Drinks and Refreshments on your Safari
What will I drink on Safari – Drinks and Refreshments on Safari
The Drinks and Refreshments on Safari in Uganda
What will I drink on a Safari in Uganda? What kind of drinks are available? Here are the Drinks and Refreshments on Safari in Uganda. Enjoy the refreshing and thirst-quenching beverages that the Pearl of Africa offers. You are unfamiliar with some of them but, like most visitors, will love and appreciate them when you taste them on Safari.
One thing is sure. You will not get thirsty while you are on a safari. Uganda has a wide variety of thirst-quenchers ranging from the morning cup of Coffee to late afternoon sundowners.
Bottled Water, familiar Coca-Cola, and Pepsi are found everywhere. Freshly made Passion Fruit and other local and imported juices, Liquor, Wine, and energy drinks are all readily available.
We can assure you of one thing. Your after-gorilla trekking, your thirst will be quenched. Enjoy a sundowner overlooking Bwindi Impenetrable Forest or Mgahinga Gorilla Park.
Drinks and Refreshments on Safari in Uganda
Bottled Mineral Water on Safari:
Bottled Mineral Water is a must-have for travelers. We strongly suggest that you avoid drinking tap water. Some mid-range lodges and most lodges provide complimentary Water in your room.
We provide unlimited bottled Water while at most mid-range and luxury Lodges the Safari Vehicle for activities such as gorilla, chimpanzee trekking, hiking, volcano climbing, canoeing, and more.
Rwenzori Mineral Water is the largest and most popular brand in Uganda. It is also the most often offered at lodges, hotels, and restaurants.
Rwenzori has become synonymous with bottled Water in Uganda, and Ugandans will ask for it rather than say they want a water bottle.
We reiterate that you should avoid Tap Water for your well-being and stick with bottled Water, which applies even to brushing your teeth.
Stay Hydrated on Safari – drink lots of Bottled Mineral Water.
Fruit Juices on Safari:
If you enjoy Freshly Pressed Juice, you have come to Uganda’s correct country.
You are often welcomed with a refreshing juice as you arrive at a lodge, and you will also find it on the Table for Breakfast.
Juices on the Drinks Menu will also be offered at a lodge, bar, or restaurant.
Passion, Pineapple, mixed fruit juices, and Orange Juice are the most common ones offered. You can also purchase Juices at Supermarkets.
If you purchase Juice at a supermarket, you will find many, especially those made in Uganda, where Sugar has been added. However, the label will indicate that it is a natural juice which it is not.
The Del Monte or Ceres Juice Brands are pure fruit juices and are reasonably priced.
Fresh Tropical Juices that will delight your taste buds.
Sodas on Safari:
Coca-Cola and Pepsi Products are everywhere in Uganda. Diet Sodas are not as readily available.
Stoney Tangawizi spicy Ginger Soda is a Coca-Cola favorite in East Africa, including Uganda.
Krest – Bitter-Lemon Soda is another Coke product you will not often find in the West. It often becomes a favorite with Safari Goers,
7-Up and Moutain Dew have also found their way to Uganda but are not everywhere, like Coca-Cola Products.
Alvaro Malt-based. Sodas are unique to Uganda and come in Pineapple, Pear, and Passion Fruit Flavors. It is a non-alcoholic Soda made by a Ugandan Brewery, and Alvaro is not always available. The Pineapple flavored Alvaro has become popular with many Ugandans. Energy Drinks such as Red Bull and many others are also available.
Familiar and unfamiliar Coca-Cola and Pepsi products are available.
Ugandan Beers on Safari:
Ugandans like their Beer, and we suggest you stick to the bottled kind on a safari. You can buy the most popular brands at most lodges, such as Nile and Bell.
Nile Special is one of the most popular kinds of Beer.
Additives are used in many of the Beer. The taste of Ugandan beers makes it a welcome refreshment on a Safari.
The Cost of a Beer will be much less than what you would pay in your home country. Most Beer is sold in half-liter bottles.
The Kenyan Tusker Export Beer is available in most restaurants, lodges, and bars, and Heineken and Stella are more limited in distribution.
Castle-Lite and Tusker-Lite are in Uganda but may not be available at your lodge.
Ugandans enjoy their beers. Safari Goers concur – Ugandan Beers taste great.
Uganda Waragi on Safari:
Uganda Waragi, the Word Waragi, is a new Uglish term (Ugandan English), meaning War Gin. Ugandan soldiers who served the British Military were given Gin Rations before Waragi.
Many years later, the term has stuck. Waragi is Uganda’s favorite drink in one version r another. Uganda has also become a brand of Gin that is sold widely in Uganda and beyond its borders.
Waragi is one of the drinks offered when lodges have a Safari Sundowner, and it is also used in making Cocktails.
We suggest you try it with a Krest Bitter Lemon Soda. We also recommend not consuming local Waragi, where Methanol is sometimes added. Such local Waragi is also called Enguli, a term for distilled alcohol, Kasese in Western Uganda, and Lira Lira in the North.
Uganda Waragi bought in Stores, sold in lodges under the Trademark of Uganda Waragi or as Leading Waragi, is triple distilled ad safe for consumption. It also comes in a Coffee or Coconut flavored version.
Whiskey, Scotch, Vodka, and Tequila are available at most Lodges in addition to the ever-present Waragi.
Wine on Safari:
Wine has become more popular with upscale and middle-class Ugandans, and it is, for the most part, imported. The best Wines available at Lodges are from South Africa.
Wine, unlike Beers and Uganda Waragi, is much more expensive. Good Bottled Wine is primarily available at Luxury Lodges. Often, lodges will use Boxed wine to serve guests by the glass. The quality of wine varies from club to spa, and at times in budget lodges, the condition cannot be up to your standards.
If you like a good glass of wine on a safari, the kind you would consider buying at home, we have a page that gives you advice on getting a good glass of wine on a Safari.
Wine Shops have sprung up in major towns such as Kampala, and some Supermarkets have extensive Wine Sections.
Better quality wines are available at better mid-range and luxury lodges.
Coffee on Safari:
Uganda is one of the two cradles of Coffee in Africa, Ethiopia. Some of the best coffee varieties are grown in Uganda.
The problem is that most Ugandans do not drink Coffee but drink one version of Tea or another but not Coffee.
Instant Coffee is often seen as enough for guests, but it is like dancing without music for coffee enthusiasts. We have come up with Coffee Lover Survival Instructions that you might find helpful.
Great Coffee is served at most Luxury Lodges. Though it has dramatically improved recently, it is still hit-and-miss at moderate lodges.
Uganda produces World-Class Coffee. However, it is not always available at Ugandan Lodges, which is ironic in one of Africa’s best coffee-producing countries.
Please take advantage of our Coffee Lover Survival Instructions while on Safari.
Tea on Safari:
Great Tea is grown in Uganda, including Green Tea, which is not always available at Lodges. Let us know that you prefer Green Tea, and you will have it for the duration of your Safari.
Try some Ugandan Chai called African Tea, which blends Tea, Milk, Sugar, and ginger. In Ugandan Homes, it is brewed in one pot.
You will most likely see the Tea Fields in Uganda on your Safari, and you can taste it as you like at the lodges where you are staying.
Iced Tea can be made by arrangement, and it is not common in Uganda, and one has to check what kind of Water was used for the ice cubes.
Tea, grown in Uganda, with its perfect weather, elevation, and Mountains, provides the ideal setting for Tea.
Even if you are not a Tea Drinker, try a cup of African Tea in the Pearl of Africa – Uganda.
It’s time for a cup of African Chai.
The Sundowner Tradition on Safari:
The Sundowner Safari Traditions goes back to Colonial Times when one would gather with others for Gin and Tonic—according to Winston Churchill, Gin Tonic saved the lives of many from dreaded Malaria.
The Sundowner tradition is still alive on Safari, especially on upmarket Safaris. For most Tourists, it becomes prime time as the sun sets over the Savannah or the rainforest.
We can arrange sundowners in the Bush for you, but we need time to prepare.
Some Lodge, such as Ishasha Wilderness Camp, has special sundowner outings with drinks and snacks in the Bush.
Visitors have most welcomed the Comeback of the Sundowner Tradition to Uganda. Keep the Safari Sundowner going – enjoy a drink at Sunset:
Taste Uganda – Enjoy a refreshing Drink on Safari:
Drinks and Refreshments on Safari in the pearl of Africa give you a Taste of Uganda. After Gorilla Trekking, relax and Chillout with a drink and a good book.
Do you want to find out what you will eat while on a Safari in Uganda? Be sure to check out our Safari Food Page.
Uganda has many pleasant surprises, including the drinks and refreshments you will find here as you come on a Safari.
We did not include Milk, which is found here in abundance. The only oddity is that Milk is sold in Plastic Sacks.
You will not go hungry on a Safari, and you will not go thirsty – none of our clients ever have…Enjoy the Taste of Uganda on a Safari with us.
You will find lots of Drinks and Refreshments on Safari, both familiar and unfamiliar. Try a few of the unfamiliar ones. You will be glad that you did. Now that you know the Drinks and Refreshments on Safari in Uganda, it is time to read what you will eat while on a Safari in Uganda.
