Beautiful sunsetBoma dinners are a component of all southern Africa safari lodges. What is a boma? A boma is a livestock enclosure or corral. For example, if a wildlife reserve were accepting new animals onto its property, it would keep the new animals inside a boma until they became acclimated to their new surroundings and were ready to be released onto the reserve. At safari lodges, the boma is a gathering place where guests meet for candlelit dinners in an open air atmosphere. Unlike in the US where corrals are built of wood fences, the boma is enclosed with tall reed walls. The presence of bomas at safari lodges is mostly for show these days, but they make enchanting dinner spots, lit up by lanterns, candles and a fire pit.
Our last night in South Africa, I was happy to FINALLY have my first ever boma dinner. I was on a bad boma schedule during my two weeks in Botswana and never experienced one. We also didn't hit the right night at Thornybush and Timbavati. Walking in to the boma at Dulini River Lodge, it immediately felt special. One long table, set beautifully with candles and surrounded by lanterns. Boma dinners almost always consist of a braai, which is a South African BBQ. A braai loosely entails grilling food over coals. Braaing is one of the few things in South Africa that cuts through cultural and racial lines. Regardless of language, race, or culture, the love of meat cooked over a wood fire is something that all South Africans share.
Boma dinners also usually involve some form of storytelling, song and dance. After our dinner of grilled everything, the staff of Dulini River Lodge gathered with drums to sing us traditional bush songs. Clad in striking attire, they began to dance in the sand of the boma. Eventually, they grabbed each of us by the hand to bring us into the fold. After we returned to our seats, we toasted the day's amazing wildlife sightings. The purpose of a boma dinner is to bring people together and make friends out of them, which certainly happened tonight.
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
2 days ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
2 days ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
1 week ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
1 week ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.