Namibians are obsessed with traveling with food. It really doesn’t matter how long the journey is. Food should always be involved, it has become a tradition. This is one tradition, that I practice without fail. In Namibia, we call taking food/snacks on the road Padkos. The direct translation would be road food or food on the road. Padkos is prepared before a journey to take along, it’s a snack for the road.
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What is included in Padkos?
The very first thing you need to pack is biltong. Biltong is a country favored, it’s dried-up meat that’s welled spiced. There is no way you can say you have packed biltong without including biltong. It’s the very first thing you should have on your list.
The next thing is meat, as they say, meat is meat and man must eat it. You have options like beef or pork sausages or if you are a chicken lover, you can pack drumsticks or some fish e.g. hake. Please avoid packing any eggs.
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After the meat is sorted the best side to pack is some fries, it just makes the meal complete, you can add some bread if you would like. Remember these are just snacks for the road.
Don’t forget to pack some fruits like apples, oranges, grapes or naartjies. It’s great to have some healthy snacks too.
Unlike me, if you got a sweet tooth you can pack some sweets and chocolate. You can also opt for some chips or peanuts.
For drinks, oshikandela is a must, this is a local yogurt drink. You should also pack some water with juice or soda.
This is not a do-or-die list, it’s just a framework for if you would like to experience the Namibian Padkos. You are free to spice it up with a few of your favorite snacks as well.