photo: lindsey snow

My wife and I recently returned from the most adventurous vacation we’ve ever taken. I have a lot more to say on the subject, but I’ll start with the most important: food. A picture’s worth a thousand words, right? 

South Africa has the highest concentration of Indians outside of India. Hence, there’s curry aplenty, and it’s some of the best I’ve ever had, in both Durban and Cape Town:

Poached eggs with mushrooms and cherry tomatoes:

Excuse the lighting, but this lava cake with berries and creme fresh was choice:

Best condiment we had on our journey. Peppered, savory jam with sundried tomatoes on cheese and crackers:

Best new food discovery: South African rusks. They’re like buttermilk biscuit cookies with a crouton crunch that you dunk in tea. Goes perfect with Dilmah Peppermint, my new favorite herbal tea.

“Beggar’s purse” with mushrooms and cream:

A traditional tribal meal with veggies, crocodile, and ostrich:

Scrambled eggs:

Poached eggs with sausage beans (my favorite breakfast food eaten while there):

Plain water-cooked oatmeal with diced apples, almond, and honey. Sounds boring but was delicious:

In the dining car with hot stuff:

Indian “pastries”:

Lamb shank in Pretoria. Wow:

The Rovos dining car where we ate many fine meals:

I wasn’t expected to eat as well as I did in South Africa, but we did. Better yet, gourmet meals were the cheapest I’ve ever seen. On our first night on the continent, we paid $17 total for two, three-course meals with bottled water and 25% tip!