Kati, Mali

What did you eat?
June 26 - July 1, 2008

Layover in Paris on our way to Kati. I hadn't slept on the plane and I was exhausted. We went to a joint at the airport. I got classic bread and cafe au lait.

Don't eat salad in Africa. I knew that cause if you can't drink the water there and they WASH the lettuce with their water... you have a problem. But alas, I did eat salad twice. After the second time I asked Claire if I was in essence 'asking for it' and she said, Yes. I am happy to report though that I did not get sick.

This was what they were serving. I will no longer be surprised by the 'no menu' restaurant. Anyway, I was not stoked but I saw the french fries as a good sign. Unfortunately, though....

They served me the french fries with the chicken sauce. That is when depression set in... perfectly good french fries ruined! But I ate it anyway. This was my first day in Mali.

Mango! Everywhere and every day. I tried so hard to like mango, especially because it was the freshest fruit ever. But I simply don't like mango - I think it's the aftertaste.

Claire on the other hand bought 5 mangos and ate them for breakfast each day.

Dinner at the hotel: puree vegetable soup. It tasted horrible. I added salt - then it became a salty version of horrible.

Yay! Cheese!

The second time I ate salad. This restaurant had a straw roof. This was my second day in Mali.

Oh god, oh sweet god this was bad. Bad bad bad. I ate it though. Not a lot but I HAD to eat. I did a round robin of bread and water and soda to wash it down.

Couscous. Not good. And that little shot glass is hot Malian tea. That will rob your mouth of any and all taste and only leave behind its own taste of what I assume car battery fluid tastes like.

And for dessert... mango and pinneapple. Ugh. At this point I would have killed someone for a dish of macaroni and cheese. Killed. Someone.

Traditional Malian dish. Better than the day before. I don't like onions but I ate them up along with the cucumbers and the rice/grain stuff. This was my third day in Mali. I was so hungry... sooooo hungry.


This was a great moment. One our second night at the hotel the waiter offered spaghetti (which was not on the menu). I ate it every dinner for the rest of my 5 dinners while there. It wasn't great, but damn if I didn't care. Dinner was my only safe haven for food.