SUNDOWNER, AFRICAN STYLE

When we were staying in the bush camps in Africa in 2011 we learned of a very special custom that was done daily  while we were out on a game drive.  It soon became something everyone looked forward to every evening .

We started our incredible journey in Kruger National Park in South Africa.  There were ten of us in our group staying in Pafuri Camp in the northernmost corner of Kruger along the Limpopo River.

The daily routine was such that we would all gather together at 5:30 am (!!!) in the morning for much-needed coffee and a light snack.  The morning game drive began at 6:00 am, stopping for a mid-morning coffee/tea break next to the vehicle and a visit to the nearby bushes.  

We usually were back at camp around 10:00 am for a hearty brunch and then free time until the afternoon.  In the afternoon we had many different speakers throughout the trip talking about a wide variety of topics from very controversial subjects such as the AIDS epidemic and sex, to learning about the animals, the geography, marriage customs, etc.  

Refreshments were served at 3:30 pm, and afterwards we were all back in the Land Cruiser for the evening game drive.  Our big surprise was that every evening as the sun was starting to set we would stop wherever we were in the bush for a “Sundowner”.  Our guide attached a tray onto the front grill of the Land Cruiser and set up his “bar”.  We all partook of a glass of wine or beer as we watched the absolutely gorgeous African sunsets night after night.  This was something we all looked forward to and enjoyed each evening.

However, one night while we were in Kruger we had stopped for our sundowner and there was a small problem, though none of the ten of us were aware of it.  Bryan, our local guide, was busy setting up his bar when he stopped and asked each of the 5 couples if they could empty one of their plastic water bottles and give it to him.  It seems in our departure from the camp Bryan had forgotten to bring the wine glasses!  So there we were with wine and beer and no way to drink the beverages.  As the saying goes…..”Necessity is the mother of invention” Bryan quickly solved our problem.  Taking a plastic bottle and screwing the top back on, he used his pocket knife and cut the bottle in half.  Viola - two drinking glasses!  My husband used his pocket knife and made us two glasses from our bottle, and soon all ten of us, with plastic water bottle glasses in hand, were giving a toast to Bryan and his ingenuity.  Our sundowner was saved!

In our 15 days in bush camps we shared many, many sundowners together, getting to know each other and watching the most amazing sunsets I’ve ever seen.

To this day, 7 years later, my husband and I still call our happy hour a “sundowner”.