Thanksgiving comes early in Africa

We have returned from Zanzibar and are now heading west across Tanzania towards Malawi and the massive Lake Malawi., where both water sports and hiking/trail running should be on tap. Tonight we will stay at a farmhouse that makes its own bread, grows all sorts of vegetables and raises a number of different animals for meat. My locavore heart and stomach is already anticipating the deliciousness.

Heading west

When traveling, the holidays can be the most powerful reminder of time passing. With the collective memory that holidays hold both for years gone by and the present, those events ares a powerful reminder that we are 'away'. Of course, being away is not the same thing in the hyper connected world of 2012, but the reality is that thanksgiving, christmas, 4th of July are not going to come close to transmitting via facebook, email and the phone. This is a known dynamic, and we are comfy with this choice. We have done it many times before, and are sure to do it again. But our choice does not make the perceived distance any less acute.

During this very fun holiday week in the states, we hope all of our loved ones are having a great time. The energy of this time of year is palpable. We are jealous of those getting to see loved ones, recalling many great gatherings of years gone by and sending lots of love back home.

I enjoy the act of reflection that is implict in thanksgivng, it is in the damn name actually, and have done a fair bit of thankful reflection over the last couple of truck days. It is very easy, painfully so in fact, to be thankful for the life that has led to me being on this grand adventure while driving past the mud huts, bare feet and poverty that dominates so many lives here in Tanzania. We clearly have much to be thankful for this year, and every year. I am particularly thankful that my lovely wife has recovered so well from her nasty ski accident in April. She is so inspiring in the way she handled that entire horrific day, from lying in a creek bed with her hip dislocated to hiking the John Muir Trail, all in 4 short months. Amazing.

Mu killing it on the JMT

I am also so thankful that Mu and i have had the courage to embark on this grand adventure. A year ago, we were working in our satisfying and challenging jobs, readying for ski season and maintaining our very busy and enjoyable social lives. All was right in that world. Now, we are on a modified truck touring Africa with nearly two dozen people we met 2 weeks ago and several months of travel under our belt already. It feels great, and empowering, that we made the leap, one we have been working toward and thinking about for years. I am thankful that we had the opportunity to make this choice and thankful we were raised in the plenty of America.

Paradoxically for me, the food side of Thanksgiving (kind of central) is always a bit muted. The dinner that is so beloved by many elicits a 'meh' nearly every year, no matter how succulent the turkey and decadent the pies. My preference would be to have a big pot of cioppino or fall off the bone ribs, to name just a few of the preferred substitutes.

Here in Africa, the food side of Thanksgiving came early and elicited pure delight. The genesis of this early thanksgiving started several days ago, when we wandered through a very large fish market in Dar Es Salam. This market had vendors peddling fish large and small, from tiny sardines heaped in a pile to dry in the sun to large red snapper and tuna. It all looked pretty good, and was a real spectacle to wander with boats messing about, hundreds of people, the color (and pungent) fish, the stinky fish juice and detremis. My favorite moment was watching the auctioning of 4 massive red snappers, which went for about 55 dollars. The fish were beguiling beautiful, with their tropical red hue and the passion of the buyers, seller, and auctioneer were running hot. I wanted to throw my name in the ring and do some bidding, even though I speak very little swahili and had no use for that much fish. Money was angrily flung in the direction of the auctioneer to signal the end of the bidding and one little man was quite happy to have secured his catch of the day.

Fish market in action, Dar Es Salam

We really enjoyed exploring the market and recounted this enjoyment to the tour leaders. The tour leaders went to the fish market yesterday while we were on the ferry coming back to Dar from Zanzibar. When we arrived back at the truck, already sitting on ice was a 25-30 pound full tuna. This was to be what mu and i now consdier our thanskgiving dinner. Now, for those of you wondering how large a 30 pound tuna might be, it went about 3 feet from head to tail, with a powerful mid section. The tuna's eyes were bigger than a human's eyes, the scales were light blue and the spine had little spiky fins that had some yellow flecked in. Yes, it had a powerful fish smell and its innards oozed a bit of blood by the time I hefted it out of the large cooler when we pulled into camp for the night.

Gutting the fish and dressing the fish fell to a team of three guys from Australia and New Zealand, for which I was thankful. These guys had some serious skill and knowledge, for which I felt emasculated in my ignorance. Some of the meat literally pulled off the bones and the steak sections were quite long, maybe 2 feet at their apex, ranging from a pale white to deep red. Once the meat was separated, the pile of meat covered one and half large cutting boards. We cut up some steaks for everyone, as well as set aside some extra fine bits for sashimi and improvised ceviche. The former we ate raw, or dipped in a soy/vinegar/garlic mix, and the latter sat for awhile in lemon juice before getting the same treatment. The steaks were pan fried, mine for about 15 seconds on just one side, and came out sublime. The sides were simple, and comforting, mashed potatoes and steamed veg with a delicious lemon ginger garlic butter sauce.

Fresh tuna - 3 ways. A feast that we will not soon forget. Mu and I channeled Thanksgiving and went back for 3rds, 4ths, even 5ths. It is that delicious, and the taste were heightened having been part of the process of turning this beautiful, powerful fish into a scrumptious feast. It might not have been turkey, but our feast was collective, bountiful (we are having fresh tuna fish salad for lunch today since the fish proved too large for a hungry group of 24) and hence these Korol's 2012Thanksgiving came just a few days early.

We wish everyone a great holiday, and hope you have much to be thankful for this time of year.