First of all, camping in the Serengeti National Park was the most amazing experience I've ever had! It is so worth doing if you ever get the chance. Take the time and go WAY out where you find nobody around you. It took us three days to get out there and it was worth every kilometer we passed in the truck. And definitely camp! Its the best way to be out in the bush. There were no lodges where we were, but there are some in the park. If you go, you really want the experience of hyenas and antelope and other animals nosing at your tent at night.

But I couldn't help but think that everywhere we went in Africa, there's no processed food anywhere. Some things are fried in natural oils, but that's as close as one gets to "processed." Everything is else is whole foods and by default, organic (no $$ for pesticides of fertilizers!) I ate like a warthog and lost some weight. And the craziest thing was, the only time I had any intestinal problems was after my first meal back in America when the family took us out to welcome us back.

Wow, our greasy, nasty processed foods here in America are really really disgusting I found when you go three weeks without them. UGH.

That's really good insight. It is so true, too. It wasn't always like this, but now in the age of "convenience" and getting things done in a hurry, we've gone way away from the good quality food of our grandparents.

I'm so glad you had a wonderful trip. Are you going to change your eating habits now to go more organic? I love experiencing food from other places.

Good observations I agree. We don't even realize how processed our food is because we are sooo ingrained. No pun intended.
Although I had to chuckle - at myself. I'm not outdoorsy. I'm more...indoorsy. It made me think of a magnet on my refrigerator that says "I love not camping."

That's really interesting. I thought I would have that experience in South Africa, and the month I spent traveling in hostels I definitely had that part of the experience. But the month I spent living in a game park, we ate processed canned food and went out for KFC every chance we could. I had been a vegetarian for two years before that and I had to give it up at that point just so i could eat. I'm glad you had the opposite experience - maybe it's the difference between being a guest somewhere (like the experience you had camping and I had in the hostels) and working somewhere...

When I went to China, I ate a lot although we did eat some packaged stuff. It was hot when we were there so we had chinese ice cream which was not very sweet comparatively to US ice creams. Also I tried a coke there and the sweetness was very subdued. I also never drink but they tend to drink a bit so we drank some beer and rice alcohol. I ate tons of calories, lots of good food but tons of calories and after being there for 2 weeks, I came home, weighed myself and I had lost 6 lbs in the 2 weeks.

I would love to go on a trip like that!!! My friend went to Ethiopia about a year ago and she says the same. All the food was non-processed, organic, goodness. She loved it. When she got back home she got sick.

I was actually wondering about you.. I couldn't remember how long ago you'd left for your trip. I leave for my Philippines-Singapore-Thailand trip TONIGHT!

I had a similar experience in China.. I ate almost no processed food but I did eat a lot of fatty, greasy food. I thought--how can they eat so much fat and be so thin? I seriously think it's the lack of processed food + being less car dependent. I was there a month and only lost 5 lbs.. many people I know have lost 10-30 lbs spending a month in China.

Anyways, feel free to tell more stories about your trip! And pictures if you want to post them!