THE BOMA
In Victoria Falls, we enjoyed an evening at The Boma, a Dinner and Dance Show. It is a restaurant where we experienced the local foods of Zimbabwe and took part in an interactive dancing and drumming performance.
When we first arrived, we were all given a colorful sarong to wear over our shoulders. Two dots were painted on the cheeks of every woman to symbolize the beauty of African women, and two lines were painted on the cheeks of the men in honor of the African warriors.
Then we were escorted into the restaurant, which had many tables in a covered outside area. It had a thatched roof with open walls and a giant fire pit in the middle with a lamb cooking on a spit above it.
The buffet dinner included traditional African foods of meat, vegetables, and rice, as well as a salad bar and dessert bar. I tried a crocodile and a mopane worm. The crocodile tasted like dry chicken, and the mopane worm was disgusting. It had a stiff, rubbery consistency, which was similar to a piece of hard, already chewed gum. Also, it was overpoweringly salty. I’m glad I tried it, but I’m never having it again.
After eating our dinner, a man came to our table and painted different African animals on our faces. This was him signifying that the party was about to begin! Soon after, dancers came to the center of the room and started to perform. The whole restaurant fell quiet as the dancers performed, until the room exploded with applause. The dancers were very energetic and the dance was complex and required a lot of skill. Guests were invited up to dance with them. At one point, Harper and Katherine took up the offer and danced in front of the whole restaurant! We were all given drums at our table and started to play our own beat, which eventually merged into one giant song.
The whole night was really fun. I got to be an adventurous eater and then dance and drum around the restaurant!