South Africa

[ukbill]

Right I'm Off to South Africa in October for 10 days..

This could be a challenge because in South Africa they seem to like to marinade ALL their food in lots of molasses type sauces.

I am having to take all my usual breakfast foods with me because they do not sell sugar free cereals much and I know Shredded Wheat is not available there.

I will be taking 10 days worth of Shredded Wheat, rolled oats and Psyllium Husk. I know I can get milk there so I should be OK with that.

Not been to a 3rd World country before so it will be interesting to say the least!

Luckily they all speak English (sort of) there so I should be able to make my self understood.. if only to say "here's my wallet take it, its all I've got!"

It is one country going to Hell via the fast train.

So If you want to visit one of the most beautiful counties in the world I recommend you do so in the next 5 years before it becomes totally unsafe and full of racial wars, political wars, inter-tribal etc..

Good news for Americans wishing to visit SA is you are allowed to carry firearms.. the only problem is the perbs all do as well, so you are more likely to get shot if you do, (as always).

[denverjay]

bill, I traveled to Joburg and Capetown last year for an 11 day trip.

You are correct on the sweet marinades especially on the beef. I did okay there after I started just eating seafood and white rice. The restaurants let you pick out your specific seafood and how you want it prepared. The standard is just grilled with light butter. There are a lot of Indians in SA, so I also had some safe curry dishes to eat.

The food and pretty much everything else there is very inexpensive, so if you dont like something order something else. A good meal can be had at a nice place for about five euro or fifty rand.

I found Capetown much safer than either Joburg or Pretoria. Shoot me a message if you want any suggestions or tips of things to do there.

[ukbill]

Denver, Thanks for the "Shoot me a message" I like that, funnily enough I am a good shot with an Air gun, .22 rifle and 12 bore shot gun and best of all with a paint ball gun I only hope I do not need to use those skills in anger so to speak.

I am visiting friends who know about my having HFI but have no real understanding about it, as to be expected.

So I am likely to be doing most of the cooking while I am there.. which I enjoy (luckily) particularly with all the new foods and ingredients to try out

Really looking forward to it as an experience.

Will report on how the trip go's.
I do know how to make some pretty good marinades for Bri's (BBQ to you and me) which are not only HFI safe but "normals" like them too so maybe I will get some experiance cooign South African style.

[ukbill]

OK off flying Emirates airlines tomorrow.
Not ordered any special meal nor told them about me being HFI will take it on the chin whatever I get. if I'm hungry well its only 18 hours and I get a 3 hour stop over in Dubai which will be interesting will keep a video diary and post it up on facebook later. (when I get back data charges form South Africa are mad!)
Will pack a few snacks with me just in case

Wish me luck!

[charlie]

If you can find them take packets of rice noodles as they are dry then you only need to add boiling water and soak for 5 mins.
A good make is mama and I found them in waitrose.
Hope you have a great trip.....

[ukbill]

The only stuff other than breakfast food is a few snacks to eat in emergency on the plane two packs of pork Scratching's, for our American cousins who have not found this delicacy its deep fried pork rinds with salt and yeast extract flavouring... nectar of the gods to an HFI! .

I am taking a full box of 36 Shredded wheat and a very small tub of rolled porridge oats along with my daily None Digestible Fiber, Colofac and 1000mg slow release vitamin C with Zinc.

Apparently they do not have Shredded wheat in South Africa.. it being a Maize (sweet corn) type staple food place not a wheat and bread area like Northern Europe.

For the rest I am relying on my finely tuned taste buds and knowledge of safe foods to guide me and protect me (as always).

Feeling confident enough to go in the deep end now ;)at least most of them speak English (sort of) so I can explain I do not want anything with added sugar or marinades / dressings etc.

We shall see, also I have someone with me who should be able to explain to people should I get into trouble and I have my ICE (In Case of Emergency) dog tags and USB ICE stick around my neck.

It is one of the most unsafe places in the world to drive on the roads, after all with over 18,000 deaths alone each year as a result of driving accidents!

And a few as a result of drivers running over car jacker's which is quite common apparently, every South African I have spoken to has survived at least one car jacking in recent years. your only defense (if unarmed) is to try to run them over if you can. Certainly outside of the main drag and at night you NEVER stop for red traffic lights..or so I'm told anyway. We shall see

This could be quite a memorable trip

[charlie]

With such a positive and cheerful opinion of the country one wonders why he is going ?..........


Bill just don't start arguing with anyone about sugar..........

[ukbill]

NO I will try not to, they have a rather terminal way of sorting out arguments there..

Although....

South Africa is a wonderful place and really has great scenery and places, it is certainly one of the jewels of the world, however it is let down by the normal African malaise I.E Idiot Governments and corruption. I know they are not alone in this but in Africa they add ruthless inter-tribal butchery into the mix.

The South African Government is currently turning a 1st world country into a poor version of Zimbabwe. After Mangela dies you just see how quick their president turns himself into a far worse version of Mugabe.

Such a great pity. So far I only know what many South African people have told me, and what I have heard on BBC World service I am yet to experience it for myself.

Will let you know my observations when I get back.

[ukbill]

OK back safe and sound!

No problems except with the Airline food between Dubai and Johannesburg airport (8 hour flight) where all the breakfast food was really sweet the bread and everything else was unsafe, (the bread on the outward leg from the UK was safe all the other bread, cheese snacks, crackers etc were unsafe).

The food on the way back was not good either but I managed. I stocked up on Calories just before starting the flight back by trying a KFC in Johannesburg airport. It tastes better than the UK version for certain the chicken actually tasted of Chicken!

So I can Confirm everywhere I have tried KFC the standard chicken and hot wings are safe as are the chips (fries) Although the portion size of Chips (fries) at The airport was TINY! about 20 in total! not good.

Nados chicken by the way is about 2x hotter than the version served in Australia and approximately 10x hotter than the UK version. Be warned! The mild version was nearly as hot as the HOT version in the UK.

I ate out at restaurants 5 or 6 times and can report I did not have any problems finding safe foods on the menus. I asked once or twice what was in some of the dressings and asked for them to be missed off but that is normal everywhere!

I had a Pizza in Mandela Square and just asked them to make it with a plain base (no tomato sauce) and it came of course with red and green peppers all over it. so I hooked them off and ate the rest, it was great!

So was all the beer I tried!

I went through every beer they sell nationally (not micro brewery stuff) and all were safe for me to drink a few bottles or a couple of pints. ( I rarely drink more than that amount anyway)

So for anyone with HFI I can recommend South Africa for wonderful scenery, great food, palatable beer and really fantastic beaches.

However all my suspicions and stories I have been told about how unsafe it is are all true!

All houses are in compounds protected with 2 meter walls topped off with at least 1 meter (3') electrified fences (lethal voltages!) and frequently razor wire! Automatic steel ram proof gates and armed 24 hour 3 min support if not supplied on site (for larger compounds).

So everyone effectively lives in a fancy open prison where you can go out during the day so long as you behave yourself, and risk serious problems if you make a night excursion.

The roads are rammed during the day and totally empty at night when you do not stop at any red light if there is anyone near the junction (or another car close to you).

If you break down on the road you stay in your car and an armed protection car will arrive in a few min (long before the breakdown truck), they will stay with you until you are safe on your way again or your car is taken off and you are transported to safety. The Armed support / protection is included in your motor breakdown cover!

Every main road junction or traffic intersection has groups of 5 to 20 beggars trying to sell you stolen goods, flowers, wash your windscreen etc.. you have to keep and eye out for the ones who look "switched on" as opposed to the comparatively safe ones who have dead eyes.

If you open your window to give them something you stand a high risk of getting car jacked or your money stolen if they can reach in to grab it.

Other than that yes a wonderful country highly recommended and I am more than willing to go back there!

Yes I know I'm more than a bit odd

[shereebailey83]

Sounds like you had a great holiday Bill - all sounds abit scary though! Glad you didn't have any food problems other then the plane but that seems to be the same everywhere you go!

I just got back from fiji and mostly everything was fine except they put a heap of vegetables in boiled rice !! it was just meant to be boiled rice!! otherwise their was seafood everywhere over there so i was in heaven

Thanks for sharing your experience

[ukbill]

Now there is a place I would love to visit!

Fiji! I'm very jealous!

In Thailand where I got stuck for 24 hours on a trip back to the UK they put sugar in the white rice as they boil it!

Nasty place everything is sweet and nasty tasting.

Very dangerous place if you do not have any natural aversion to sweet tastes!

Glad you had a good time in Fiji.

We need a side blog space or similar where we can post pictures of the food we have found while eating out that is safe.