Eat out with elephants at Zambia's best new restaurant

The Elephant Café on the banks of the Zambezi is a wild treat, writes Shelley Seid

The food, good as it was, couldn't compete with the entertainment. And the food was very good. So good, in fact, that the Elephant Café has been named Zambia's best new restaurant, so good that we crossed the border from Zimbabwe to try it.

But the eggs Benedict - even with a foaming Hollandaise and basil-infused roasted tomatoes - was simply upstaged by Bop, Liwa and baby Nyami, three members of a herd of 10 elephants that we met, fed and interacted with.

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The elephants have been around a lot longer than the restaurant which opened in July last year. All hand-reared, they've grown up on land that opens into the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park. Most were orphans rescued from drought or from culling operations in the 1960s and 1970s.

Located on the banks of the Zambezi, and covered by a Bedouin tent, the café is set on a deck that juts out over the water. Tables covered in crisp linen get a front-row view of the water and occasional hippos; further back are leather chairs and plush sofas on kelims and Turkish rugs; colonial-style chandeliers hang from the tent's roof.

The elephants wander to and from the river's edge, baboons bounce about grooming one another and scavenging the elephants' treats; myriad birds chatter in the trees. It's a bit like walking onto the Out of Africa film set.

The genius in the kitchen is Annabel Hughes, a Kenyan-born writer/chef/eco activist who is passionate about sustainability, organic farming, foraging and purchasing as much produce as possible from small neighbouring farms.

She calls her fusion of Asian, Middle Eastern and European food "bush gourmet cuisine". It's sophisticated, complex and gorgeously presented. I wish I'd been able to have lunch as well - I might have eaten hummus made from mbwiila, a small groundnut that resembles a black-eyed pea, or mongongo nut, basil and nasturtium leaf ravioli. The pork belly also looked good.

The breakfast was an exotic fruit salad with wild nsumo (a small plum-like fruit), yoghurt and a mongongo nut crisp, eggs Benedict, or an African-Mexican fusion with salsa, beans, eggs and bacon.

The best way to reach what is essentially a piece of paradise (and it's included in the price) is by speedboat, which offers close encounters with crocs and, hippo and views that take your breath away.

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NEED TO KNOW

When to go? When your spirit, senses and soul need a lift.

What not to do? Rush.

What to drink? Anything you're offered. Don't ask for a soy latte if it's not on the menu. It's still a farm in the wild, after all.

How much do you need? A lot, but worth every penny. Speedboat and the meal cost $205 for breakfast, $230 for lunch, $190 for high tea and $230 for dinner.

Address: The Elephant Café, Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, Nakatindi Road, Livingstone, Zambia; e-mail zaminfo@safpar.com

• This article was originally published in The Times.