Before my daughter L (then 18) left for her long world travel, we had the opportunity to celebrate Costa Rica and (partly) Croatia before her departure. Virtual Nomad then took a long break due to different life events. It was also a good time to wait for L to return from her real travels, so that we could return to the virtual ones. The Virtual Nomad stop for Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) happened months after Croatia… but that is a minor detail. 

Côte d’Ivoire is the largest producer of cocoa in the world, producing around 40-50% of the global cocoa supply. Cocoa is used for making yummy chocolate, but there is a very dark side to its production – modern slavery which often involves child labour and severe deforestation. That should give us reason to consume ethically produced chocolate (such as Tony’s chocolonely – 100% slave-free cocoa).

Côte d’Ivoire is a nation of the young, as 75% of the population is under 35 years old. Côte d’Ivoire has two capital cities, Yamoussoukro, the political capital, and Abidjan, which serves as the economic capital (and is also the largest city). Its flag has the same colours as Ireland, but in a different order, orange symbolising national growth; white purity and unity and green hope for the future. 

But first, as always, food.

The closest cuisine we could find

Once upon a time there was a well reviewed restaurant in Sydney that served food from Côte d’Ivoire, but it has now permanently closed. I then did some research to find the closest possible option and every search led to the same result, a Fusion West Africa/Ghanaian restaurant The Ghardens in Blacktown, Western Sydney. It is a wonderful, friendly restaurant with superb cuisine at the very heart of Blacktown. While it meant quite a trip for the group, it was worth the travel time as a wonderful find that we otherwise would never have found– if not for Virtual Nomad. 

This outing was planned to be a women’s dinner as a homage to the strong West African women that all of us hold dear in our lives. The planned ten attendees decreased to six on the day, but it did not take away any of the charm of the wonderful night. Present were wonderful friends; my Australian friend L*, whose family is of Cambodian origin, my other Australian friend MMP of Croatian background, my American friend AR whose family background is mixed US-Filipino, my daughter L who is also of mixed cultural background and her new international student friend DL and myself, an immigrant to Australia. It was a lovely night with great conversation, and also music of Alpha Blondy that MMP (who herself is a musician) is familiar with. One really learns to cherish nights like this – sharing a meal with people who are interesting, intellectually curious, multilayered, warm and emotional. We did not have a pure Côte d’Ivoire night in the strictest sense as the food was more Ghanaian than Ivorian, but this was the closest we could get in a multicultural city of Sydney where finding a restaurant from Côte d’Ivoire resulted to be an impossible task. 

The food itself: 

Our party has two vegetarians, so for starters the meat eaters get The Ghardens “Kele-Turkey” which means spiced ripe plantain with turkey. This is not a typical Côte d’Ivoire dish but mainly consumed in Ghana. “Kele” is a typical Ghanaian street food made of deep fried plantains seasoned with spices (primarily ginger, cayenne, pepper and salt), and then combined with turkey. Deep fried plantains are also consumed in  Côte d’Ivoire (known as aloco) even if not particularly in this form. Turkey is a common dish in Côte d’Ivoire and as in Ghana, also a typical street food and often served with fermented cassava pulp. So while we are not trying to sell this dish as from Côte d’Ivoire, there is a West African connection between the neighbouring countries and their cuisines.  

Another starter that we have is Kosua Ne Moko which is another Ghanaian dish not typically consumed in Côte d’Ivoire. The dish is very spicy (poor L took a mouthful and spicy food is not her forte) – boiled egg with red hot chilli sauce. It literally translates into “eggs and pepper” in the Twi language (spoken in Southern and Central Ghana but also to some extent in Côte d’Ivoire). This is a dish served with tomatoes, red onion and spicy pepper. It is very spicy and its spiciness does bury some of the other taste underneath. When I read about this dish later, I found out that in Ghana there have been some health concerns about its very high salt and flavor enhancer content, but that it is still a very popular Ghanaian snack. We order three for the six of us which gives one half for each, and that is quite plenty. We do have different degrees of tolerance for spiciness in our group so some of us are less affected than others. Nevertheless, it still is a great starter for a great meal with its impactful taste. 

L is very intrigued by a dish called Fried yam with giblets / turkey. This is a dish that is popular in both Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Fried yam in Côte d’Ivoire is a very popular dish and, as in this case, paired often with grilled giblets. Yam is sometimes compared to sweet potatoes but they are different, unrelated vegetables. Sweet potatoes originate from South America and are sweeter and more nutritious than yam due to lower calorie count and higher vitamin A content. Yams have higher calorie count and native to Africa and Asia. They can also be distinguished by the colour; sweet potatoes are orange or white, while yams are white or yellow inside and starchier to eat. Yams take longer to prepare as they must be cooked thoroughly to remove all the toxins. In Côte d’Ivoire yam is often prepared as in this dish; peeled, sliced and deep-fried. They do provide an excellent accompaniment to tastier dishes but on their own are quite starchy and quite dry. Giblets refers to the edible organs of poultry, often chicken or as in this case, turkey. They are a popular and typical component of Côte d’Ivoire cuisine. In Côte d’Ivoire the giblets are often prepared as Choukouya, grilled and marinated in a spicy onion and tomato sauce and served with plantains. 

The Chicken combo comes with jollof rice (tomato rice) and salad. Jollof rice is a staple component of West African cuisine and typical across the region, especially prominent in Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal (where it is said to come from), Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cameroon. In Côte d’Ivoire, jollof rice is often referred to locally as riz gras (fatty rice) and the local version includes ingredients such as palm oil, dawa dawa (African locust beans) and African basil. The Côte d’Ivoire jollof rice still shares the basic elements of the dish: rice and tomato. It is also a staple feature of the West African diaspora cuisine around the world. 

Chicken combo dishes, especially with grilled or stewed chicken, are particularly popular in both Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. In Côte d’Ivoire, the chicken combo is often prepared as Kedjenou: a spicy, slow-cooked chicken stew prepared in a canary (sealed pot) and paired with rice. In Ghana, which is the dish our group was served, chicken combo often comes with Shito, a dark and spicy Ghanaian black pepper sauce made from dried fish, shrimp, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and chilli peppers. And it is typical to combine all this with a salad. 

For the vegetarians, we get Red Red with fried plantain, palm oil, gari and boiled egg. Red Red is a signature Ghanaian dish but also consumed in Côte d’Ivoire. It is made from black-eyed peas that are cooked in red palm oil and tomato sauce with onions, which gives the name to the dish. It is a dish of contrasts; the Red Red itself is very spicy but the sweetness of the plantains soften the impact as does the lonely boiled egg. It is very rich in flavour and also quite heavy, which does not make it any less tasty. It is a staple feature of the regional cuisine, especially with the Ga people in Ghana. In Côte d’Ivoire, it often is served with fermented cassava couscous Attiéké. There is a similar dish in Côte d’Ivoire, palm nut soup that uses the same red palm oil as Red Red. Similarly, stewed beans with fried plantain is very typical of Côte d’Ivoire. 

And finally, our party gets a Peanut Soup with goat meat which comes with fufu. This is a dish that is eaten by hand and our lovely waiter brings two bowls of water for washing the hands. Members of our group are not exactly sure how that works so there are a few versions of the hand washing among the group but in general this is a very well received dish. Peanut soup is a staple of both Ghanaian and Ivorian cuisine – in Côte d’Ivoire it is referred as sauce d’arachide (as also in other French-speaking West African regions). The base of the dish is creamy peanut butter with ingredients such as ginger, pepper and garlic. Fufu is made of cassava, plantains or yams – it is smooth, dough-like, smooth and elastic. The group reports that this dish is exquisite.

Côte d’Ivoire, not Ivory Coast 

Côte d’Ivoire has long been inhabited by different nations and like many of its neighbours, the area was part of several empires and nations during different time periods, including Guyaamn/Jamang (around the 17th century and including parts of the present state Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire), the Kong Empire (already mentioned previously on the Virtual Nomad entry for Burkina Faso – from about 1710 until 1898) and Baoulé (established by Queen Abla Pokou, sometimes called Aura, in 1730 – the Baoulé are the largest ethnic groups in present Côte d’Ivoire). 

Côte d’Ivoire received its present name from the Portuguese who in the 15th and 16th century divided the coast of Western Africa into Costa de Marfim (Ivory Coast – reflecting the name of the main trade item from the area); Pepper/Grain Coast (present day Liberia); Gold Coast (present day Ghana) and the unfortunate name of Slave Coast (present Togo, Nigeria and Benin). The government of present day Côte d’Ivoire refuses translations into any other language, so Ivory Coast is not to be used as the name of the country. 

France annexed Côte d’Ivoire as a protectorate in 1843 and then a colony in 1893. France abolished slavery in French West Africa in 1905, and between 1904 and 1958, Côte d’Ivoire was part of the Federation of French West Africa. France and French culture was considered superior to the local culture and population, and while the local people were considered ‘subjects’ of France, they had no civil or political rights (until 1946 when the French nationality was given to all “subjects”). This was partly for gratitude in their fighting for France in the two world wars. Independence was achieved in 1960, and the first president was Félix Houphouët-Boigny who stayed in power until his death in 1993. His home village Yamoussoukro became the political capital of the country and during his presidency, the treatment of political opposition was not friendly. His successor Henri Konan Bédié was even harder on political opponents and was ousted in a military coup in 1999. 

In the 21st century, Côte d’Ivoire has seen two civil wars, one in 2002-2007, and the other in 2010-2011. Since 2010, the President has been Alassane Ouattara who is on his fourth term currently (when the Constitution only permits two) and is curiously winning elections with nearly 90% of votes. A new Constitution was adopted in 2016. 

While French is the official language, there are around 78 different languages spoken in the country. Côte d’Ivoire is ethnically and religiously diverse, with Islam, Christianity and traditional faith systems living side by side. 

Five books from Côte d’Ivoire

Several authors from Côte d’Ivoire feature on a few “best lists” of African literature. Ahmadou Kourouma is probably the most internationally known, but there are several others who have gained international recognition including Véronique Tadjo, Marguerite Abouet,  Bernard Dadié and playwright Koffi Kwahule. A super interesting author is Gauz, and I begin with him. . 

Gauz (Armand Patrick Gbaka‑Brédé) is an author, journalist and screenwriter who grew up in Côte d’Ivoire. After studying biochemistry, he moved to Paris as an undocumented student, working as a security guard before returning to Grand-Bassam, Côte d’Ivoire. Standing Heavy (2014) is his debut novel that won the Prix des libraries Gibert Joseph.

Standing Heavy is a wonderful, satirical, poignant and hilarious book. It is clever without being gimmicky and displays social criticism without being preachy. The fractional writing is a bit confusing at times which makes it slightly difficult to follow, and it is at its best when including observations of daily customers in department stores. The book spans over three different time periods and follows three undocumented immigrants from Côte d’Ivoire. They live in Paris and work as security guards (hence the name ‘Standing Heavy’ as the job involves many hours of just that). Placed between ‘The Bronze Age 1960-1980, the Golden Age 1990-2000 and the Age of Lead, are the sharp and bizarre descriptions of consumer behaviour. The different times also reflect the changes in French immigration policies,  the world events that affect them, the everpresent racism and the steady but devastating shift against ‘illegal and undocumented’. 

“It is the women who are the worst affected by the epidemic. maybe because it usually falls on them to care for the sick. maybe because they’re the last to leave home and seek treatment. and maybe because, until the very end, they try to keep things going, they try to make things right.”

I expected much more from Véronique Tadjo’s In the Company of Men – the Ebola Tales (2017). It took me a while to get a hold of it and when I did, I was very excited. I knew that the book was about the outbreak of the ebola virus narrated from different points of view (almost like small interviews)  – an old Baobad tree; a doctor sweating in a protective suit; a nurse with a social calling despite the stigma that follows her and her family; a student working in a mortuary when universities are closed; a scientist who discovers the virus; family members of infected people watching their loved ones perish; survivors who do not understand how they were speared; several patients and finally the virus itself. It has stellar moments and definitely is skilled and poetic in understanding the precipice and the extent of the problem. It’s sharp in describing the challenges, the corruption, the stigma, the inequality, the desolation and the indifference of the rest of the world until the virus spreads. But because it is a work of fiction, it does not completely rise to the level of reality, and reading it hits differently after the global pandemic of COVID19. Things are described – rather than felt. And while it is important to recognise and value traditional knowledge, to assume that the outbreak is the result of a disconnection of people from their roots and from nature, is quite simplifying. And quite frankly, I could have finished the book before the last part which starts with “The chilling voice of Ebola out in the early morning” – the narrator is Ebola itself. 

The last chapters are reserved for the virus, the bat and the Baobad tree. The virus lectures how it is happiest when dormant deep in the primordial jungle and that the humans are to blame because they have lost their traditional ways and beliefs. That is the weakest part of the book – trying to give a human voice to the virus, and mixing that with how humans are greedy, bad and destructive, and god is great. The virus even talks about the threat of nuclear war. And then there’s the bat, the origin of the outbreak from animals to humans who also is anthropomorphized and preaches how bad humans are, and talks about space exploration and rockets. The message is important but its preachiness is irritating and tiring, and there are so many books that illustrate the disconnection with the nature and destruction of the environment much better. Of course it is easy to hide behind the “people should do better and return to the old ways” as it was that easy. It was the last part of the book that killed all the narrative for me. It is sad as this book could have been so much better in so many aspects. (And it did bother me a bit that this is an author from Côte d’Ivoire writing about Sierra Leone, DCR, Guinea, Uganda and Liberia). 

Aya of Yop City (2006) by Marguerite Abouet is a fun variation to the Virtual Nomad reading, as it is a graphic novel – so reads like a comic. It is the second installation in a series about life in the 1970s Côte d’Ivoire. Marguerite said in an interview that as she left Côte d’Ivoire to live in France at the age of 12, she wanted to recreate the environment of her childhood. Illustrated by Clemént Oubrerie, the book is a joy to read even if the story is not overly engaging but still opens a window to the rich and vibrant past of the country Marguerite left behind. It is the illustrations that make it especially compelling with the warm and accessible colours. The story itself is a bit light – Aya is 19 and hardworking, dedicated to her studies and keeping away from trouble while her two best friends get themselves into a pickle with contested paternities, single motherhood and affairs with unreliable men. Aya is an observer to the things happening around her but not much happens to her. The illustrations are lovely, and the story comes with a glossary and instructions on how to carry your baby on your back! Depending probably on the edition, but there is an interesting interview with Marguerite at the end of the book. 

Probably the most famous author from Côte d’Ivoire is Ahmadou Kourouma. He came from the Malinké ethnic group and was born in the northern part of the country. He studied mathematics and engineering, and in his youth under French colonial rule, participated in military campaigns in Indochina. After studying in France and celebrating the freshly gained independence of Côte d’Ivoire, Ahmadou returned to the country of his birth. He was not impressed by president Félix Houphouët-Boigny and after being jailed, spent thirty years in exile in Algeria, Cameroon and Togo. 

Ahmadou’s two most famous novels are The Suns of Independence (Les Soleils des indépendances, 1968 – translated into English in 1981) and Allah is not Obliged (Allah n’est pas obligé, 2000). I decided to read both. Let’s start with the first one. 

The Suns of Independence is an interesting portrayal of postcolonial West Africa. The main protagonist is a fallen aristocrat Fama, an anti-hero and the last of a line of Malinké Doumbouya dynasty who no longer has a place in the new order. Independence has arrived in the country and that means bad news for Fama. He has fallen to disgrace and poverty, and is unable to have children with his wife Soulimata. Every day seems to bring more and more humiliation. The promises of decolonisation are not fulfilled and corruption is rampant, and many people are excluded from the benefits and forms of the new system. It is a book that is interesting but difficult to read – both for the experimentation with language as well as with the bitterness of the story. It is about the disillusionment from a promised better future and its impact on individuals, balancing the past and the future, ritual and traditions, and new forms of life. 

It is a book that was one of the first to be written about postcolonial Africa from a critical point of view, and also a book that has been said to ‘decolonise’ French by “forcing it to express African way of thinking”. There are also a lot of old rituals, oral traditions and beliefs included in the storytelling. I wanted to love it more than I did, and I found it difficult to read. I admired it, but I felt disconnected. Fortunately quite the opposite happened with the second book I read from Ahmadou. 

Allah is not Obliged (Allah n’est pas obligé in French) from 2000 is a fantastic, poignant, satirical, violent, hilarious, brutal and sharp book. It is written from the point of view of a 10-year-old child soldier who for different reasons ends up wandering from one West African country to another during the Liberian and Sierra Leonean civil wars in the 1990s. It is narrated by Birahima, the child soldier which some reviewers have said is not believable but that is not the point. Of course it is not believable that a 10-year-old could write such a story – but it serves as an incredibly brilliant gateway to the “West African civil wars for dummies.” The essence of the book goes beyond the political situation in West Africa during the time, it is razor sharp and powerful in its depiction of a world without morality and very little compassion, in which greed, individual gain and extreme cruelty reign – where things can slip if morality is removed. It is of course morally unsettling but immersed in black humour that is incredibly lucid. It is an astonishing and disturbing book that hits bone deep and offers such a deep x-ray of humanity going lawless.

The Ivorian Mini Movie Festival 

Côte d’Ivoire had only 15 cinemas in 2025 and approximately only twenty films were released between 2024 and 2025. There is growing film production in the country but some of these movies lack larger distribution. Nevertheless, I did manage to see three very interesting films and three documentaries.

There are several movies that are set in prisons, and I have seen quite a few for the Virtual Nomad movie path. La Nuit des Rois (Night of the Kings, 2020) by Philippe Lacôte is a stellar one. I watched it without knowing anything about it prior and I am happy that I did. It is a surprising mix of fantasy, thriller, drama and mythology. It plays like a homage to cinematographic storytelling and you can find references to world cinema throughout – it has clearly been influenced by Latin American (e.g. City of God), Asian and French moviemaking, but all those influences are cleverly mixed in a whole that looks and feels fully authentic. The story is simple but there are so many nuances that I feel that I should watch it a couple of times to understand all its themes – succession power struggles to politics to sacrifice to survival to loyalty to the corruptive force of power to mythology, rites, traditions, treason, gender fluidity, just to name a few. It is almost an impossible feat to cover so many themes in one movie in such a subtle, effective way. It is astonishing, vibrant, surreal, enthralling. I aim not to reveal too much of the plot because that is the best way to take it in, and it is an unexpected, thrilling ride. 

The compelling Adanggaman (2000) by Roger Gnoan M’Bala looks into slavery from Western Africa through the lens of tribal warfare. In the 17th century, a young man Ossei’s village is burned down by the Dahomey Amazons of the (fictional) Empire of Adanggaman (the history of female Dahomey warriors is described in the Virtual Nomad entry for Benin – these were feared female warriors not allowed to marry or have children) and the survivors are taken as slaves (either for the empire or sold to Europeans). Ossei races to save his mother from being sold as a slave after he has disobeyed traditional marriage customs. It is an interesting movie with an amazing soundtrack (mostly by Lokua Kanza). There are many parts that are filmed in pitch black, which asks a lot from the audience, but it is a fascinating film. The dreadful history of slavery is shown as a part of the greediness of unstable tyrannies susceptible to rum and guns. ‘Africa’ is not one, but made up of nations and tribes that capture and sell people, from neighboring tribes to white slave traders. Weak and greedy rulers make everyone prey to European slave trade. The film is dedicated “to all the Africans who suffered the iron collars and chains of slavery, and to their children and grandchildren who bear their scars.” 

What is remarkable about the movie Black Tea (2024) by Malian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako is that it follows a love story between an African woman and an Asian man, not often seen in movies. It is stunningly filmed – the camera really loves Nina Mélo who plays the main character, Aya, who leaves her husband-to-be on their wedding day and travels to China to work in a tea shop. She falls in love with an older Chinese man, and of course their story does not come without complications. This is one of those movies that you really want to love, and there is warmth and plenty of melancholy but overall the movie fails to develop fully and feels a bit flat. But it is beautifully shot and there are moments of deep melancholy and longing in scenes of forbidden love. The actors do a very good job. African immigration to China is such an interesting and underdeveloped theme that it is disappointing that the movie does not really fully go where it could go. It is still better than some the reviews suggest (33% in Rotten Tomatoes) even if not mindblowing storytelling-wise. 

The visually impressive Chimpanzee (2012) was filmed in the Taï National Park in Western Côte d’Ivoire for Disneynature. The park is both the largest intact and one of the last primary rainforests in Africa, and also a natural reservoir of the Ebola virus. It became a national park in 1972 and a UNESCO Heritage Site in 1982. It is  home to many species, including chimpanzees that are known to use tools (such as rocks to crack nuts). In this documentary, some of the footage of the rainforest is breathtaking and the ability of the crew to capture the life of chimpanzees is amazing. It took four years to complete, and was quite a feat to film in the rainforest. It is a very a cute story even if sometimes a bit simplifying and dramatised – there is a central survival story of a little chimp that is quite astonishing and rooted in the reality but dramatised at the same time – the chimp is “played” by several little chimps, but what happens to him is what happened in real life. Disney donated some of the proceeds to the Jane Goodall institute for its chimpanzee programs. Overall, even if a bit Disney fairytale-esque, it is an astonishing testimony to these amazing creatures and their society, including some surprising bits such as that they hunt and eat monkeys. 

The Dark Side of Chocolate is a 2010 Danish documentary about the child exploitation and trafficking for chocolate harvesting. The documentary films and follows children that are trafficked from Burkina Faso and Mali and transported across the border to plantations in Côte d’Ivoire. The film shows that despite an international agreement signed in 2001 to ban child labour and trafficking in cocoa plantations, the practice was very much alive in 2010 and thousands of children were taken as child slaves and subjected to forced, unpaid labour. In order to see a more contemporary situation, I watched another documentary from 2019 called Chocolate’s Heart of Darkness by Paul Moreira, 2019.  It is a better quality documentary than the Danish one but follows the same thematic, the exploitation of children in cocoa plantations. In this documentary it is shown that despite the promises of major chocolate companies to end child labour, thousands of children are still being trafficked, abused and subjected to conditions of slavery in order to harvest cocoa for chocolate production. The documentary covers the social and environmental impacts of child slavery and cocoa production, and the hypocrisy of the chocolate industry turning a blind eye to the conditions of these children, often separated from their families. It is eyeopening and heartbreaking. 

The top ethical chocolate brands are Tony’s Chocolonely (its mission is to make chocolate 100% slave-free “using direct, traceable sourcing from cooperatives in West Africa), Original Beans, Beyond Good, Divine Chocolate, Alter Eco, HALBA, Seed and Bean, Up-Up Chocolate, Lucocoa, Booja-Booja and Raw Chocolate Company. 

(L proofreading note: A major brand responsible for chocolate products is Nestle. I have been boycotting Nestle for many years, for several reasons, including child exploitation and slavery. Additionally, Nestle is infamous for the ‘Baby Killer’ scandal (peaking in 1981) in low and middle income countries- Nestle (often quoted with derogatory and racist language) aggressively marketed an infant formula targeting mothers, falsely claiming nutritional superiority over natural breast milk. By dressing saleswomen as nurses and introducing sales pitches in hospitals, Nestle continuously guilted mothers into buying their product, in order to meet profit margins. The push of infant formula usage is suspected to have caused around 212,000 infant deaths yearly in areas without safe drinking water, as prepared formula often carried pathogens causing disease, and the passive immunity of breast feeding was not achieved, so mothers paid for the compromising of their infant’s health. (Source: Voxdev, 2023) This doesn’t strictly apply to Côte d’Ivoire, but it makes me so intensely angry that I wish to share! This is the world we live in, friends- unjust and unimaginably cruel!)

Alpha Blondy

Alpha Blondy is the most famous Ivorian musician whose songs are often politically and socially motivated, singing about peace, politics and spirituality. Born Seydou Koné, he records mainly reggae in several languages; his native Dyula (widely spoken in Côte d’Ivoire but also in Burkina Faso and Mali, and some parts of Ghana, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau), French and English, and occasional Arabic, Hebrew, Jamaican Patois and other languages. He is often called the Bob Marley of Africa and he often performs with a 12-piece band called the Solar System. His career has spanned over several decades and over 17 albums. 

My musician friend MMP (who participated in the Côte d’Ivoire dinner) loves his song Cocody Rock, and when we have our Côte d’Ivoire dinner, we asked the lovely The Ghartans waiter to put some Alpha Blondy music for us and we ended up listening a long playlist of his wonderful reggae. The song Cocody Rock (1984) is described to be a “celebratory anthem honoring the music, culture and people of Côte d’Ivoire. It promotes unity and positive vibes, with “rocking representing” joyful energy and spiritual connection, often referencing Rastafarianism and ‘Jah time;.” 

This was another fascinating stop on the Virtual Nomad journey. Thank you wonderful L for your proofreading. (L: And my famous Nestle rant!)

Next stop: Croatia