Safaris are about connections. Connection to nature, to the wilderness, to yourself, to your new safari friends. That’ right, your new safari friends. No one leaves a safari camp without new safari friends, not even the honeymooners, and especially not those who’ve embarked on a solo travel adventure.
You might well arrive a free spirit, but tearing through the bush aboard a game drive vehicle, watching African wild dogs whip themselves into a pre-hunt frenzy, and oohing and aahing together as a baby giraffe teeters and topples on its ungainly limbs, will forge bonds stronger than any mutual friend or shared casual interest.
It’s in the evenings though, as the sun sinks into the horizon, gin as clear as the Delta itself is poured, and the communal dining table is set for dinner that these daytime connections are truly etched into your safari experience.
That communal dining table is key. It envelops travellers from all backgrounds, cultures and corners of the globe and sits them equally to feast together.
The game drive vehicles are about sharing experiences and sightings, but the dining table is where these stories and recollections are shared. Here, those who arrived alone, intrepid enough to throw themselves into solo travel, meet kindred spirits over the bread starter, couples pick up travel tips, and parents of teenagers take sage advice from seasoned parents. Anyone with an emerging interest in photography and a new camera is almost certain to find an experienced shutterbug ready to mentor them through their time in camp – binoculars too offer surprising bonding time!
Travellers arrive at camp alone for a great many reasons. Some couldn’t sync dates with friends, others are newly divorced and pushing themselves beyond comfort zones, another may have reached an age where they’ve decided it’s ‘now or never’, then there are those who simply prefer it, and like to dictate where and when they go without compromising for travel companions.
Those who might otherwise have spent the evening alone, doomscrolling or nervously flicking the pages of a book, yearning for bedtime, will instead find welcome company at the table. Part of the joy of solo travel is that it allows you to connect to those you might not otherwise have engaged with. No awkwardness, because everyone’s together.
As glasses clink and dishes are complimented, sightings will be compared. Those who’ve been on safari before will offer suggestions to those venturing into the wilderness for the first time. Most are coming from camps and moving on to others, allowing guests to compare and contrast their favourite places to visit. Favourite guides are recommended and upcoming destinations discussed. Oftentimes future travel plans are drawn up right there, around the lantern-lit table.
The evening dances on, with occasional interruptions as wildlife ambles through the bush around camp, and owls are identified in the trees. Conversation becomes lively as new friends learn more about one another and in-jokes are gradually developed.
The communal dining table becomes a home, with the family of travellers each taking their place, each bringing their own qualities and light to proceedings.
Rather than dinner being a time to be endured, this collective table lets everyone truly relax, take longer to enjoy their meal and savour their drinks, as conversation flows and formalities fade away to be replaced by familiarity.
The sense of safari immersion is amplified. Everyone at the table will bring something different. Someone will have visited before, another will know the history of the place intimately. There’ll be someone who loves the art and another who understands the politics. The person to your left might be passionate about the community and conservation work of the lodge, and to your right there could be an interior designer, desperate to replicate the communal dining table in their own home.
And a home this will become. From this family dining table, some will retire for the night ready for an early wake up call, and others will continue to the next logical phase of communal dining – the campfire. Wines are exchanged for spirits, “one for the road” is a common cry, and the magic of a night in Africa is embodied by star-studded skies above you and a crackling fire at your feet.
Come morning, greetings are not between strangers, but between old friends, ready to set out together on the next great adventure.
If you’re ready to embrace the grand safari tradition of communal dining, we suggest booking at Jack’s Camp, San Camp, Camp Kalahari, Mbamba, Duke’s Camp, Duke’s East or Meno a Kwena where communal tables await.
