Drinks and Refreshments on your Safari
What will I drink on Safari – Drinks and Refreshments on Safari
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. Some of them you are unfamiliar with but like most visitors will love and appreciate them when you leave the country.
One thing is sure, you will no go 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 juices, beer both local and imported, Liquor, Wine, and energy drinks are all readily available for you.
We can assure you of one thing. Your after-gorilla trekking thirst will be quenched. Enjoy a sundowner overlooking Bwindi Impenetrable Forest or Mgahinga Gorilla Park.
BYouYouottled 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 re at most mid-range and luxury Lodgesthe 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 brand most often offered at most lodges, hotels, and restaurants.
Rwenzori has become synonymous with bottled water in Uganda. Ugandans will ask for it rather than say they would like a bottle of water.
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, then you have come to the right country, Uganda.
You are often welcomed with a refreshing juice as you arrive at a lodge. You will also find it on the Table for Breakfast.
Juices will also be offered on the Drinks Menu at a lodge, bar, or restaurant.
Passion, Pineapple, mixed fruit juices, 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 that it is not.
The Dell Monte 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 almost everywhere in Uganda. Diet Sodas are not as readily available.
Stoney Tangawizi spicy Ginger Soda is a Coca-Cola and favorite in East Africa, including Uganda.
Krest – Bitter-Lemon Soda is another Coke Product that 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 available everywhere, like Coca-Cola Products.
Alvaro Malt-based. Sodas are also unique to Uganda and come in Pineapple, Pear, and Passion Fruit Flavors. It is a non-alcoholic Soda but made by a Ugandan Brewery. Alvaro is not always available. The Pineapple flavored Alvaro has become popular with many Ugandans.
Energy Drinks such as Red Bull and a slew of others are also wildly available.
Familiar and unfamiliar Coca-Cola and Pepsi products are available.
Ugandan Beers on Safari:
Ugandans like their beer. We suggest that you stick to the bottled kind on a safari. You can buy the most popular brands such as Nile and Bell at most lodges.
Nile Special is one of the most popular kinds of beer. Moonberg Lager is made following German Purity Laws.
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 a lot 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. 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, 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 a battle called 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.
When lodges have a Safari Sundowner, waragi is one of the drinks offered. It is also used in the making of Cocktails.
We suggest you try it with a Krest Bitter Lemon Soda. We also recommend that you do not consume local Waragi, where Methanol is at times added. Such local Waragi is also called Enguli, a local term for distilled alcohol, Kasese in Western Uganda, and Lira Lira in the North.
Uganda Waragi that is bought in Stores, sold in lodes 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, Tequila is available at most Lodges in addition to ever-present Waragi.
Wine on Safari:
Wine has become more popular with upscale and middle-class Ugandans. 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. Most often, lodges will use Boxed wine to serve guests by the glass. The quality of wine varies from lodge to lodge, and at times in mid-range lodges, the condition can be dismal.
If you like a good glass of wine on a safari, the kind that you would consider buying at home, we have a page that gives you advice on getting a good glass of wine on 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, the other being 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. At moderate lodges, it is still hit and miss though it has dramatically improved in recent years.
Uganda produces World-Class Coffee. However, it is not always available at Ugandan Lodges, which we find ironic in Africa’s best coffee-producing countries.
Take advantage of our Coffee Lover Survival Instructions while on Safari.
Tea on Safari:
Great Tea is grown in Uganda, including Green Tea. The latter 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 will be able to taste it as you like it at the lodges where you are staying.
Iced Tea can be made by arrangement. It is not common in Uganda.
Tea, grown in Uganda with its perfect weather, elevation, and Mountains, provides the ideal setting for having 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 the Colonial Times when one would gather with others for Gin and Tonic. Gin Tonic, according to Winston Churchill, saved the lives of many from dreaded Malaria.
The Sundowner tradition is still alive on Safari, especially at upmarket Safaris. For most Tourists, it becomes prime time as the sun sets over the Savannah.
We can arrange sundowners in the Bush for you but need to have time to prepare for it.
Some Lodge, such as Ishasha Wilderness Camp, has special outings in the Bush with drinks and snacks.
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 – Taste Uganda. Be sure to Relax and Chillout after Gorilla Trekking with a drink and a good book.
Want to find out what you will eat while on a Safari in Uganda? Be sure to check out our Safari Food Page.
Uganda is a country of many pleasant surprises, including the drinks and refreshments that 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 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.
