How do you serve a Glatt Kosher meal at a game reserve that sits hours away from the nearest Kosher shop? That is the question Glatt Safaris fields more than any other, and the Johannesburg based operator is now laying out the full answer. With the Tishrei chagim finished and spring settling over South Africa, Torah observant families are turning their attention to the year ahead, and the company is explaining exactly how it works, from the ingredients it brings in to the temporary kitchens it assembles out on the road.
The business dates back to 2013, when Chanan Green, a frum Israeli South African, put together a safari for family members visiting from Israel. The experience showed him how difficult it was for religious travellers to find trips that treated kashrut as a priority. Mainstream tours carried no Kosher option, while the Kosher tours on offer were often costly and paid little attention to the quality of the food. Green built Glatt Safaris to fill that gap.
Bringing the kitchen to the bush
Within Cape Town and Johannesburg, Kosher restaurants can supply the meals. The bush is a different matter, and with no restaurants anywhere nearby, Glatt Safaris carries the entire operation with it. The team flies in its own food, its own chefs and its own mashgichim, then builds temporary Kosher kitchens at wherever the group happens to be staying. Every ingredient is imported Kosher, and guests are free to examine them for themselves.
Each meal is three courses, Kosher le’mehadrin and supervised by the Cape Town Beth Din, carrying Badatz Cape Town approval. A mashgiach accompanies the group throughout, so the supervision never lapses once the tour heads out of the city. To anyone who has spent earlier holidays lugging tins of food through airport terminals over kashrut concerns, the company’s point is simple: that is no longer something you need to do.
Gourmet, not just Kosher
Glatt Safaris flatly rejects the notion that Kosher travel food must be bland. Its handpicked chefs are specialists in Mediterranean and South African cuisine, and the menus feature dishes like grilled lamb chops, roasted whole baby marrow, matbucha and Israeli salad. Special requests, vegan and vegetarian diets included, are all accommodated by the kitchen.
Everything is included in the service. The day starts with freshly ground morning coffee and ends with a gourmet dinner, and sandwiches and treats are packed for the long stretches on the road. Before dawn on safari mornings, guests enjoy coffee and biscuits ahead of the first game drive, then come back to a full meal. Each Kosher Safari the company runs is shaped around this daily cycle of food, prayer and game viewing.
Shabbos and the religious calendar
Meals represent just one of the burdens Glatt Safaris lifts from its travellers. The company organises minyanim, a Sefer Torah, access to a mikveh, places for netilat yadayim, Kiddush wine and Shabbat candles. Nobody on the trip should ever have to scramble for a tenth man somewhere in the middle of Africa.
On the group itineraries, Shabbos takes place in Cape Town. Three hours before Shabbos begins the group heads back to the hotel, enjoys an unhurried Friday night dinner and, come Shabbos morning, walks to a shul near the hotel. A Shabbos meal follows davening, along with Shalosh Seudot and Melave Malka, keeping the weekly rhythm intact even at the other end of the earth.
Private trips and flexible catering
The group departures come in two forms. The Silver Track remains inside South Africa and covers Kruger National Park, the Winelands, whale watching at Hermanus, Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope. The Gold Track extends into Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, taking in Victoria Falls and Chobe National Park. These public tours carry groups of between 20 and 40 people.
Families who would rather travel independently can have Glatt Safaris design a private tour around their own budget, food preferences and interests. Catering forms part of those decisions. A family might economise on accommodation and order pre-packaged Kosher meals, freeing up the budget for additional destinations and attractions. Alternatively, they can book a private reserve or VIP retreat with a personal chef preparing the dishes they love, covering fewer places at a gentler pace. Honeymoons, family holidays and anniversary trips are arranged in this way, and every Kosher Tour is built from the ground up.
A private route might take in Victoria Falls on the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia, Chobe National Park in Botswana, Cape Town, the Garden Route, Kruger National Park, private reserves where the Big Five are a regular sight, and Madikwe, a malaria-free reserve the company suggests for anyone on a first safari.
Why the planning starts now
Now that the chagim have passed, October is the month when many families map out the year ahead and lock in travel dates. On a Kosher trip, booking early carries even more weight than usual. Kitchens, chefs, mashgichim and imported supplies must all be coordinated around the route, and private itineraries especially rely on knowing where the family will be each day so the catering can keep pace.
Describing itself as a lean boutique operator with strong supplier relationships, the company says this is what lets it hold prices down while never cutting corners on kashrut or quality. Its position is that every frum family deserves the opportunity to experience Africa on a Glatt Kosher safari. Accommodation spans three, four and five star hotels, private reserves and VIP retreats, and the team relies on domestic flights where they save time, with VIP assistance for border crossings between countries.
The local guides at Glatt Safaris are recognised for their command of the wildlife and landscape in each region, while the company’s director manages the on-the-ground logistics, from hotel check-ins to arranging minyanim. Families weighing up Kosher Safaris can reach the team directly with any questions about kashrut, medical matters or the specifics of a given route, via its offices in New York, London, Jerusalem and South Africa.
Complete information on the group tracks, private tours and Kosher catering arrangements can be found at https://www.glattsafaris.com/.
About Glatt Safaris
Glatt Safaris is a South African tour operator established in 2013 by Chanan Green and based in Johannesburg. The company offers Glatt Kosher gourmet safari and holiday tours throughout South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, delivered on group Gold and Silver tracks as well as fully customised private itineraries. Meals are Kosher le’mehadrin and supervised by the Cape Town Beth Din, chefs and mashgichim travel with every group, and minyanim and Shabbos arrangements are part of each trip.
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Email: info@glattsafaris.com
Phone: +27 21 300 1844
Website: https://www.glattsafaris.com/
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