For a snack here, many locals like to eat mopane worms. Botswana is also a tropical place, being very hot between January and April and being cooler from May to August. This means that here in Botswana, they very often have mangos. Last, but not least, is dinner, which typically consists of meat, some kind of starch and a vegetable. Botswana is a very game-heavy culture, meaning that they eat a lot of meat. They have the typical meat we have in America, such as chicken and beef, but their unique meats are seswaa and oxtail. While I have not had the opportunity to try oxtail quite yet, I have had the opportunity to try seswaa. Seswaa and pap is Botswana’s national dish. Another common starch they mix with seswaa is mabele, the whole wheat version of pap. For dessert, they will typically have fat cakes, which are sort of like the Botswanan version of doughnut holes from the U.S. I have not had the opportunity to try fat cakes quite yet, but I have heard that they are very delicious. Apparently, they are the best when they come from local street vendors.
When you bite into a mopane worm, they have a crunchy outside and meaty inside, and they are very chewy. It took me many chews before I felt comfortable finally swallowing the worm. Though they are chewy, I thought the mopane worms were delicious, but they are not for everyone.
Mangos from a tree are nothing like store-bought mangos, often being sweeter and smaller than store-bought mangos. They are currently one of my favorite foods to snack on while I am at home or out and about.
