Trip to the Village: Nkwen

We spent a wonderful afternoon in Mbello's (my friend's driver) village, Nkwen. When we first arrived we drank some mimbo, also called palm wine. In the picture, you will see Mbello's father demonstrating how they get palm wine by using a bucket to catch the liquid that drips from the rafia palm tree. The palm wine is best when collected in the morning or evening. When it is fresh, it has a very sweet taste. However, if it is left to ferment, then the alcoholic taste is more noticeable-"Then it's a man's drink!"

His family prepared a wonderful meal typical of the northwest province that included njamajama and corn fufu and achu with yellow soup (ok, I know I butchered the spelling of these foods). These foods are eaten with the thumb and the first two fingers.

After eating, we took a walk through their enormous garden. I learned how to pick out various trees and plants including the cassava tree, coco yams, and mango trees. In the picture, we have Mbello's sister uprooting a coco yam, which is one of the staple foods of Cameroon and is used in many dishes. Also,the white object is the cassava root also used to make many foods.