Fish Tales

October 25, 2017

Fish Tales

Truth be told, I am not really a fish person.

I like to eat fish, but I don't really want to look at them.

I like to pretend that the food on my plate just appears.

But, living life in foreign places has broadened my horizons and encouraged me to try new things - and I am grateful for my growth. Some days, I cling to the norm. Other days, I throw caution to the wind, and surprisingly now, I will try most anything. Overall, I have come a long, long way baby!

Enter ... The Fish Market.

This was not just any fish market, but a market in the middle of remote Africa with the sanitary conditions - or lack thereof - to go along with it. Over the last few years, I have been in several similar fish markets and have learned to quietly observe and not be as squeamish as I used to be.

But this market might have challenged my squeamish (deep down inside) nature just a little bit.

Really - truly, I have learned to walk around and view my potential food choices from a foot or so away with no problem - and no outside evidence that I was even a little bit uncomfortable.

But the fresh fish flopping, the crawfish escaping, the women slapping the fish around...might have...potentially...caused a bruise on my husband's arm from me squeezing a bit too tight.

They were also cleaning the fish using a machete and I watched fins and scales and heads jump into the air - right as I was walking by.

I was really fine until THAT point!

The sights, the sounds, the smells and the chaotic activity was incredible - especially adding in the mud and the rain around us. With all the frenzy converging, I felt a mix of thankfulness (that I don't have to do this every day) and excitement (loving every minute, even though a few minutes were freaking me out!) Thankfully one of our friends is Cameroonian, so we were able to observe while she chose and negotiated for our lunch.

A huge perk at the local market, is that the guys will clean the fish for us. My initial (naive) thought was that we would have filets. Ha!

Somehow this was not what I thought they meant when they mentioned cleaning. The man in the yellow pants was busy scrubbing our fish in the dirty water. The same man....relieved himself right before the fish cleaning. Yup, right in the same area of water.

After 'negotiating' with some locals to allow our car back down the street, we took our catch to another location. We met Marco Polo (yes, seriously), at a beachside location, who took our bucket of fish and promised to cook it while we explored the area.

Our 'eatery' was right next to Lobe Falls

and the beautiful chutes were filled to capacity.

What a view!

And there were vendors selling art and African treasures

right on the beach (surprise! :)

When our food was ready, they brought water and dish soap for us to wash up.

First course was fried plantains and pommes frites (french fries).

Course two was seasoned crawfish.

The next platter contained a mix of gambas (prawns) and lobsters. Due to the size, it was hard to tell them apart. They were AMAZING!

We also enjoyed grilled calamari (squid) with onions and olive oil - YUM!

And the creme de la creme...Whole fish (eyes and all). On the right is a BAR fish, which is a typical sea bass found locally. On the left is Capitan. It is rare for locals to use utensils, so we just dug right in with our hands and enjoyed one of the best meals ever. I would have never chosen this, but I am so glad that we did it. The food was truly some of the best ever. There is something good about eating fresh food, on the beach with good friends -

even when fish eyes are looking back at you!