While African safaris are famed for their big game, dining on safari is just as exciting, with food presented like works of art: Desirable and delectable. It astounds first-time visitors from abroad asking “how do they do it in the middle of nowhere?” Nowhere being a corner in a vast national park teeming with wildlife.

At the “nowhere” at Finch Hattons, the luxury tented camp, my novice safari guests study the menu for the day in amazement. It’s the day for Far East Asian cuisine. Other days feature Swahili, Indian, Mediterranean or Continental with guests filling out a questionnaire before they arrive; would they like vegan, gluten-free, nut-free, halal or anything that’s not on the list.

With a cool breeze blowing through the open plan dining area on the edge of the lawn where resident crocodiles bask under the sign “do not go beyond this point” — I wonder if they can read, before realising it was meant for the intruders, humans — a few feet away a hippo, a resident male, lounges in the middle of the freshwater spring pool. The water comes from the porous lava hills of the nearby volcanic Chyulu range.

Our food arrives, served by elegant waiters and waitresses – reminiscent of the Finch Hatton days, when he took wealthy guests on safari, complete with a retinue of cooks, porters and private valets even in the absence of permanent camps in the “middle of nowhere.”

We had an appetiser of cheese and potato fritters, followed by fresh leek and potato soup with a hint of mint, accompanied by freshly baked bread.

A dessert of Pistaccio Finch Meringue at the Finch Hattons Tsavo West. PHOTO | RUPI MANGAT

“We take food very seriously,” says Doreen Kavuli, the sous-chef at Finch Hattons. I wonder how she looks so cool and fit, emerging from the kitchen. Her resume shows she has worked with renowned chefs in the country, including the safari food TV personality Kiran Jethwa.

“Our menus are drawn from the feedback we get from our guests,” she said. “Some have light, some have big appetites, some want eastern while others want Swahili food.”

So when the Vietnamese summer roll is served, my eyes ogle at the colours while my nose savours the scent of herbs and spices.

“We are given the opportunity to create our own dishes like your platter,” she explained. Every dish goes through a testing phase before it put on the menu.

My summer roll is summery. I can taste the finely chopped carrots, cucumber, lettuce and mango with mint and coriander sprinkled with rice vinegar simmered in water, sugar, soya sauce and a hint of red chillie, all rolled up in rice paper and served on a tangy Thai sauce that tickles the taste buds further.

It’s perfect for a hot summer lunch. But there’s more to follow. The dessert is a compliment to the snow-capped Kilimanjaro towering in the skyline to the south. It’s a pistachio meringue parfait topped with Belgian chocolate and blueberries. There is also an assortment of Kenyan cheeses and a chocolate Finch gelato, again; “how do they do this in the middle of nowhere?” comes to mind.

The indulgence and decadent eating begs for a siesta in the chandelier-lit canvas abode. And then it’s time for the evening game-drive. And voila! after the wildlife, a marquee appears in the sun-kissed savannah grasses.

It’s time for a sundowner with a selection of cocktails and mojitos and a platter of cheese toasting to Mt Kilimanjaro, glowing in the golden embers of the evening African sun.

A slow drive back to the camp, we shine our eyes in the darkness to be ushered in for dining under the stars on the upper deck. The feast is of Red Snapper brought in from the coast and an assortment of desserts. I wash all down with freshly brewed home coffee as I dream of breakfast at sunrise.

While on safari, be prepared. Safari cuisine is as exciting as the wildlife, savour it. You will count the calories when you get back home.