Hello again racers! Christina and Stephanie are back with a Health blog from Africa. (: During our stay we were located in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.
As we have stated before, this blog is intended for those who are relatively healthy and would like some advice on staying healthy throughout the race. An important note is that we have spent the past 6 months in Asia and now 3 months in Africa. We will write a final blog about Eastern Europe in two months.
I would like to explain what "food hoarding" has meant while being on the race. I personally would like to call it the "smart" thing to do, however I get made fun of constantly for it. When Christina and I find good granola bars or granola or things we know we won't find again, we stock up! What is so wrong with that, we like to be prepared! For example, we found AMAZING granola bars in Malaysia and bought 5 boxes…they lasted us awhile and we had a great snack…no regrets! Now I have bought oatmeal and cous cous while in Kenya because we are headed to Eastern Europe where the prices will be WAY higher and we already know we have to cook for ourselves while staying there…once again smart planning is never a bad thing! Yes….my bag is heavy….NO….I have never regretted planning ahead!!
Veggie pizza from Snakofa in Lira, Uganda 🙂
I would like to stress the importance of multivitamins, iron pills, and Super Green Powder (it is a vegetable supplement powder). You will typically not get the appropriate amount of nutrition on African countries so make sure you have something to make up for that!!
EXAMPLES OF GOOD RESTAURANTS:
In Lira, Uganda: SanKofa Café
In Kampala, Uganda: Oasis Mall
In Nairobi, Kenya: Java House (bran muffins, avocado wrap, veggie burger) , Health Food Store (tons of things!), grocery store (cous cous, hummus, veggies, soy milk, whole wheat bread, nuts, etc) and Smoothie shop (all at YaYa Mall). ArtCaffe (Hummus, Salads, Lattes, etc) (at Junction Mall)
Java House comes through again with Tilapia and Veggie Fajitas!
This was delicious hummus with onions and mushrooms from Art café in Nairobi.
Well if I am being honest…Africa was a tough place to be. Every month we had beans, greasy cabbage, potatoes, rice, chapatti, and white bread. We ended up buying our own oatmeal for breakfast and having snacks often (fruit, veggies, granola, etc). We ended up helping our contacts cook all three months. There were times when supplies were limited, but other times we had many things! We taught them how to make boiled potatoes (with the skin on them), spaghetti sauce, guacamole, oatmeal, and hummus). Hang in there..you will survive 😉 We did!!
My team leader has spoken to our contact at the beginning of the month on our behalf about being vegetarian, and the contacts usually provide something else to eat. Offer to give your contact a night off a week and cook for your team. It is nice for them to have a break, and nice for you to prepare a meal.
Next, is working out on the race: Working out has stayed the same since Asia. We were able to run, do Insanity/P90X, and Yoga.
The availability of showering (after working out): We still have had the same opportunities to take showers. The water was a bit more limited and we always took bucket showers, but regardless they were showers!
Healthy Snacks (Africa):
- Uganda (Roasted Peanuts, Peanut Butter, Frozen Yogurt, Chick Peas, Avocados. My mom sent us a magic bullet so we were able to make smoothies and hummus!)
- Kenya (Macadamia nuts, bran muffins, smoothies, pineapples, mangos, avocados)
- Tanzania (Cashews, Avocados, Granola, Peanut Butter)
Making popcorn with our Mamma in Kenya 🙂
- *Watch your portion control and carb intake (they will sneak up on you!)
- It is SUPER important to stay hydrated in Africa…so drink up!
- *It was super important that we were taking our multivitamins and drinking our veggie powder in Africa because we were not getting much nutrition.
- *When we found a grocery store we would stock up on oatmeal, PB, nuts, dried fruits, whole wheat bread, granola, in case these things were not available throughout the month (yes we have been called food hoarders many times and we admit it…WE ARE!!)
- *Dark chocolate has gotten us through many sweet craved evenings.
- *Popcorn is always a great snack and is available in many countries (hopefully someone on your team knows how to make it over coals!)
- *Good snacks in Africa: nuts, peanut butter, bananas, mangos, avocados, apples, granola, dark chocolate,
- *We still eat our yummy Oatmeal for every breakfast!
- *We started a new snack called “Apple Pie” or “Granola Goodness” which consists of granola, apple, peanut butter, honey, and nuts….let it sit for a while and ENJOY 😀
This is the veggie platter from Sankofa in Lira, Uganda.
A delicious vanilla latte from Art Café in Nairobi.
Our friend Beka, cooking in Jinja, Uganda
My guilty pleasure…soy lattes and baked goods <3 from Artcaffe in Nairobi, Kenya
