It's been a BIG month for us here at Vie Safari. We finally launched our new website! With the help of local Asheville, NC, artist, KatieDaisy, we now have a funky and creative space where safari goer's can explore our different trips, read our blog, and prepare for safari. 

You can see (and purchase!) Katie's artwork on her Etsy page or read her blog.  

Below are some of our favorite pieces! 

Thanks KatieDaisy! 

This week’s blog will deviate a bit from the far less serious blogs of the previous weeks. This blog is about Kenyan cuisine! 

Some of our favorites recipes from Kenya include: 

Githeri- Kenyan corn and beans 

Irio- Kenyan mashed peas, potatoes and corn 

Kuku Paka- Kenyan chicken in coconut curry sauce 

Kunde- Kenyan black-eyed peas and tomatoes 

Mchuzi wa Samaki-East African fish in coconut curry 

Mukimo-Kenyan mashed beans, corn, potatoes and greens

Pilao-Indian aromatic rice pilau

Samaki wa Kukaanga-Kenyan spicy fried fish filets 

Samosas-Indian deep-fried potato pastries 

In Kenya, for most holidays and celebrations, roasted goat is common and this is normally served with Ugali(prepared from maize meal)   

Some common vegetables include kale, spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, beans, potatoes, and avocadoes. Popular fruits are mangoes, oranges, pineapples, bananas, and pears, because they are cheap and plentiful. Rice, corn meal, and wheat millet flour are popular ingredients that are included in almost every meal.

whats4eats.com has a great online cookbook full of Kenyan recipes.

That being said, nothing could beat actually eating Kenyan food prepared traditionally by Kenyans, on, say, a Kenya safari!

Book your safari today! 

-Vie Safari 

Nestled in Nairobi National Park is The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a center that offers orphaned much-needed loving care. With poachers killing elephants for their ivory, many calves are left orphaned and can typically survive only a few days without their mother’s care.

Tribes represent a huge part of Kenyan history and culture. Every Tuesday, Vie Safari will highlight one of the 11 main tribes in Kenya. This week, it’s the Akamba tribe, who make up 11% of the population.

The region east of Nairobi, towards Tsavo National Park, is the traditional homeland of the Bantu-speaking Akamba. Great traders in ivory, beer, honey, iron weapons and ornaments, they traditionally plied their trade between Lake Victoria all the way to the coast and north to Lake Turkana. In particular, they traded with the Maasai and Kikuyu for food stocks.

(photo from www.realmagick.com)

Highly regarded by the British for their intelligence and fighting ability, they were drafted in large numbers into the British Army (many Akamba lost their lives during WWI fighting). After WWI the British tried to limit their cattle stocks and settled more Europeans in their tribal territories. In response, the Akamba marched en masse to Nairobi to squat peacefully at Kariokor Market in protest, forcing the administration to relent.

Nowadays, they are famous for their elegant makonde-style (ebony) carvings.

(Photo from www.magicafrica.com)

Akamba society is clan-based with all adolescents going through initiation rites at about the age of 12. Subgroups of the Akamba include the Kitui, Masaku and Mumoni.

Stay tuned for next weeks ‘Tribe Tuesday!’