Omajowa, Termite Hill Mushrooms in Namibia

Termite hill mushrooms (Species of Termitomyces), a variety of edible fungi found in Namibia, also called Omajowa a Herero word for our Namibian termite or anthill mushroom, they are quite unique to Namibia, are farmed by termites and despite best attempts, humankind has been unable to grow them.
While big-game hunting in Africa may or may not be your particular cup of tea (our personal leanings are in the direction of photography, but that's just us), there are few if any on the dark continent that are more knowledgeable about the fauna and flora. So, when we saw an article about mushrooms in Namibia recently, we were fascinated to read it, and thought you might be as well. Here's a link: http://www.africahunting.com/content/2-omajowa-termite-hill-mushrooms-namibia-607/
We visited the other side of the continent - Kenya and Tanzania - one December years ago, in celebration of our 25th anniversary, and while we saw some unbelievable termite mounds in Tarangire National Park in Tanzania, we found no mushrooms there. We did see plenty of other kinds, though. Unfortunately, we couldn't find out a lot about them; perhaps there's more literature now. Our guides told us that the natives only ate mushroom varieties that they'd seen monkeys eat, and no one ever got sick from them. While I'm not sure this would entirely satisfy us in our decisions concerning edibility, it seems to work for them. Check out the article and, if interested, the rest of the
AfricaHunting.com website; it's very well done and informative... and may just inspire you to add a trip to Africa to your "bucket list." We have never been to a more fascinating place, and are planning a return trip to explore other parts of Africa - Botswana, for one - in the not too distant future.
Steve 10/10/10