Palm Wine Hut

As part of our welcoming into the compound we were brought to the palm wine "hut". It is where the MEN congregate to drink the local liquor, so it was a big deal that we girls got to go in. It is made from tapping a palm tree in the morning and the sap ferments by afternoon. The one time I tried it last year it was sweeter than this one. I cannot equate it to anything I have ever had before... it was fizzy, but did not have the kick of hard liquor. It was one of those moments where we just had to take the plunge. They gave us a communal glass, which was still wet (we have to dry everything so we don't get sick), I am sure not washed with any sort of soap, and drank with all the toasts they gave us. At times things can be very formal here, many speeches and acknowledgements. They rose their glass to Tom- a son to them all- many times, saying he was a true son of Africa because he came back. It was actually quite touching and nice for him. Meredith, Jennifer, and I took a sip and the poured the remainder in Hadison's glass. Pete got out of it because he was on medicine--you can get very ill if you drink liquor while trying to rid yourself of parasites! Most of the men were three sheets to the wind so it started to get loud with laughter as everyone vied for a chance to get their picture taken. We were very popular, many pictures were taken, but not too many turned out as they were so blurry.

Our walk back to the hotel was beautiful and moonlit, we all crashed early to gt ready for the big hike up to the twin lakes.