We woke up one day and discovered swarms of flying insects and all our colleagues running around the district office grounds chasing them . . .

What was happening?

Turns out that it is a once a year event – grasshoppers. They are considered a great delicacy here, lightly fried in their own oil and everyone tries to catch as many as possible. The sides of the road are covered in sheets with dried grasshoppers ready for purchase. The real gourmets buy them live in plastic bags and pluck the wings and legs before frying.

We just got some already fried specimens and for a Ugandan friend and shared hers. They are actually quite tasty as the oil they have is very sweet, but all we could think of was the fact that they were once grasshoppers! As one of the English volunteers said, like prawns . . . but not quite.

They also herald the end of the year and the end of the rainy season – although as I am writing this during a very heavy storm I am not sure about the latter. The wife also traditionally prepares them for her husband to say thank you for looking after her for the previous year and the husband should then buy his wife a new dress. Geoff passed on the grasshoppers and offered a new dress for not getting them!