Excerpted from Climbing the Mango Trees by Madhur Jaffrey Copyright 2006 by Madhur Jaffrey.

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"Barefooted, swimming in dirty lakes, selling fruit, picking mango trees, hoping not to get caught because they don't take kindly to thieves in Africa, " he adds, laughing.

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Set in the midst of parched lands, it's an oasis of mango and banana trees, home to deer, peacocks and several other species of birds.

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