On arrival, we went straight into the
function venue for the drumming session
Our teachers first give a
demonstration of their art
African drums at their best
Then it was time for the audience to
get their drums out
Our amusing instructor could overcome
any language barrier
and soon had the audience drumming to
his beat. Sad to see that not everyone was taking
part, although drums are available for all
Then it was time to wash our hands and
go to dinner
Our lovely waitress is from Zambia
and she explained the food to us
There are 14 small courses, you can
call for more on any of them. This is
the Ethiopian Lentil Dhal with bread twists
It was served with a rather sharp tomato soup
From the top: Lynne's favourite,
Zambian Kandolo balls made from sweet potato covered in sesame seeds. Then
Ugandan sugar bean Briouats. These little money bags are crisp and can be
dipped in the Cape Malay chutney. Rather
strong smoked local fish Frikkadels (fish cakes) with topped apple and mint
raita
This man was magic on his “flute” made
from a simple piece of plastic pipe with only the holes at the top and bottom to
produce a huge variety of notes
Enthusiastic dancers and singers
A praise singer and another musician
on an African marimba
The main course is a Ghanaian
Groundnut chicken, South African maize meal Pap (porridge) not to everyone at
the tables taste, many of us had this at boarding school. Also a Congolese spinach made from wild
greens or marog. This has tomato and
green and yellow flavours and is not hot but highly spiced. And the lovely crisp carrots from Zanzibar
flavoured with star anise
More singing and dancing and some
enthusiastic audience participation
Drummers with dancers who had so much
energy that it was exhausting watching the speed at which they danced
Dessert is fresh fruit kebabs, and Cape Malay Boeber
- another dish that reminds some of us of boarding school. Its a sago, vermicelli, sultana and alsmon
pudding. There was also a Gogo’s (grandmother’s) Karamonk spiced Biscuit but I don’t remember seeing that
A cute table decoration with Italian
sponge finger biscuits
The Boeber
The Mali puppet dancers always impress
A final song and dance by all the
staff
There are some great decorative items
from the rest of Africa adorning all the walls
The drums laid out for tomorrow's
drumming session
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015
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