times it really can be. To put it into perspective Nikki's office is about 2 miles from our house we can walk that distance in about 30 minutes, however sidewalks don't exist here either and neither do traffic lanes or laws. So its safer to be wrapped in steel when venturing out, but this doubles the travel time. Aside from traffic its a pretty interesting place, we can get lots of beer, pretty much any type of food in the stores, any type of restaurants as well as the usual amenities of clothes and electronics. The downside is that cost can be pretty high. The country is very clean, this is a stark contrast to The Gambia where trash is a part of the landscape where ever you go. The weather is just about perfect, low 80s during the day and low 60s at night. We have a beautiful house up on a hill and we leave the doors and windows open all day to enjoy the breeze. This is the rainy month for the fall and when it does rain it really can RAIN. We are adjusting well and have already started planning our safari getaways.

A Brussels Layover

We packed up and left The Gambia 2 days before Halloween en route for Kampala, Uganda. As any westerner can attest, living in a developing country presents many challenges; severe diarrhea, hook worms, heat stroke, heat rash, severe dehydration, uncontrollable vomiting, blister ants, deadly snakes, and unpalatable skunky beer...just to name a few (all of which I also have intimate knowledge of now). So we decided to extend our layover in Brussels from a couple hours to a couple days. GREAT decision by the way (my idea of course). We arrived to our hotel an hour before it opened, so we sat outside until someone showed up it was a bit chilly for us, coming from 105 degree heat index to about a 45 degree heat index. We checked in and I ate about 5 pounds of waffles and maple syrup that was out waiting for guests that were yet to stir. HOLY CRAP they are good too, there must be at least 5 types of waffles, and endless toppings. There are big soft ones like giant swollen Eggos, slightly smaller soft ones covered in hard sugar that tasted just like a doughnut, little thin crispy ones, and so on. So after my attempt at instant diabetes and heart attack we went for a walkabout with Thor around old town Brussels on a self guided tour. We found the largest antique flea market I have ever been to, I seriously could have spent the rest of the day in that one square. We tried beers from all of the country and even some small craft beers from the city itself. Once the sugar high wore off, the beer buzz began, once that wore off we realized we had been up and traveling for about 28 hours and it hit like a sledge hammer. Once in the room we were comatose. The next day was more exploring, more waffles and definitely more beer. We took a 4 hour walking beer tour of the city which was pretty good, it included a couple hole in the wall pubs and a 500 year old brewery where the Lambic was born. Lambic is a very interesting beer, its only brewed in the winter and its fermented naturally by wild yeasts in a large open tub in the dusty attic of the brewery. Each year its slightly different because there is no controlling the yeast strains that contaminate the brew. Its bitter and tangy and meant to drink at cool room temperature. That pretty much concluded our visit to Brussels, honestly 2 days was probably enough unless you are studying the architecture of 17th century Gothic cathedrals.  Now off to to Uganda.

Witch Doctor

A few weeks back Nikki and I went up country to her new Peace Corps training village with a large number of her staff. The goal was to assist in cleaning up the large compound and clear out a bunch of old brush and trees. We had been working on the back of the compound for a couple hours when a large commotion broke out, it sent the local guys fleeing in all directions which meant that I was drawn to the area they were fleeing from. It only took a minute to see what they found. It was barely visible and extremely camouflaged in the area myself and a hand full of others had been just a minute before. We could only see about a 4 inch length of its huge back as it slithered between two shrubs. After the guys cleared out the shrubs with their 8 foot long garden rakes we could see its entire body. Nearly 4 feet long but as thick as my upper arm was the infamous Puff Adder one of the most deadly snakes on earth. It was coiled and ready for battle, the head was as large as a man's hand laid out flat and she held it just off the ground taking us all in. I pleaded with the guys to just scoop it up with their huge rakes and toss her over the compound wall leaving her alive. They informed me that this was not an option and it had to be killed, 3 of them took long tree branches and beat it on the head till they were sure it was dead. I hated to see this happen but I guess it was necessary as people are going to be living and working there for years to come. So in my typical fashion of not wasting anything I collected the body (which probably weighed close to 25lbs) we cut the head off and buried it. What happened next shocked pretty much everyone there, except Nikki of course who probably saw it coming. I held an impromptu clinic on how to skin a snake, most of those watching were fascinated yet scared as hell. They asked how I know how to do this because the only people who have these skills are witch doctors and traditional healers. I didn't really know how to respond other than to say other than back home its not uncommon to know how to do this.. After successfully extracting the meat from the skin we tried to convince the women who were in the adjacent building cooking lunch to grill it up, the sight of the 4 foot long tube of white flesh sent all of them screaming and running out of the house. I had now way to keep it cold for the next 8 hours in 100 degree temps so we tossed it to the Vultures and I took the skin home to cure and preserve it.

Escape to Barcelona

In October we decided we needed an escape to reset and recharge. So we took advantage of a direct flight to Barcelona for a week. I had been to Madrid quite some time ago and I wasn't entirely impressed with anything other than the very disturbing bull fight. Barcelona is a different story, we started off with a fantastic (albeit expensive) Tapas lunch near one of the main Plazas. We were immediately taken by surprise at the amazing Catalonia cuisine. We found a small apartment to rent for the week in a great part of town, tiny little alleys with tiny little apartment style flats stacked on top of each other. Laundry hanging from lines outside of windows, you could be on t
he 6th floor and your balcony is only 10 feet away from the neighbouring balcony on the opposite side of the road. The smell of human excrement intermingles with the delectable smells of bakeries, cafes and tapas bars. Nearly every morning began with a run around the city followed by a cured ham sandwich and fresh coffee, believe me coming from The Gambia this was AWESOME. We did all the tourist stuff; double decker buses around town, the harbour, the markets, Gaudi architecture (the Sagrada Familia church is otherworldly) I don't know how Guadi got inspiration a century before Tim Burton and Disney but it worked. Right around the corner from our Apartment we found a tiny little bar that served only craft beers..obviously we became loyal customers the entire week. One of the best things to do in the evening is Tapas bar hop for dinner, Tapas are essentially a small single serving of some type of local fare, they are all fantastic. Go from bar to bar trying local wines, beers and tapas all night. Bodegas are another amazing thing that I really wish the U.S. would adopt, simply a small alcove of a cafe but the walls are lined with casks of wine and Cava (a local type of champagne) all of this is plumbed through tubing to the main counter where it is on tap and you can get a glass for 1 euro. I must attest that Spanish wine can compete with any other that I have tried around the world. One morning we decided we wanted to rent a Vespa (tiny scooter) to cruise around and see some more sights. We ended up getting it for 2 days, one of which we drove all the way out to Montserrat which is a couple hours (by vespa) out of town, then up a pretty large mountain. I was pretty please to see that the only other 2 wheeler that ventured the trip was a Harley Davidson. Montserrat is a stunning mountain with unbelievable views from the top where we had our lunch of ham sandwiches, fresh olives and wine. It is also the site of a really old Benedictine Abby...I have no idea how old. Then back down the mountain and cruise our little 90cc hog back to Barcelona, the scooter rental guy said that most tourists aren't brave enough (or dumb enough) to do the trip on a scooter so we took it as a challenge and it was great. We took a local cooking class, saw a flamenco performance and even found a couple local breweries while walking around town which is a prerequisite for us.

In Search of Topography

The Gambia is a very flat wholly uninteresting landscape aside from the lazy beaches. So Nikki and I and 6 others decided to embark on a journey to find topography, destination; Kedouguo, Senegal.

Day 1: A relatively uneventful late afternoon Journey from Banjul to Basse which took about 5 ½ hours and took us from pretty much the entire length of the country west to east. As expected this would be our last running water, plumbing and electricity for the remainder of the trip.

Day 2: A relatively early start as we anticipated a long drive and the usual hassle at the Senegal border and customs, a non-event as we drove right over the dusty border without seeing a soul anywhere. (So glad we spent $65 each and 3 frustrating days acquiring the mandatory Visa). We drove along the border of the very large Niokolo-Koba National park which is reputed to have all kind of wildlife from Lions to Elephants and Giraffes. We saw some birds, monkeys and warthogs. Later that day after driving along some very rough roads we reached our destination and set out on a short hike to one of the most popular water falls; Dindefelo Falls. It was a very nice hike to a beautiful spot...ahhhh topography at last. That night was in a mud hut with thatch roof, bamboo bed, pit latrines, bucket bath and dinner by candlelight at a little camp that cost us a total of about $5 each.

Day 3: We took a guided hike to the top of the nearest mountain plateau where the top of the falls, some caves and a village are located. We get to the caves and my primal urge to explore off the beaten path kicks in (life lesson here). The mouth of the cave is actually a large hole that drops down to the floor of the cave about 2 meters below, I jump down and swing my flashlight around in the dark and am stabbed in the chest by something very sharp. I couldn’t figure out what I ran into as the room was pretty open and clear. Then I was stabbed in the side of my head this time I heard the perpetrator and shined my light up to find the whole roof of the cave covered in hornet’s nest all of which were now moving. I immediately yelled for assistance to get me out of this hole as the urgency of escape from an angry swarm was overtaking my ability to focus on climbing out. Some helping hand heaved me out relatively unscathed other than a couple large red burning welts where I was stung. We continued our hike and exploration and returned back to the quiet little village which was now bustling with people for the weekly market. Some quick local fare then back on the road. We headed back into Niokolo Park hoping to see some animals. The map indicated a relatively easy drive that shouldn’t take more than a couple hours on well-developed roads to our destination. 7 hours later after some very intense white knuckle driving over some of the worst 2 track trails I have ever been on we were stopped short of our destination and forced by the 5 local park patrol guys to remain at the outpost station and pitch our tents. We shared our road food with them and they shared there giant bowl of beans with us and we all enjoyed the campfire and whatever conversation either of us could glean from the other (they spoke primarily French and other tribal languages). At one point the senior man leaned over and said “if you have beer we would like it” (Predominantly Muslim country I should have been surprised but I wasn’t) I replied “No beer, but I have Whiskey” the smile broadened on his face. So I sat and drank whiskey with a band of outpost rangers in the middle of BFE Senegal while they told us of the Lions and Hyenas they had seen recently. We turned in late that night zipping up our thin nylon tents thinking they would be taking turns on watch through the night. One by one each one closed and locked themselves inside their concrete bunkhouse room with solid steel doors and we realized we were on our own.  Beginning about 2am large Baboon troops began parading through the camp not far from our tents, barking, growling, grunting and screaming. It was very unnerving being so exposed to something that can be so violent and aggressive, it lasted most of the night to we were a bit tired once the sun finally rose.

Day 4: We were now ready to head home. We decided to take the most direct route out of the park which was a 2-3 hour trail through the park back to the main highway. This was again a very difficult drive as much of it was over expanses of barren volcanic rock and through thick grass and tree saplings that were 10-15 feet tall all around and on the unmarked road (or lack thereof) by this point one of our vehicles is running dangerously low on fuel so urgency is a concern. We crest a small hill that dips sharply into a river valley and we find ourselves at the bank of a healthy flowing river that is not on any of our maps, we can see the road continue on the other bank up and out of the valley to the highway which is only a mile or so on the other side. There is no sign of a bridge and our searching for it on foot up the river bank resulted in locating a large Hippo we cautiously watched it for a few minutes keeping an eye out for snakes and crocs which are very common before deciding to face the music and figure out our predicament. We are now more than 2 hours from our initial starting point for the day which by another route is 4 hours from a developed road, 12 hours from home and one vehicle is on 1/8^th of a tank of fuel. Surprisingly enough nobody panicked, UNTIL the vehicle got stuck buried to the frame in the soft sand. Now we realized we may not be making it home that night. So we began digging then laying down branches, an hour or so later we are back on hard earth and backtracking to our previous camp and the alternate route out of the park. We finally make it out of the park early afternoon exhausted and running on fumes barely making it to the welcome sight of a fuel station. Back across the dusty uninhabited border into The Gambia and prepared for the final 6 hours home.

                                                                  Dindefelo Falls

            Where the road ends at a sizeable river. Road continues directly across from the truck

                          One of the roads that went for hours, we could barely find the track.

These women just came down from the mountain in the background to sell produce.

 

Final Tally: 3 ½ days, 1000 miles of dusty rough African roads, 34 hours driving time, 6 adults and a trooper of a 4 year old all exhausted but exhilarated.