Tuesday, July 8
Zebrabar, Mouit, Senegal
I keep a list in my notebook of Things I’ve Overcome:
* Eating mangoes. I hadn’t done it since my bout with malaria in Cameroon, since even the sight of them reminds me of being ill. But the fruit is a staple here, often served as a dessert, and I don’t have that many choices when it comes to fruit I can peel (it’s safest for the stomach).
* Seeing what I call the Enormous African Bee. I remember it from Cameroon, and it horrifies me. It’s like a bumblebee, but bigger, and its buzzing is audible when it’s still meters away. I imagine it’s furry, but I really have no idea since I try my best not to see it close up. I believe it lives or eats baobab trees, which are common here in Senegal. Bloggie points to the reader who can name that bee.
* First pick-pocket attempt. The guy was decent; he kept asking me to buy a shirt he waved in my face so ferociously that I couldn’t see my bag. He managed to unzip it before I noticed.
More to come…
Inkslinging in Africa 
July 11, 2008 at 12:34 am
Dude! You need to get a machete!
July 11, 2008 at 1:13 am
You sound very nonchalant about the pickpocket, upbeat even. Just part of the whole experience?
July 11, 2008 at 3:40 am
I’m nonchalant because the pickpocket failed!
July 11, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Really, mangoes in Africa? Mangoes are so delish! I mean, if I had a bout with malaria I probably would be traumatized, too, but I love that fruit. Are they big and red with yellow? Or are they manila – kinda small, yellow with a little slanted point?
Mmmmm I want one right now…
P.S. I love the picture of “the restaurant”…how gorgeous!!
July 11, 2008 at 3:49 pm
I’m proud of you for eating the mangoes. I have never liked their weird, stringy mushiness, but people wanted to force them on me on my trips to Kenya. It’s weird how much people like them… it’s almost like they need to convert you to being a mango lover. (And that was the Americans, not the Kenyans.)
July 12, 2008 at 6:54 am
Mangoes are a staple here, super cheap, particularly because they’re in season. They’re red and green and oval-shaped.
I don’t mind the mushiness, but some of them have a kind of gritty aftertaste. Then again, some are simply delicious!