Go Fish!

Traveling to Samburu our Gate 1 Travel, Discovery Small Group Tour stopped for lunch at the Trout Tree Restaurant.

Buried off the road in a deep cluster of trees is a Sacred Fig tree with a restaurant built into it, it looks like an incredible treehouse.

Heading down the steep winding stone stairs are a small gift shop, restrooms, and an outdoor kitchen with grill for cooking their specialty fresh, farm raised trout.

We were greeted at the top of the stairs by these incredible black and white Colobus monkeys, who not only hang out in the trees near the parking lot but seem to try to climb along the roof of the restaurant only to be chased away by staff.

The restaurant is all open air, built right into the tree with broad views of the property and river below.

Looking down from the rustic wooden tables you see huge round trout tanks, where they farm raise their own trout. You can watch staff sprinkle food on the top of the water, followed by a fish frenzy and the staff scooping them out with a net the size of a large trash bag. The trout were weighed, and smaller trout returned to the ponds.

While a majority of our group had the house specialty, trout, we had several other selections to choose from including local grilled steak, pasta, or curry.

I started with the Avocado Slices served with a Spicy Vinaigrette, it looked more like Catalina dressing with a little bite, but the avocado slices were ripe and full of flavor.

Chuck ordered the Soup of the Day, a Creamy Vegetable Soup, unfortunately, it was filled with carrots so that got passed over to me.

Chuck, ordering first, asked for the trout with no head. The rest of our table was really excited to hear we could order it that way, and everyone followed suit. The trout was pan seared on a hot griddle in the outdoor kitchen and served with a few Roasted Potatoes and some Sautéed Kale. Melted Butter and a squeeze of lime were all these fresh caught fish needed.

Following lunch we all headed back up the hill for some additional photos of the monkeys, we also saw several Tree Hyrax on the way back up and encountered a screaming woman who came running out of the gift shop after seeing a giant black snake in the corner.

OBVIOUSLY, neither Chuck nor I would get close enough to see the snake or get a picture!

We all packed up in our safari vehicles and headed off toward the Samburu National Reserve and our first night at Samburu Intrepids Luxury Tent Camps.