Food in East Africa is a mixed blessing. You love some of it, and you hate most of it.

Since most of the vegetables and fruits are grown logically on small family farms, they tend to taste really good. Pineapples, bananas, tomatoes, avocados and mangos, if ripe, are fabulous beyond anything you would eat in the United States – or in much of Western Europe. Besides these luscious fruits, which you tend to have for breakfast or a snack, the rest of food in East Africa is fairly bland and basic, with the exception of food found in Zanzibar and Lamu.

If you’re eating at a local place, it will usually consists of chicken and chips, fried fish and chips, or rice and beans. Most of the lower end tourists place generally have this combinations of dishes, mixed with a vegetable. You can always find the traditional dishes of ugali, a staple food made from maize and mixed with a sauce, or banana stew, which is usually boiled bananas mixed with some kind of meat. To be quite honest, when you’re really hungry, both of these dishes are quite nice. Unfortunately, these tend to be the main dishes and therefore you might eat any combination of this for weeks.

Of course, there are occasional places that serve better food, but in general, the options are very limited. Hotels in Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and, of course, the safari lodges, tend to have better food (sometimes) at a much more expensive price. And, in these areas, since there are big expat crowds, you can find good Indian and Chinese food. But if you’re an independent traveler, on a budget, don’t expect to immerse yourself in a variety of foods. Just eat food, or drink beer, to get over the hunger factor – and plan to treat yourself in the bigger towns.

To be quite honest, after a while, beans and rice, with a chiapti, start to taste really good, and they fill you up for a very affordable price