An African safari vacation is full of wonder – beautiful landscapes, incredible wildlife, skies with more stars than you can imagine and delicious food! Many of our travelers come back raving about the meals they enjoyed while on safari and that is by design. The safari experience is all-encompassing, with every detail thought out, including each meal.
During your African adventures, you will enjoy a wide variety of foods including familiar Western dishes. Safari camps and lodges are excellent at catering to dietary restrictions and observations including gluten free and kosher. You might also have the chance to try local foods such as ugali (similar to polenta and also known by other names such as nshima and mealies, depending on where you are), bream (a freshwater fish) and local greens, among others. Some camps also feature small onsite gardens, so you might even enjoy some farm-to-table elements in your meals!
Meals are often a big highlight of an African safari. Breakfast might be a sumptuous meal out in the bush. Picnics in a special scenic spot are unforgettable. Oftentimes, you’ll enjoy afternoon tea with something sweet or savory to nibble on before heading out on your game drive. Sundowner drinks are nearly always served with lovely snacks. Dinners might be served under the stars in a ‘boma’ (circular enclosure) near a crackling fire, privately in your room or in a special spot in camp. Fine dining (along with wine pairings) is a feature of many camps and lodges.
We have enjoyed countless memorable meals on safari, so it’s hard to play favorites, but we share a few of our top camps and lodges for an incredible culinary experience below.
Singita Lebombo is known for many things, including their wine collection, with an extensive cellar showcasing a premium selection of wines. They are happy to share their collection through personalized wine tastings where Singita’s experienced sommeliers will guide you through a variety of wine styles to find the wines most suited to your tastes.
To accompany those wines, the Singita Community Culinary School cultivates highly sought-after culinary skills in its students, giving graduates strong employment prospects, including in Singita’s kitchens. The school’s demonstration studio offers guests the chance to participate in a cooking class led by an expert chef. Whether it is mastering a particular dish enjoyed from the day’s menu, learning a traditional South African recipe or helping to prepare an element of the lodge’s signature tapas-style lunch, time spent in the demonstration kitchen is an unforgettable and delicious experience.
This special camp sits among towering crimson kopjies in the middle of a vast and incredibly beautiful desert. Perhaps not the place you would expect multi-course gourmet meals with special touches like local herb salt, creative palate cleansers and thoughtful wine pairings, but enjoy the surprise as a guest of Onduli Ridge! The camp is also home to special pizza nights in the boma. This is no ordinary pizza – you’ll start with tapas then make your own gourmet pizza under a sky twinkling with more stars than you’ve ever seen!
“At Onduli, every dish was a masterpiece; beautifully crafted, bursting with bold flavors and absolutely delicious. It was one of the most unforgettable meals of my safari!”
– Sara, AAC Senior Journey Specialist
The superlative Gibb’s Farm in Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Highlands offers healthy and delicious farm cuisine prepared daily. All fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs are picked from the organic gardens onsite and meat is sourced from local, sustainably-raised farms. Organic Arabica coffee is grown and roasted right on the farm and fresh milk, cream and baked delicacies create balance for incredible meals.
We love every meal at Gibb’s, but dinner is extra special, sharing stories over candle-lit dinners featuring English and Tanzanian-influenced cuisine. We are also fans of their extensive wine collection and their very deep gin bar – which features over 50 different gins from all around the world for your gin and tonic.
Uganda’s Nile Safari Lodge offers an exquisite dining experience, with fresh, locally sourced ingredients served at its onsite restaurant. Guests can enjoy a variety of dishes, from traditional Ugandan cuisine to international flavors, all while taking in the surrounding gorgeous views. Whether dining under the stars or basking in the sunrise over breakfast, every meal is an experience to remember. The lodge also offers private in-suite dinners and brunch or sundowners at the top of nearby Murchison Falls (additional cost).
“The exceptional dining experience at Nile Safari Lodge is a blend of local tradition, international flavors and a commitment to sustainability. The lodge offers a diverse a la carte menu that combines African and European influences. The kitchen staff creates innovative meals that can be customized- they made me a local dish on request and it was better than I could have ever expected! And the ingredients were all locally grown and fresh which makes you feel good about what you’re eating”
– AAC Journey Specialist Nell
Owner-operated and hosted Lewa House has more than 100 years of history in its making. It has evolved from its cattle ranching roots to a wildlife sanctuary and a farm-to-table retreat. Lewa has a huge garden and farm onsite where most food is sourced. Anything they aren’t able to produce themselves comes from nearby, including a range of cheeses from Kenya’s famed Brown’s Cheeses, run by owner Sophie’s cousin.
Meals are incredibly fresh with a seasonally rotating menu. Breakfast is laid out in the beautiful garden with songbirds providing music, horses quietly grazing nearby, a waterhole that attracts wildlife, a resident dog and on a lucky day, you might get a view of Mt. Kenya. Lunches are lighter fare served by the pool – fresh salads and homemade dressings are often features. Dinners are home cooking at its finest with cozy, family-style meals by the fireplace. These are family recipes handed down and enjoyed by generations of Kenyans and guests.
“There are no shortcuts at an owner-run lodge and Lewa House sources almost everything from their on-site farm and local small-holders. Every meal at Lewa manages to be both creative and comforting – knowing that it’s sustainable is the icing on the cake!”
– AAC Senior Journey Specialist Tracy
Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen was the first South African chef to achieve a Michelin star for his namesake restaurant in Nice, France, and he has brought his culinary talent back to his homeland to Klein JAN at Tswalu Private Game Reserve. Dining at Klein JAN is a culinary adventure from start to finish. Guests are served different courses that ignite all the senses, keeping the dining experience exciting and interactive. Only in-house guests at Tswalu can enjoy dinner at Klein JAN – when you stay you will be invited to experience one memorable meal at Restaurant Klein JAN (based on a minimum two-night stay). Note: the restaurant is temporarily closed but will re-open.
Dining at Royal Chundu is an adventure – whether you’re enjoying their traditional Zambian evening under the stars in the boma with local dishes and drinks while watching the masked Makishi dancers or being treated to a lavish picnic on the banks of the Zambezi – each experience is one to remember! The lodge celebrates local Zambian gastronomy, featuring farm-to-table ingredients from their own gardens and local farms in each meal, including katapa (cassava leaves), chibwabwa (pumpkin leaves), chinshungwa (a wild vegetable only found in the rainy season) and mundambi (a species of Hibiscus).
“My favorite experience was a canoe excursion on the gentle rapids of the Zambezi River, followed by a picnic at a secret spot. An extravagant lunch for two was served on a private island beneath jackalberry trees and adorned with Persian carpets, hammocks between the trees, chilled Pimms on arrival, a picnic table bejeweled in silverware and the chitenge colors, and the sweet sounds of native birds”
– AAC Senior Journey Specialist Angie
Are you ready to enjoy the creative culinary options on safari? Contact one of our Journey Specialists to start planning your own customized food adventure and subscribe to our newsletter below for more information and inspiration!
Photos courtesy Tswalu Kalahari, Lewa House, Singita Lebombo, Onduli Ridge, Gibb’s Farm, Nile Safari Lodge and Royal Chundu