Safari Sundowner Cocktails

The Land Rover bumps along a dirt road as we chase the setting sun back to Kibale Lodge. We’ve just enjoyed an exhilarating hour with a family of chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda, recognized as the primate capital of the world.

After trekking for an hour with a guide and trackers, we came across a chimp napping on the forest floor. Soon, like in a scene from Planet of the Apes, we were surrounded by confident males, a group of females with a baby, and a young upstart seeking alpha status by shrieking, running through the woods, and hefting his weight around tree branches. 

With adrenaline still surging, I look forward to relaxing on the lodge’s patio, and Volcanoes Safaris’ new luxury property accommodates this desire.

Our group of five trekkers is greeted with a tray of Kibale Sunset cocktails—a delightful whiskey drink with a splash of lemon juice and red wine—while personal butlers remove muddy gaiters and hiking boots and whisk them away. As the sky fades to indigo behind the Rwenzori Mountains, I reflect on the day’s adventures with new friends while enjoying my first sundowner cocktail in Uganda.

“As the sun sets, it is a beautiful time of day to sit on the verandah and enjoy the views,” says Tonny Kayanja, Kibale Lodge manager. “What better way to do this than with a delicious drink?”

A “sundowner” is an alcoholic beverage enjoyed at sunset in Africa to signify the end of the workday. However, during British Colonial rule in the 19th and 20th centuries, sundowners had a practical purpose: malaria prevention. Quinine, a bitter-tasting anti-malarial, was combined with tonic water to create a medicinal, albeit unpalatable, mixture.

“To make it taste better, British officers began adding gin, sugar and lime to the tonic water, creating the classic gin and tonic cocktail,” says Joachim Hhawu, lodge manager at &Beyond Lake Manyara Tree Lodge in Tanzania. “This drink became popular and was later adopted by the local population, who would gather to enjoy a gin and tonic as the sun set. The ritual became known as ‘sundowner,’ a term that now refers to the cocktail and the social gathering that accompanies it.”

Over time, the sundowner tradition was introduced to big game hunters traveling to Africa in search of the Big 5. More recently, it has been embraced by camera-toting tourists like me. Now, sundowners signify the end of a safari or, in Uganda, an ape trek.

Across the continent, safari lodges have elevated the sundowner experience to an art form. When I visited Lake Manyara, Tanzania, with my husband, our guide from &Beyond cleverly entertained us for half an hour by pointing out a group of hippos wallowing in a mud hole. When we returned to the jeep, an elaborate pop-up bush bar had been set up next to the vehicle. G&Ts followed.

Another travel writer I know was paddling a dugout canoe in the Okavango Delta when she stumbled upon a bar in the middle of the water. Most evenings during her Botswana safari, the guide would take a “wrong turn” that led to an extravagant sundowner setup in an impossibly remote location.

Not to be outdone, guests staying at Ol Malo Lodge in Laikipia, Kenya, can take to the sky in search of nature’s ideal cocktail locale. 

“We encourage a late afternoon helicopter tour, planned to deliver you to the perfect spot just in time for the most dreamy sundowner,” says Lucy Beveridge, a safari expert with Go2Africa. 

As the sundowner experience has undergone an upgrade, so too have the drinks available. Throughout my seven-day gorilla and chimpanzee safari, I become significantly more adventurous than just a standard G&T.

After a spectacular day hiking to see chimps and hippos in Kyambura Gorge, followed by a boat cruise in Kazinga Channel to search for elephants and Nile crocodiles, I try a Dawa, a drink whose name means “medicine” in Swahili.

The potent mix of vodka, honey, and lime—sipped as the savannah fades to pink—is the perfect antidote to work out the kinks from the daily “Ugandan massage” (bouncing over bumpy roads in a Land Rover).

But it’s the final drink—and ape—that leaves the biggest impression. At Bwindi Lodge, we celebrate a successful gorilla trek with a round of Gorillinis. This vodka and passion fruit martini is the signature cocktail at the nearby Bwindi Bar, which offers training and job opportunities for youth from the local community.

The lodge and the bar are adjacent to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, which is home to 459 endangered mountain gorillas, including the family of 17 we had just spent a magical hour following through the forest. 

I’m still jittery after being an arm’s length away from a silverback, and the Gorillini does wonders to calm my nerves as we reflect on and toast our week in Uganda. 

We’ve spent time with some of our closest ape relatives, witnessed bull elephants engage in play-fighting, observed a chimp make off with a colobus monkey, and marveled at male lions basking in the sun. As they say in Uganda, tusemererwe hamu—Cheers!  

This enormous extinct volcano in Africa’s Rift Valley is home to the Big 5. Watching the sky turn violet from the crater rim, dawa cocktail in hand, is nearly as unforgettable as the lions and rhinos below. 

Some of the world’s tallest sand dunes reach heights of 1,000 feet in Namibia’s arid desert. Look for ostriches and springboks while toasting a fiery sunset that turns the sand into shades of burnished orange and red.

The 25-mile-long channel between two lakes in Queen Elizabeth National Park hosts one of the world’s largest concentrations of hippos. Spot them during a sunset safari cruise, and also see elephants and possibly a Nile crocodile. 

What’s more surprising than canoeing past elephants? Paddling to a pop-up bar in the heart of Botswana’s inland delta. Savor a cocktail while the guide spots vibrant birds and the setting sun turns the water as golden as the sky.

Perched 1,000 feet above the Maasai Mara grasslands, this breathtaking panorama gained fame through its appearance in scenes from the movie Out of Africa. Enjoying a G&T here while wildebeest stroll across the plains below adds a touch of Hollywood to any safari.

Ingredients (serves 1)

• 1 2/3 oz passion fruit puree
• 1/3 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 2/3 oz Absolut vodka
• 3/4 oz triple sec
• 1/3 oz simple syrup
• Fresh passion fruit slice garnish

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a fresh passion fruit slice.

—Courtesy Bwindi Bar

Ingredients (serves 1)

• 1 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 oz Jack Daniel’s whiskey
• Splash red wine

Combine lemon juice and whiskey in a cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Strain into a rocks glass and top with a splash of red wine for the desired sunset color.

—Courtesy Volcanoes Safaris Kibale Lodge

Ingredients (serves 1)

• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 oz vodka
• 1 whole lime, quartered, with skin on

Put lime and sugar into a whiskey tumbler and add honey. Muddle lime gently, dissolving sugar and honey with lime juice. Add ice and vodka. Stir with a bar spoon.

—Courtesy of Volcanoes Safaris, Kyambura Gorge Lodge