What is the Food like on a Safari? – Safari Food gives a Taste of Uganda
Safari Meal – What will I eat on a Safari? The kinds of meals you are served on a Safari in Uganda
Safari Meals – We often ask, “What will I eat on a Safari in Uganda?” What kind of meals will I be served?
The answer is simple; it depends on what kind of Lodge you are staying in. If you are in an upmarket, luxury, exclusive Lodge, you will be served meals exceeding the quality of meals served at the best restaurants in Kampala.
When we pick lodges for you, the Quality of the Meals served is a top Consideration for us, whether the Chef is flexible and meets the needs of a Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free, low-Sugar Diet Safari Goer.
What will I eat on a Safari? Safari Meals: Taste of Uganda is often a delightful fusion meal. On the menu, though, you come on a Safari in Uganda to see the Mountain Gorillas, Chimpanzees, and Wildlife. We know that Safari Life is much better if you get “a Taste of Uganda.”
At the same time, in the Perl of Africa, Safari Meals are part of your African Safari Adventure, well-prepared meals that offer you a Bites of Uganda beyond the usual Safari Fare. If this is something that appeals to you, be sure to let us know, and we will make sure that you on Safari with us get a Taste of some of the best in the Pearl of Africa. We will do our best to accommodate you.
What will I eat on a Safari in Uganda, staying at Luxury Lodges? 
A Taste of Uganda is what you will eat while staying at luxury lodges on your Safari. Most Luxury Lodges have gardens to grow organic fruits and vegetables or use some local gardeners to raise vegetables to their specifications.
Luxury Lodges will have killed and experienced Chefs that will present Culinary Delights that you will not soon forget. Meals at upmarket luxury Lodges will often create innovatively, take what is available in Uganda, and create meals beyond your expectations.
Many Lodges will offer you Fusion Meals. Where you are served dishes that you are familiar with but have an African twist to them by adding local ingredients.
If you have special requests for that particular taste of a Ugandan Dish, they will most likely prepare it for you, aside from what is on the menu for that day.
Dietary Needs: Halal Meals can be arranged for at most lodges. Vegetarian and Vegan dishes are typical at most lodges. Kosher-certified meals cannot be gotten on a Safari. However Kosher friendly meals for our Jewish clients can be created by lodges. One of the few places where genuine Kosher meals can be obtained is while visiting the Abayudaya, the Jews of Uganda near Mbale in Eastern Uganda.
What will I eat on a Safari in Uganda, staying at Mid-Range Lodges?
You will not go hungry on Safari staying at midrange lodges. Freshly prepared Food will be served at mealtimes, giving you a Taste of Uganda. Most often, guests at midrange Lodges are surprised by what they are served.
The meal that may lack some creative content will be Breakfast at mid-range lodges, and there is a sense of sameness from one moderately priced Lodge to another. Innovative and creative egg dishes are like the great unknown. Midrange Clients periodically complain about the monotony of Breakfast on their Safari, three pieces of Fruit, eggs, and toast. Additionally, coffee lovers are repulsed by the instant Coffee served. That is like dancing without music. We suggest our Coffee Lover Survival Instructions.
If you want a different breakfast, order a Rolex. At least ask for it, and you will have a refreshing change.
Variations of Ugandan Dishes will often be served. Chefs at mid-range lodges do not have the training and background of Luxury Lodge Chefs. However, we rarely get complaints except about the sameness of Breakfast. Otherwise, Mid-Range lodges are synonymous with Sumptuous Meals.
Dietary Needs on Safari
Nutritional Needs are most easily met using Luxury Lodges, though working with lodges, we can meet our clients’ dietary needs and requirements in most cases.
Vegans and Vegetarians will have no problem surviving on a Safari. It takes a bit more planning for those wanting a Gluten-Free diet or requiring that Food is MSG Free.
Religious Diets can also be arranged. 12% of Ugandans are Muslim, and a Kosher diet takes more work. Most Safari Goers do not know that Uganda has a small Jewish Group called the Abayudayas, following Kosher Practices.
Our Clients come with many different dietary requests, and we usually can meet their needs with a bit of extra work and planning.
If you have dietary needs for your Safari, we can assure you that you will not go hungry. Please let us know about your nutritional needs, and we will contact the lodges and notify them of your needs.
What to Eat While on a Safari? The Delightful Tastes of Uganda
Not all things listed will be available at a lodge – but we will make Arrangements at your Request.
Tropical Fruit Delights:
Uganda is the Tropical Fruit Basket of Africa, and Ugandans consume more Bananas than anyone else. There are 50 plus varieties grown here, from the small dessert Bananas to Gonja – which you roast and eat as a snack. A perfect Banana for stir-fried dishes, and one cannot forget Matooke, the daily bread of Ugandans eaten primarily mashed.
As you have never tasted before, Pineapple, Uganda’s are simply the best. Papaya, fresh from the odd-looking but sweet-tasting Jackfruit.
One cannot leave Oranges and Tangerines, Lemons, Watermelon, Guava, Starfruit, and Avocados called Ovacados here.
When it comes to Fruit on Safari, you can have more than you imagined. Winston Churchill called Uganda Paradise, and visitors enjoyed the favors of Uganda’s Fruit.
On Safari in Uganda – you will be delighted by the Fruit in the Pearl of Africa.
Rolex- something we do not wear but eat in Uganda:
The Tasty Rolex that comes any way you would like is a Chapati with rolled eggs, vegetables, the most famous street food, fast-food in Uganda, eaten from one end of Uganda to the other. Even hotels, Restaurants, and even Lodges have gotten in on the act and served them.
In the USA, the closest thing would be a breakfast Burrito. The TTheinexpensive dish has become a National Institution in this country and even extended across its borders into Kenya and Rwanda. Visitors to Uganda love them and have taken the idea and recipe home.
There is even an Annual Rolex Festival that takes place in Uganda. CNN, Al Jazeera, and Newspapers near and far have spread the message of the Rolex, Uganda’s favorite Fast Food and undoubtedly worth including as a Taste of Uganda.
Rolex- A Favorite Taste of Uganda- Be sure to try one. If Rolex is not served at your Lodge, ask them if they could make you one. You might prefer peppers instead of cabbage. A Rolex is not made with cheese, however, it would be tasty.
Uganda Ankole Beef for Meat Lovers:
If you like Steak, if you enjoy Beef, then Uganda’s Ankole Beef will delight you. Uganda produces some of the best-tasting Beef around, and Ankole Beef is low in Cholesterol and is not tough.
Ugandans love their Muchomo roasted Beef on skewers. There is even a Muchomo Festival each year in Kampala where you have all the Beef, Pork, and Chicken you want on a skewer.
Ugandans like their Beef and pork, and they consume more pork per capita each year than any other country in Africa. Pulled-Pork Joints, as they are called, are found everywhere.
You will even find Muchomo offered by Roadside vendors. We do not recommend it since we want you to enjoy your Safari without having a case of Idi Amin’s Revenge.
You will not go hungry in Uganda – try a stick of Muchomo Beef.
Traditional Favorites in Uganda:
Luwombo with Matooke is a traditional Ugandan favorite that you want to taste. Beef or Chicken is stewed wrapped in Banana Leaves with mashed Plantain Bananas called Matooke. Hopefully, there is some G-Nut Sauce for flavor. G-Nut Sauce is a ground Peanut Sauce that adds rich flavor to any dish when adequately prepared.
Chicken Luwombo is a traditional Christmas Meal in Central Uganda – a dish that is truly a Taste of Uganda. Lodges and Hotel Restaurants do generally not serve traditional dishes but offer Fusion Dishes instead. We, with your input, can arrange for you to eat some conventional Ugandan Meals that will delight you on your Safari in the Pearl of Africa.
Traditional Food is served in restaurants in the towns that we drive through, and a traditional lunch might be the right thing for you. Just ask us, and we will make sure that you will taste Uganda’s favorite Christmas meal.
There are many more Delightful Traditional Ugandan Dishes that we can acquaint you with on Safari.
Fish- Ugandan Style:
Uganda is a landlocked country, and however, 26% of the country is made up of Lakes and Rivers. Uganda is in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and Fish are plentiful and prepared in ways that you will enjoy. Tilapia and Nile Perch are often served, but one can also find Catfish and TigerFish in different parts of the country.
Even the tiny Silverfish, called Mukene, is dried and served as part of a fish stew, eyes and all.
Tilapia is the most common Fish, and a whole Tilapia is a favorite with Ugandans and customarily eaten with Fries.
The Nile Perch is also served in areas where it can be freshly caught. That would most often be along the Nile and Lake Victoria.
Not many visitors leave the Pearl of Africa without eating one of its tasty fish treats.
Unusual Tastes of Uganda on Your Safari in the Pearl of Africa
The exceptional items such as Nsenene will not be available at lodges, but we can arrange for them – some things are seasonal.
Nsenene – Grasshopper – A Crunchy Critter Treat:
Don’t snub your nose at the Rainy Season Treat of Nsenene – insects, according to scientists, may just become part of our regular diet in the future, but you can try them along with White Ants in Uganda now.
Nsenene is eaten mainly as a snack; they have eaten in tin cans and packages in Supermarkets. They are prevalent in Uganda, and many visitors like them.
Local Pubs will serve them, and roadside vendors with large plastic-covered buckets will sell them by the cup, but this is one Ugandan Food that is not served in mid-range or upmarket lodges.
If you are here in Uganda during the Nsenene Seasons of the year, our driver-guide can arrange for you to have a taste of them. They are typically consumed with a drink such as a beer or Waragi Gin, and you might do the same when you try eating them.
Do not laugh, but Europe, the UK, and North America might be eating insects in the future if some have their way.
Lake Bunyonyi Crayfish – not native to Africa
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Crayfish came from Louisiana in the US via Lake Nakuru in Kenya, courtesy of Idi Amin. They have thrived here and become a delicacy visitors love to the Pearl of Africa.
If you enjoy Crayfish, then Lake Bunyonyi in Southwestern Uganda has to be on your itinerary. A perfect spot to relax and Chill Out after Gorilla Trekking.
While there, try various ways. Crayfish is served here in ways they have never thought of in Louisiana.
You will know that the Crayfish came fresh from the Lake that day as you eat your Crayfish Curry, omelet, Pizza, Stew, Pasta, or Rice Dish.
Lake Bunyonyi, Africa’s spoor man’s lobster Destination, is one of Africa’s most beautiful lakes with that added Culinary Surprise.
Other African countries have followed suit, such as South Africa, which is now raising Crayfish.
The Liquid Tastes of Uganda – Drinks and Beverages:
Drinks in Uganda:
You will not miss out on having a drink in Uganda, from Bottled Water to Beer with Sodas in between, and the now-famous Uganda Waragi added on Top and surrounded by freshly squeezed Fruit Juices that will delight the senses.
You are familiar with Coca-Cola, Pepsi products are readily available, and diet Sodas will not always be there. Many who are not familiar with Added Sodas are Stoney Tangawizi and Krest Bitter Lemon, and the latter is perfect with a shot of Uganda Waragi Gin.
Beer is abundant, including Moonberg Lager, which adheres to the German Purity Laws. Others use various ingredients and additives.
Unusual, not commonly available in Lodges, Coffee Spirit, a local Coffee Flavored Gin, and Coconut Uganda Waragi. Most Lodges prepare freshly squeezed juices for their guests for meals such as Breakfast.
Wines are available at lodges. However, tasty wine will primarily be found in upmarket lodges.
Coffee – The Best – except Ugandans don’t know it:
Coffee was born in Africa, Uganda is the birthplace of Robusta Coffee, and the more flavorful Arabica Beans are also grown here.
Uganda is a significant exporter of Coffee, few drink it, yet some of the best Coffee in Africa comes from Uganda.
It is not uncommon to be served instant Coffee in a land that grows some of Africa’s best.
Most mid-range and upmarket Hotels and Lodges serve better Coffee, and it is like a second sunrise. To satisfy the cravings of Coffee-Lovers, we have provided Coffee-Survival Instructions that ensure your Safari goes smoothly.
A cup of Coffee is like a second sunrise, and we know the importance of a rich cup of morning coffee as they sit on their porch and greet the African morning on Safari in the Pearl of Africa.
What will I eat on Safari in Uganda? -Our Take
Safari Meals – Lodges will serve freshly prepared meals such as today’s catch such as Tilapia Fish, Range-Free Chicken, and Grass-Fed Beef.
There are Organic Vegetables and Fruit from the Garden. Local Spices accompanied by Fresh Juices or local Sodas, Beer, Ugandan Gin called Waragi mixed with bitter Lemon Krest Soda.
One does think of culinary delights on Safari, but we do. Uganda is the Pearl of enjoyment, with its delicious Tropical fruits, its tender Beef, and fresh and organic Vegetables, all providing that extra touch to what you will eat on a Safari.
Please look at our Taste of Uganda and be delightfully surprised by what awaits you here, such as Rolex, Muchomo, Matooke, Chicken Luwombo, and more.
What will I eat on Safari in Uganda? One thing we can guarantee, you will not go hungry on a Safari in Uganda.
