Travel guide books warn against it! No refrigeration this, risk of that, tap water, blah blah blah. We all know the standard line and the reason for the advice. But tell me, is street food not one of the best ways to experience and embrace your surrounds when you travel?  How can you explore a place without really embracing the food?  Needless to say, I haven’t been taking the guide book advice on the street food front. I’ve tried as many varieties as I can. (And I have done so without any major food poisoning hitches to date- I’m hoping do not jinx myself with this post!)

One of the most popular Nigerian street foods is Suya. Marinated and rolled in a mix of spices and dunked in oil, the thinly sliced meat is BBQ’d.  Purchased by the skewer for around 150 Naira (AU$1.30,) it is served wrapped in newspaper or foil at an upmarket stand, with sliced onion, tomato and more chili if your brave. Tooth picks are provided doubling as cutlery as well as performing their more traditional duties post meal. Beef seems to be the most common Suya meat, but skewers loaded with goat meat, snail, kidney and gizzards are also popular. I have avoided the later options!

Each trader has their own special Yaji, Suya spice blend. Not always forthcoming with their ingredients when I asked, cloves and ground roasted cashews where the secrets ingredient of two traders. For those of you who want to recreate the flavours next time you fire up the BBQ, here is one basic spice recipe.

Nigerian Suya Spice Recipe
3 tsp finely ground peanuts
1 tsp cayenne pepper, red pepper, or red pepper flakes
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp ground ginger
1- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1-1/2 tsp onion powder

Chin chin is another popular snack food sold on the street. Sold from around N20 to N250(AU2cents-$2) depending on the size of the bag, “tourist” mark up and your negotiations skills. It’s sellers, (often children,) run up to vehicles in traffic jams and at the lights looking for buyers for their wares. The slightly sweet crunchy fried dough ranges in colour from off white to darkish brown. It doesn’t have allot of flavour, but it makes up for this lack with it’s large crunch.

Roasted corn has become very popular. Make shift stands selling roasted cobs plied with palm oil and salt have popped up all over Calabar since I was here last year. Corn is in season now which helps, and it provides a sustainable income for it’s street vendors. It is also providing me with one of the few sources of vegetables currently in my diet.  Most Nigerian meals are heavily starch and protein based. The emphasis is most definably on flavour rather than health benefits. If it can be fried, it is. If it can have oil added, it does.

Roasted plantain, yes you guessed it, lacquered in oil, and BBQ’d fish are also common street food available year round. I think I may need to do another post on the amazing fish alone to do it justice.

Have you had a good or a bad street food experience? Share it in the comments area below.

Your local want-to-be Adventurer, Georgia

On the drive to the coincidentally named “Calabar kitchen” for lunch, Lagos and its 17 million inhabitants careen by; tumultuous traffic, the line of rusty buses and the exhausted masses waiting for them, the beggars sliding on flat wooden trolleys, the touts on the road, the tattered hawkers thrusting trays at people who either can not of will not buy.

Oyingbo Bus Terminal, Lagos

I order Afang (vegetable) Soup with fish & pounded yam and opt for the cutlery over my hands, not sure of the protocol for this type of business lunch. Avoiding the lashing of palm oil that show themselves around the edge I empty the bowel of its spicy stew. It’s the first time I broken a sweat outside the hotel gym.

Afang (vegetable) Soup with fish & pounded yam

The IBM office and my pricey accommodation at Southern Sun, Ikoyi, are in safety of Victoria Island aka VI or The Island. I didn’t spend any time outside the main business and financial enclave of Lagos, but have decided a few return trips are needed to satisfy my curiosity about shanties and built up congested looking towns that stretch beyond VI. The team at the office go out of their way to make me feel welcome. A sense of hospitality and making an outsider feel comfortable seems to be ingrained into Nigerian psyche. I had a great sense of relief on meeting the counterparts who I will be working with on the Cross River State project. The subsequent dinners, and night out in Lagos bars confirmed it; they are a great group of people.

View from IBM Lagos Office, Victoria Island

On my return to Calabar, I can’t stop smiling. The mellowed pace, the familiar sights, sounds and rustic roadside stands. I checked into Axari Hotel where I will be staying for now. It’s isolated, and without my own transport, the 3km’s from the centre of Calabar makes the walk to visit the stalls or get my much preferred non hotel food a little far. It hasn’t been an issue to date though. I’ve spent time with my colleagues and their friends, being served up lovely meals and hanging out at their soon to open lounge club. I loved the lounge even more as I was served up moi moi made especially for me. Moi moi, I had been lusting after in Australia. I attempted to make the simple dish on multiple occasions, but failed to master it- or even get close.

Axari Hotel, Calabar

I did the rounds to say hello to those I knew on my return to the Ministry of Social Welfare and Community Development office. I was warmly greeted to say the least! Margaret, one of the secretaries rushed me, and this tiny woman, who comes to my chest, nearly knocked me over with her giant hug. There is still no running water in the bathroom and the light coming through the bared window is not quite enough as we wait for the power to be switched on for the day.

But I tell you, boy it is great to be back!

Your local want-to-be adventurer, Georgia

I haven’t even made it to my seat on the plane and already I am in another world. Statistically and in attitudes Nigeria and Dubai are worlds apart. There are however some interesting similarities in these oil rich regions.

An attitude snap shot
The aisles clogged, the “everyman for themselves” mentality shows itself as we board. An air hostess tries futilely to request the two woman juggling bags and blocking the aisle to let others past. I watch as one man hastily scrambles over the them in the rush for his seat. As we take off I witness an altercation and again can’t help but smile. The strong familiar West African accent retorts for the second time; “But it is too sunny!” “International regulations” and the hostess win this round and the blind it dejectedly raised for take off. Welcome to Africa I think  to myself- and we haven’t left the ground yet. I just can’t imagine witnessing the same interaction with a plane full of people from Dubai or Australia.

The Lagos airport is as frenzied as I remembered. This time however the noise, the jostling and the apparent inability of people to cue or wait for anything are less confronting. I heard my name being called. “Miss Vhatson”. Surprised, I track down the voice and I am subsequently whisked past the lengthy line and through immigration. The VIP treatment begins! (You may have read about this in one of the posts from my last trip.) Again, I couldn’t imagine the same scene in another country.

Two ends of the spectrum
Attitudes aside, the multitude of differences between Dubai and Nigeria are apparent to many of us. Humour me, and lets just look at income and wealth for a moment. The UAE’s  GDP per capita of $54,607 dwarfs Nigeria’s $792.31 per. (Source: International Monetary Fund.) 70% of Nigeria as a whole live below the poverty line with nearly 41% of the countries wealth controlled by 10% of the total population. The UAE has under 19% of the population below the poverty line. (Source: CIA World fact book) Dubai is one of the wealthiest states of the UAE so this figure is not really representative.  I can go on, but you get the idea, that we looking at two different ends of the spectrum here. We can’t deny that wealth, both that of the individual and as a country, extends to shape the environment and lifestyles of those who inhabit them.

Some similarities
Despite the vast differences in wealth, here are a few of the many similarities I’ve spotted beyond the oil.

Excess! If you have money in Dubai you can have what ever you desire- or so it seems.  Note the indoor ski slope, abundance of flash cars, seven star Burj al Arab and the €800 million Atlantis Hotel. Atlantis the sea themed hotel and complex “has the best of everything” according to the concierge. It really is impressive and the scale astounding. Taste, style or subtly seem to be a secondarily focus to what seems to be a need to show wealth. Where the dollars are available, the need show your wealth and is apparent in Nigeria also.

Nigerian’s are renowned for their love of money and the people in Dubai are similarly transparent with their desire for cash. (The tax free salaries are a key draw card for the 80% expatriate community who make up the Dubai population.)

Like the mix of Dubai residence, imported produce seems to have arrived from all corners of the globe. A visit to the supermarket offers you a selection of apples from 9 different countries. (Let’s face it, with the arid climate, agriculture was never going to be a staple of this economy.)  Nigeria’s once largely subsistence agricultural sector has been unable to keep up with rapid population growth and like the UAE , it too relies almost totally on imported produce.

The final similarity I have to mention is the impatient drivers. You may have heard about Logos traffic. To this foreigner it is chaotic to say the least. As I navigated my way around the anonymous rounds in Dubai, hands where quickly moved to the horn for a moments delay. This has nothing on the chorus of horn blasts that wake me in the morning from my Lagos hotel room.

I’m was bracing myself for the shock of Nigeria after my holiday lapping up the luxury in dreamy Dubai. I knew what I was getting myself into this time around, but it’s one of those things you just can’t quite prepare yourself for…

Your local want-to-be adventurer, Georgia

I’m stretched out on the grass as I lap up a little luxury in Dubai before touching down in Nigeria. The cooled pool in front of me, extends to the white sand and clear water of the man made beach in front.

After months of waiting, the final weeks leading up to my departure became a whirlwind of activity. Travel can have a funny way of helping you prioritise and see things more clearly when you know you have a limited time…limited time in one location or limited time before going away for an extended period.

With a small amount of time I had to became selective on who it was spent with. Family moved up on my priority list as I prepared to fly out to Nigeria in a way I didn’t think was possible for me. I love them, don’t get me wrong, but who thought I would have wanted to hang with my parents so much? Those people you have been trying to catch up with for the last 2 months who just kept rescheduling have been wiped from the radar. There was a clear divide of people, those who make the effort to catch up, touch base in a last phone call or even just took the time to send a well wishing email. And there are those didn’t.

As I reached out to my friends and contacts in Dubai. I received very different responses. Some offered hotel recommendations while others gave non committal responses. Another excitedly booked in leave from work anticipating fun days catching up and playing tour guide. Another offered me the keys to his house, car and told me to treat them as my own. For me  it showed some true colours and helped me weigh up who I really wanted to spend my time with on my stop over.

I am all for anything that helps me makes the most of the time I have and allows me to identify the quality people in my life; the ones who really care and you know you can count on.  My next adventure is just beginning but it has helped me with that already by forcing me to really look closely in order to prioritize. Enough of the “D&M”. Right now, it’s time to get back to my priority of making the most of Dubai.

Is this just me? Do you find traveling helps you to see people’s true colours? And the limited time help you prioritize?

Your want-to-be adventurer, Georgia

“Really, who eats at 6pm?”  The line of waiting clientele flowing down the stairs as we departed, stomachs full, spoke for itself.  The ambience is subdued as we watch the crowd file in from the bar as the day light dims outside. The subtle signage, tucked away first floor location, and understated cool puts Mamasita solidly in the realm of Mexican Melbourne style.

No re fried beans or burritos are featured on the menu, but at last, I’ve found somewhere in Melbourne to enjoy great Mexican. Salsa tunes plays in the back ground as the Mexican beauty pears down from the wall. We place our order and devour our oddly shaped corn chips with salsa and guacamole. (Guacamole, I might add, that proved a fantastic combination of capsicum and chili to avocado for this peckish patron.)

The food arrived waves. The first of the tapas style dishes was one of the three servings of Tostida’s we ordered. Four crunchy bite size fried tortilla bases with our toppings arrive per serving.  Tostadita de pollo; char grilled chicken, avocado, queso fresco, (Mexican cheese) & chipotle mayo was my favourite. The strong smoky flavour of the mayo, the crisp base combined with the tender chicken chunks and smooth creamy texture of the avocado and mayo made this a combination quick to vanish from the serving paddle.

Tostadita de Pescado, was topped with more of that great guacamole, small pieces of fish, lime and chilli. Chilli I would have liked more of  personally.  Tostadita de Maize with a topping of sweet corn, black beans, epazote & jalapeno salsa, queso fresco looked equally delicious but lacked the subtle flavours of the previous Tostadita toppings.

The next dish to arrive was our Quesadillas de Huitlacoche. This is not the most visually appealing food, but don’t let looks deceive you! The tortilla sandwich was filled with gooey and flavoursome Mexican truffle, mushrooms, roasted corn, epazote & queso fresco.

We also had some Ensalada de Quinoa, a salad made up of Quinoa, corn, spinach, coriander, chilli and ‘pico de gallo according to the menu. Fresh and tasty I’m reminded how well simple combinations of fresh ingredients can work.

For the record, I am no expert in Mexican food. It didn’t know what many of the ingredients listed on the menu until a post dinner Google. What I do know is that I thoroughly enjoyed my meal and that this is not something I am going to be able to enjoy again until 2011 and my return from Nigeria.

Good Mexican is hard to find in Australia. Have you discovered any other places for tasty Mexican?

Your local want-to-be Adventurer, Georgia

Well, I am still as excited and passionate as I was when I wrote blog entry Elation. I am still positively tingling with anticipation and excitement. My return trip to West Africa is finally upon me!  For those of you who have joined my Nigerian Adventure more recently, or were wondering about the details, here is a 101 on the fast approaching part two of my Nigerian Adventure!

What?
The paper work states I am a Project Executive, Marketing & communications in my next adventure on  international assignment. So what does that actually mean? And what will I be doing you ask?

I will be driving the marketing and communications strategy around two key projects, that form a social safety net for the people of Cross River State;

• Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) offers free health care. The project has the objective of reducing the high incidence of maternal and child mortality rates and to increase the utilization of health care services by what is termed the “core poor” in the society.
• Project Comfort offers conditional cash transfers for people living in abject poverty. It aims to enable core poor households to be self sustaining, providing funding for nutritional support and training to allow them the sustain themselves and their family in future.

Both of these projects are designed to improve quality of life and support attainment of the aggressive target to half infant and maternal mortality rates by 2011. As the projects are central to much of the Cross River State Government Economic Blue Print, the full scope of the work extends beyond these two projects, but for simplicities sake, I will just focus on the two that are key to my little piece of the puzzle here. Let me know if you want to hear more about the projects or what this  Project Executive, Marketing & communications is doing more specifically.

When?
My Nigerian Adventure began after my acceptance into the IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC ) development program and subsequent month working in Nigeria last year. After much anticipation and waiting, I will be touching down in Nigeria again on 9^th of August after a brief R&R stop off in Dubai. I’ll be returning from International Assignment a bit over 5 months later.

Where?
I’ll be based in Calabar, the capital city in Cross River State, Nigeria. Named after the Cross River which passes through the state, it is based in South Eastern Nigeria, bordering Cameroon to the east.

Who?
I will be joining three other IBMers working on this project along side the Cross River State Government, and the Nigerian Ministry of Social Welfare , thanks to support from the Governor, Liyel Imoyke.

Across Cross River State, the Ministry has responsibility for:

• 600,000 children under 5 year and 120,000 pregnant women
• 50,000 people living with disabilities
• 2,940 “poor households” currently living in abject poverty

View some draft video or written case studies on Projects HOPE and Comfort I produced last year, and you get a sense of the impact and type of people these projects aim to support.

Why?
The question for me is more, why not?  I have always had a fascination with Africa. Nigeria and is paradox’s have me more fascinated more than ever. After my last visit, my interest in emerging markets, community development and our need to look at the bigger picture grew.

Besides, how could I pass up such an opportunity for adventure, discovery and growth? I am not deluding myself thinking I am going to save the world, but lets face it, how would you feel about being part of something that you know is literally saving lives?

I have a mix of emotions right now. I am excited, nervous and a little stressed about all the remaining things I need to get organized before I fly out in a few short days. Looking back, I’m having many of the same douts I captured in pre Nigerian Departure Musings prior to my 2009 departure.

This time, however, I have a better idea of what I am getting myself in for. I am more familiar with the business culture, the environment and the projects. Reading up on my old notes, I’m reminded of the sheer breadth of the project, the importance of getting it right and my need to ensure the maketing and communications are as effective as possible. We have a lot to tackle and I’m honored to be able to assist in the delivery of something of real value.

Now you know the basics of part two of my Nigerian Adventure, leave a comment  and tell me what you want you want to hear about.

Your local want-to-be adventurer, Georgia

You may have read in Observations from the other Canadian City, Winnipeg isn’t big. That aside, there seems to be an abundance of food outlets per capita. Fast food and burger outlets abound, supported by a vast array of restaurants catering to a variety of budgets and tastes.

Chefs Joanne Tyson & Lorenzo at work

Home style cooking
Restaurants aside, my trip to Winnipeg was brimming with splendid Jamaican style home cooking and BBQ’s. The flavours, scents and smells took me back to my 2007 Jamaican holiday and provided me with some new food experiences.

BBQ’d meat, corn cobs and potatoes proved a delicious lunch on multiple occasions. As did the ongoing display of curried or jerk chicken from different members of the Wedderburn family. All with different flavours, they somehow still contained the familiarity of growing up watching the same father put the base spices together.  Accompanied with rice and peas, salad or plantain and deliciously sweet hard dough bread, the spread continually proved to be hearty Jamaican style meal.

Curried chicken

And now, some of those food firsts I mentioned;

Pigs tail -Yes, you read correctly. Slow cooked with split peas, kidney beans, pepper and spices the bacon smell and flavour remained strong. My first, (and only) fork full, had a flavour and texture similar to ham hock. Struggling with the visual of the tails themselves, I ate the accompanying rice and peas with the flavoursome sauce. I decided it was best to leave the tails for those who would appreciate them.

Jamaican style pig tail & bean stew

Ox tail -Another old style Jamaican dish with a rich sauce that sent a tempting aroma of mustard, onion, ginger, garlic, pimento and pepper through the house. I’m not one to gnaw on bones, so the idea of sucking out marrow just doesn’t appeal. This I’m told is the best part of the Ox tail. Something I’m just going to take Richard’s word on.

Jamaican style ox tail

Cassava- Another first for me was Cassava. The rather bland, starchy, fibrous vegetable was served up with chicken, salad and tasty boiled dumplings.

Cassava

Breakfast -Some not so traditional breakfast options included sweet and flavoursome fried plantain and steamed cabbage.  I did became rather predictable with a breakfast of almond milk, fruit and muesli. (A difficult to find and often overpriced item in Australia,) I had to restrain the squeals of delight when I was first confronted with shelf after shelf of delicouse nutty milk options.)

Fried Plantain

Breakfast cabbage

Lemon soup – After the long drive to Kanora, we stumbled into the Greek Plaza Restaurant. Open chicken and calamari souvlaki’s at $10 a pop proved delicious value. The complementary soup, in my case lemon, was a taste sensation. Unlike any soup I had tried before, the thick, creamy texture and pungent lemon flavour will be on my radar next time I visit a Greek restaurant.

Greek lemon soup

There was one more highlight I’d like to share. For a sweet tooth like me, I could not make it through the freezer section of Super Store without a pause to appreciate the jaw dropping range of ice-creams.  It took all my control to pass by without an extra item weighing down my basket, ( something I didn’t always succeed at.)

Ice-cream onslaught

Needless to say, I ate well why I was away. I tried my best to ensure there was plenty of exercise to counteract all the delicious food.

Have you had any unusual or surprising food experiences while traveling?  Leave a comment below and let me know.

Your- want-to-be adventurer, Georgia

One of the things that I enjoy in Winnipeg was the abundance of murals. I found myself continually surprised by bright visions. Located throughout the downtown and surrounding areas, they ranged from the large scale and epic, to the small, fun and quirky. On a visit to Kanora in neighbouring state Ontario, they seemed to share the same passion for outdoor art. The murals seem to be appreciated are clearly respected; I only saw one that had been vandalised.

Rather than harp on about them, here are some of the great murals I saw while I was in The Peg;

Bert & Ernie- Winston Street, St James

Oscar & Animal- Winston, St James

Disraeli Freeway, Winnipeg

Main Street, Winnipeg

Missed the street name on this one!Winnipeg

215 Logan Avenue, Winnipeg

The murals in Kanora, and there are 20 in total, have been designed to work as a series depicting the “towns history”. The indigenous First Nation history of the area seemed to be totally absent however. Let’s call it a post colonial history of Kanora…

Kanora

Kanora

Rat Portage, Kanora

I loved the continual surprises in mural form. If you want to look at some of the other great outdoor art and murals around Winnipeg, themuarlsofwinnipeg.com has some great pieces documented, along with the stories behind them.

Your local want-to-be Adventurer, Georgia

My first stop on my Food Adventure is Vietnamese at Thien An. Although it is not the most “adventurous” cuisine choice per say, good food and good prices make this a regular for me that I want to share.  With so many Vietnamese restaurants in close proximity to central Footscray, competition is fierce and value is rife.

Getting stuck into the complementary green tea we ordered Vegetable Spring Rolls . Thankfully they are free of the excess oil and grease that made me gawk when these where ordered for entrée. Crisp and tasty these leave your standard fish and chip shop spring roll for dead.  Self wrapped in fresh lettuce and flavoursome Vietnamese mint prior to a dunking in the sweet and chilli dipping sauce, theses proved to be a delightful fresh combination. (I can’t resist good hands on food.) I may have just been hungry, but these are something I will definitely order again.

For main we ordered Chicken With Chilli And Lemongrass. Served with rice, the stir fry of chopped moist chicken and sliced onion was rather sweet, but flavoursome none the less.

The most adventurous dish of the ordering was the Vegetable Pancake. Not sure what to expect where greated with a large flat very yellow pancake. A mix of stir fried tofu and vegetables placed inside.  The accompanying serve of mint, lettuce and some lightly pickled vegetables helped a little to counter the too oily pancake.

The Dry Rice Vermicelli with Beef was a mix of bean shoots, sliced carrot and mint to balance the rice noodles. I avoid the few dry, uninviting looking thin strips of beef on top. The accompanying sweet, vinegary sauce with a dash of chilli made the dish.

And we also had an old staple, Broccoli in Oyster Sauce.

Make sure you try the Avocado Smoothie. Yes, what your imaging may be close, but it works oh so well. The mix of avocado, condensed milk, ice and some mystery powder is a delight. Don’t let the the green colour put you off!

The restaurant moved across the road to its current larger and sparklier location last year. Thien An is trying to position itself as a “classy” Vietnamese option, (and I am talking Footscray standards here!) Alot of effort has gone into decorating the open light and spacious, clean surrounds. It is a bit Vietnamese kitsch, but is very close to the border of gaudy.

Consistent, tasty and clean and worth a trip back to!

Your local want-to-be Adventurer, Georgia

Inside I am absolutely fuming. I try my best not to let it show but
I can feel the stiffening anger moving to my face. Chest puffed, the female border security officer at Emerson, Canada barks, “No, you walk with us now.” This is no more than 10 seconds after the order to get in the car and drive through to the vehicle search area some 30 meters away. Men with badged shirts, expressionless, disciplined demeanours standby. Can’t they see this? Or is this how they woudl treat me too? The car is searched, our belongings thrown around, and we are abruptly and disrespectfully quizzed.

This is the first time I have been targeted like this when travelling. Why now? Because I’m travelling with a black man? Because he has dreadlocks? I have to pinch myself, this is twice in the one day – simply too coincidental.

The planned day trip to Grand Forks in the U.S. didn’t get off to a good start (wrong turn aside.)  After a quick finger print scan of my right hand fingers in the US border security Toltoi crossing, I was done.  As an inconspicuous white woman my finger prints didn’t seem to matter. Sadly, not the same can be said for Richard. Holiday makers, freight trucks and camper vans  are waved through with a flash of th epassport as we look on with envy. Systems are “looked up”, phone calls are made and finger prints scanned. And re-scanned again and again- a total of four times.

As the frustrating two hour hold up- mess up- concludes, we are presented with a bill for US$12 for the VISAs.  A phony American style “have a great day,” as I take my change has me reeling.  I bite my tongue remembering my earlier words as our frustrations grew; “It’s a game, just play along and we’ll be out of here sooner…”

I tried to justify the first incident as we drove off. Down to a racist individual and a poor tech system preventing him from working his machines effectively. I clearly had too much faith in humanity and our progress on fighting racism and stereotypes. I bit my tongue as we sadly had to “played the game” again on our retun crossing.

There is no denying that the security/border protection type jobs often attract people hungry for power and a desire to exert some authority. I am embarrassed for the people managing US/Canadian border security.  There is something very wrong with the system,  attitudes and use of outdated streotypes to select ones targets.

Have you had a similar experience? Or a positive one to renew my faith?

Your local want-to-be Adventurer, Georgia