South Africa Part 1: Travel & Food

Overall, my trip to South Africa was pretty good!  The food was amazing, the people were so nice, and the cultural things I saw were enjoyable.  Of course, the things for work went smoothly also.  I’m splitting up my blogs so as not to overwhelm you.  Let’s start with part 1: Travel & Food.

The plane ride from Washington DC to Senegal to Johannesburg took about 17 hours.  Oy!  On the way out, I had enough space to lay down but on the way back, I had a neighbor so I couldn’t really sleep.

The hotel was very beautiful but in an inconvenient location.  We were near the airport so getting into the city was hard (and far).  It was a resort with 4 hotels and a casino.  The casino was convenient because it provided lots of restaurants to eat at during our stay and a place to get currency exchanged.

The food was also fantastic on the trip.  Apparently, South Africa cuisine surrounds meat which works perfectly with Paleo!  I tried to have as many different things as I could get.  The first night, I ate at Braza, a Portuguese restaurant in the casino.

I ordered the appetizer sampler and it was huge!  I got bacon wrapped chicken livers, calamari, escargot, chourico (Portuguese sausage), and it came with a sort of fried polenta with an African sauce.  Everything was delicious!  I also ordered a cider beer that was very tasty and mild. 

The next night, I ate at Tribes, an African themed restaurant in the hotel.  This place was my favorite.  The first night, I accidentally ordered a bottle of wine, not a glass!  I ended up taking it to my room but never got to finish it.  It was a bummer because it was one of the best wines I’ve had in a while!

I ordered the Game sampler this night which came with Ostrich, Impala, Warthog, and Kudu.  The Impala was definitely my favorite!  Very lean and a mild taste.  The Ostrich came in second with its Cherry sauce on top (bottom left) but had a chewy texture.  I did not care for the warthog at all (texture or flavor) but the bacon was good.  The Kudu would have been better if it was more well-done.  This was a great choice for dinner!

The next time I ate at Tribes, I ordered the Lamb Shank which was TO DIE FOR!  Oh wow was this delicious but so huge I couldn’t finish it.  I also had had an appetizer of Ostrich sausage and desert of Malva Pudding which was basically like a spice honey cake that you dip in warm custard.  I need to learn how to make this!  Oh, and I had been told the Lamb in South Africa was fresh and amazing.  They were right!

We also had breakfast provided each morning by the hotel.  Everything was delicious there to and very fresh.  I really enjoyed everything there.  They don’t depend on convenience food like the US does so everything was always fresh and delicious.  I loved it!

They also had pastries in the lobby every morning with hot chocolate (so good!).  I ordered some tea one night in the lobby while I surfed the internet too.

Of course, I ate more than this but nothing too exciting in pictures.  We did eat at 1 local place but it was during a group outing so I am going to lump that with the report for that day.  I’ll just end with a few more pictures from out and about around the hotel!

One last thing, the weather was perfect but very dry.  The record high for Johannesburg is only 95 and a record low of 15!  And humidity doesn’t exist there.  I may need to move!