非洲烤雞／李明熙
「非洲烤雞」這道菜，在不少打著國際美食旗號的餐廳菜單內的食物，如「波士頓龍蝦」、「匈牙利牛柳」，地方名已經變成了一形容詞，若在當地吃過，會發現根本是兩碼子事。在坦桑尼亞的 Arusha，短短幾天裡我們已經數不清吃過多少隻「非洲烤雞」，只記得每餐都非常惹味，不斷食過番尋味。
走在 Arusha 的街頭，要找一間像樣的餐廳不是沒有，因為 Arusha 擠滿了去 Safari 的遊客，菜式和價格都是歐陸級別，唯獨水準還未及得上。若要吃地道的，就要靠鼻子和循著黑煙去尋找。
坦桑尼亞人喜歡炸和烤的食物，炸薯條、炸冬甩、炸咖哩 Samosa 等，最難吃的是炸香蕉，製作方法是把去皮香蕉整條放入油鍋炸，咬下乾得像栗子，沒半點香蕉味，只有油膩感。烤的有羊、牛、雞、魚，因為坦桑尼亞回教徒多，所以豬肉並不普遍。以烤來說，魚最貴亦最難吃，感覺魚已死了多時，只靠烤來添加口感；牛肉則最便宜，但是牛筋和骨髓佔多，要花時間咀嚼。羊和雞屬中價，羊烤後會製成 Kebab 肉條，並混合香草和辣椒，而烤得最好的自然是雞。
每個小店門前都有一個兩層的灰爐，上層是放去清了內臟、醃好的原隻生雞，有鹽味、燒烤醬味和辣味，可點上裝、下裝、半隻或全隻，全隻價錢為 12,000 先令（約港幣 42 元），即使單點 4 分 1 隻亦會附送大量薯條，所以二人分享可先點半隻，即叫即烤 20 分鐘，合胃口的再追加。
非洲雞都是走地雞，肉質較結實，烤得好的雞皮是灰燶中帶點脆的，脂肪都在皮層，咬下時滿手雞油。蹲在街頭，在灰爐旁用手撕著雞食，是享用「非洲烤雞」的獨特風味。不過，用雙重黑色膠袋將原隻雞打包，外賣返回酒店看著英超食，亦是我們週未晚上在 Arusha 的一個消遣節目。
Tanzania Safari／Kimberlogic
Choosing a safari company requires research. There are so many out there and after reading about a few of them, they all start blending together and sound the same. The amount of days and price are the only differences that stand out after awhile. The best place to start with is to do research on the national parks and the types of accommodation that you are looking for.
Ming Hay had done safaris before, so he had knowledge about which national parks we should go to. We also decided ahead of time that 4-5 days would be plenty of time for us. So, the main criteria we were focusing on was the price and the different accommodations offered from different companies.
After seeing all of the other companies while we drove through the national parks, we realised that all of the vehicles used are the same. Depending on your group size and the price you pay, you could be alone with a guide or there could be up to 7 tourists in the vehicle. We got lucky to have just one other couple with us.
As soon as we reached the national park for our first game drive, I noticed blue and black cloths hanging from the trees. They spray these cloths with a chemical to attract the Tsetse flies that bite. Although a few months ago I was told not to wear blue on safari, I had completely forgot and turned out my shirt was the exact colour of the fly-attracting cloths. Our guide said it should not be too bad for that day, but not to wear blue or black for the rest of the safari.
Tarangire park is known for their high elephant population, and that is exactly what we saw. We saw many large groups of elephants from babies to the very old with huge tusks. In the late afternoon, the Tsetse flies started biting. It hurt for only a second and did not have a lasting affect like a mosquito bite. Even though I was the only person wearing blue, the flies were biting everyone equally.
The next 2 days were spent camping and game driving in Serengeti National Park. This park was full of every animal you can think of. We saw so many lions, leopards, chetahs, hippos, gazelles, zebras, etc. Just behind our tent, 2 lions hunted a buffalo which made for an exciting and a little scary couple of days with all of the animals it drew near.
The last park we visited was the Ngorongoro Crater. Every animal can be spotted within this huge crater, but we were only looking for one —— rhinos. We had managed to see every animal in the other 2 parks, but we couldn’t find a single rhino. Unfortunately, it was a chilly, windy day and rhinos do not like that kind of weather. They stay near the edge of the crater within the cover of the trees and normally lay down out of the wind.
Just as we were about to give up our search, our guide spotted one so far off in the distance. Through binoculars you could just barely see that it was a rhino, and I couldn’t even get a photo of it with my zoom lens. But, finding the rhino completed our safari.
Safaris are so cool if you love animals. As long as you are comfortable with the amount of money you are spending and you have done your research, most of these companies go out of their way to make sure you enjoy every minute of your experience.
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