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Nsenene (Grasshoppers) – A Local Delicacy in Uganda

In our coverage of Bizzare Foods that people enjoy around the world, today lets look Nsenene, the long horned grasshoppers. Known as Nsenene in the local Kiganda Language, one of the local dialects the most spoken in Uganda, these grasshoppers are a great delicacy enjoyed mostly within the central and south western region of Uganda. The Nsenene has been a delicacy for centuries and among the Baganda Tribe, it is one of the 52 clans.

These grasshoppers are common in the wet seasons – April to May and November to December. This is the time when they are known to swarm. Within these months, you will find people employed to catch and collect these flying insects. During these months, the buzz around Kampala about their capture, sale, distribution, preparation and culinary enjoyment.

Nsenene are flying insects and do like lights. The local people trap these insects using large metal pans and lighting systems and then collected for sale in local markets. Today it is a business for many people in the central region to trap these insects and sell them.

Most of the sales are within Kampala, the capital city of Uganda and Masaka Town. Grasshoppers are also imported from areas as far as Burundi by the Ugandan traders and a great source of income.

How they are Prepared

Raw Grasshoppers Ready for Boiling or Frying

Nsenene can be prepared in various ways. Most preparations involve boiling or frying these insects. To give a great taste grasshoppers can be fried with onions and salt while others enjoying adding raw onions or garlic cut into small pieces to the already boiled or fried nsenene. Before they are boiled or fried, the legs and wings are plucked off.

For long the local Baganda used to eat these insects and the neighboring tribes could laugh at them! However these days, with the mix-up of tribes in Uganda, you will find that almost all locals including the non Baganda enjoy these grasshoppers. Even the Bazungu Tourists who are free-minded have tasted these grasshoppers. I was surprised to learn from a Mzungu who enjoyed these insects and said there were “crunchy and delicious”.

5 Finest Self Drive Routes in Uganda

It is really very interesting to explore this pearl of Africa on your own pace and itinerary. Each region hast its own tourism attraction, and to meet these attractions in each region, needs a drive of from 3-10 hours since most tourist attractions are located in remote areas which needs you to explore with a comfortable and good vehicle. Driving on the open roads, dust roods and game park trails when on a self-drive vehicle is a great experience, and this will be much better especially when you know which route to use. When you go for a self-drive tour it requires you to have knowledge of the route to take, the distances to cover in order to plan for the fuel, you need also to know the duration and advise on the possible routes plus the accommodation to stay during the road trip. Most of Uganda roads are tarmacked with sign post and clear demarcations. The following below are the most used routes by travelers

1: Kampala- Entebbe highway (45 km)

This route is considered as the most commonly used route in Uganda as it connects Uganda to the rest of the world, it links the capital to the main airport (Entebbe international airport), and hence all visitors coming to Uganda or departing the country have to use this route. It’s about 42 km (1 hour and 10 minutes) from Kampala to the airport without traffic jam. The route has very many attractions as it takes you to the Uganda Wildlife Education Center (UWEC), botanical gardens, resort Hotels, over 20 beaches on the Lake Victoria and many other interesting places around.

2: Masaka -Masaka -Mbarara- roads

The Masaka road is known as one of the busiest roads in Uganda which stretches about 130km from Kampala Uganda’s capita and its largest city then connects to Mbarara highway about 148km in distance. From Kampala to Mbarara it’s about 278km which is about 2-3 hour’s drive depending on traffic jam in the city, from Masaka to Mbarara takes about 1hour and 40 minutes. These two routes connects to a number of popular tourist attraction in Uganda including the equator crossing, so here you can’t miss to have a stopover for snacks and photography, Lake Mburo national park which is the nearest park in Uganda you branch before Mbarara town, kibale forest the home to over 13 species of primates coupled with chimpanzee the closest relative of man sharing almost 98% of human DNA Make up, On this route you can connect to Ssese islands

3: Kampala- Jinja highway about (80 km- 2hours)

The trip starts from Kampala Uganda’s capital and it’s largest city to Jinja one of the good place for adventure safaris in Uganda, its located in eastern side of Uganda about 80km’s drive from the capital and the car takes about 2-3 hour’s drive depending on the traffic jam on the way. You will pass via Mabira forest Uganda’s biggest forest, primate watch and birding on the way is thrilling, pass through Lugazi sugar plantation plus amazing landscape scenery and local people .Many tourist love to visit jinja because it houses the source of the Nile and also a variety of many interesting adventure activities like white water rafting and Bungee jumping, other activities in Jinja include quad biking, cycling, boat rides many others. Be the first to visit this place with a self-drive car.

4: Kampala – Masindi road (285 km)

This is a can’t to mention route in Uganda as it connects the main Gulu highway and it’s the shorter route when going to Murchison falls national park which is Uganda’s largest park bio-diversified with a lot of attractions including forest giants like lions, leopard, elephant, buffaloes just to mention but a few., primate species are superb such as chimpanzee can be seen in budongo forest other primate species like the black and white colobus monkey, civet monkey among others are among the primate species inhabit the forest, bird watching activities are breathtaking, what about the beautiful Albert Nile where launch cruise are enjoyed from. Reaching Murchison falls national park takes about 4 hours and 20 minutes(285km) travelling by road.

5: Mbarara –Kabale road (472 km)

This rout links you to the most interesting and visited Uganda national park that’s Bwindi impenetrable national park which is one of the longest journey takes about 7 hours to reach the park passing via Masaka, Mbarara and Kabale. The journey takes you through plentiful trading centers, small towns, parks, local villages, landscapes among other attractions, Bwindi impenetrable national park house endangered mountain gorillas which have attracted a number of travelers to this park, tracking mountain gorillas is one of the most exciting adventurous activities on earth as these giants are only seen in three countries in the world that’s Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic republic of Congo. When at bwindi national park you can easily connect to Queen Elizabeth national park which takes about 3-4 hours passing through the famous part of the park known as the Ishasha sector of the park

Margaret Stands Down

If The Iron Lady were simply a chronicle of the career of an influential world leader, then the resulting reaction from viewers—“boring”, “inspirational”, “infuriating”, etc.—would not vary wildly, depending on their political leanings and tolerances. Thankfully, this is much more than a dry docudrama. At its core, the movie is an observant and touching exploration of a rich, full life, and its sad decline.

The film begins with a Margaret Thatcher most people haven’t seen: a plump, frail, elderly woman slowly losing her hold on reality. She is seen wandering the halls of her residence, sometimes encountering and bantering with her husband of 50 years, David, whom we soon realize died some time before. Clinging to the illusion of her husband reflects both genuine loss and a fading mental state. Director Phyllida Lloyd chooses to linger with the contemporary, post-political Margaret Thatcher for longer than most movie studios would prefer or allow. But it’s a vital choice, as it solidifies the audience’s relationship with Thatcher as a person—a wife, a mother—and not only as a politician.

Once grounded in the present, the film flashes back and forth, touching on the various points in Thatcher’s public and private life: her admiration for her father, a middle-class grocer, and his conservative beliefs; her introduction to the world of British politics (and its ingrained sexism); her rise to power within Britain’s Conservative Party; and her troubled tenure as Britain’s longest serving Prime Minister.

What emerges is a picture of an ambitious woman with seemingly endless courage in her convictions. She phrases her beliefs as mission statements and calls to action: many of her lines begin with the words “One must…” Telling off an American diplomat who is trying to lecture her on foreign policy in wartime, she declares, “I have fought every day of my life.” Indeed, at the height of her power, armored in blocky dresses in bold primary colors, with her hair sprayed solid and immoveable, she has the bearing of a battle cruiser ready to cut through the waves of dissent and disbelief.

After 40 years in film, the fact that Meryl Streep keeps winning awards would be downright annoying if she didn’t also keep earning them. Once again, she does what she does best, disappears into the character completely. Equally amazing (and award-winning) work by the make-up artists aids her transformation. Sure, the actress doesn’t look much like Margaret Thatcher, but the make-up team has made Streep look exactly like an 80-year old woman… who doesn’t look much like Margaret Thatcher.

Lloyd, a prolific theater director whose only big screen work is the musical confection Mamma Mia!, makes this a personal story with an impressionistic tone. The film stays grounded in Thatcher’s circle, with her husband at the center surrounded by rings of ministers and advisors with shifting loyalties. But it doesn’t shy away from the controversy, turmoil and violence of the era she dominated.

Again, it’s refreshing that Thatcher’s old age is not the edge but the rather the core of the story. The sight of the stalwart Cold Warrior queuing for a pint of milk at the store or struggling to free a DVD from its case humanizes a figure that might otherwise be fixed in our minds as a caricature cast in foam rubber or stenciled in spray paint on a brick wall. In the end, The Iron Lady conveys both the power of the politician and the quiet tragedy of a strong woman losing steam and losing track.