Glatt Safaris Keeps Kosher Cooking Alive on Safari
How do you serve a Glatt Kosher meal at a game lodge that sits hours from the nearest Kosher shop? That is the question Glatt Safaris fields more than any other, and with the Tishrei chagim now behind them and South African spring underway, Torah observant families are once again mapping out the year ahead. So the Johannesburg based operator has decided to pull back the curtain on its kitchen, laying out the whole process from the ingredients it brings in to the pop-up kitchens it assembles on location.
The business dates back to 2013, when Chanan Green, a frum Israeli South African, put together a safari for family members travelling from Israel and realised just how difficult it was for religious travellers to find trips that treated kashrut as a priority. Mainstream tours simply had no Kosher track, while the Kosher tours on the market often paid little attention to the quality of the food and could carry a steep price tag. Green built the company to fill exactly that space.
Bringing the kitchen to the bush
In Cape Town and Johannesburg, Kosher restaurants can handle the catering. The bush is a different story, and with no restaurants anywhere nearby, Glatt Safaris simply carries the whole operation along. It flies in its own food, its own chefs and its own mashgichim, then builds temporary Kosher kitchens at whatever lodge the group is based in. The ingredients are all imported and Kosher, and guests are free to examine them first-hand.
Every meal is three courses, Kosher le'mehadrin and supervised by the Cape Town Beth Din, carrying Badatz Cape Town approval. Because a mashgiach accompanies the group, the supervision never lapses once the tour has left the city. Travellers who once lugged tins of food through airports out of kashrut concerns are told plainly: those days are over.
Gourmet, not just Kosher
Glatt Safaris flatly rejects the notion that Kosher travel food must be bland. Its carefully chosen chefs are specialists in Mediterranean and South African cuisine, and the menus feature plates such as grilled lamb chops, roasted whole baby marrow, matbucha and Israeli salad. Special diets, vegan and vegetarian among them, are catered for on request.
Everything is included in the service. It begins with freshly ground coffee in the morning and ends with a gourmet dinner, and sandwiches and snacks are packed for the long days out. Before dawn on safari mornings, guests wake for coffee and biscuits, head out on the opening game drive and come back to a proper meal. Each Kosher Safari the company operates is built around that daily cycle of food, prayer and game viewing.
Shabbos and the religious calendar
The food is just one piece of what Glatt Safaris lifts off its travellers' shoulders. The company organises minyanim, a Sefer Torah, access to a mikveh, places for netilat yadayim, Kiddush wine and Shabbat candles, so that nobody has to scramble to round up a tenth man somewhere in the middle of Africa.
On the group itineraries, Shabbos takes place in Cape Town. Guests are back at the hotel three hours ahead of candle lighting, enjoy an unhurried Friday night dinner and, come Shabbos morning, walk to a shul near the hotel. A Shabbos meal follows davening, along with Shalosh Seudot and Melave Malka, keeping the weekly rhythm intact even on the opposite side of the globe.
Private trips and flexible catering
Group departures come in two forms. The Silver Track remains inside South Africa, covering 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. Public tours carry groups of between 20 and 40 people.
Families who would rather travel independently can have Glatt Safaris design a private tour shaped by their budget, food preferences and interests, and the catering is part of that decision. One family might economise on accommodation and order pre-packaged Kosher meals, freeing up the budget for extra destinations and attractions. Another might book a private reserve or VIP retreat with a personal chef preparing their favourite dishes, covering fewer places at an easier pace. Honeymoons, family holidays and anniversary trips are all arranged this way, with every Kosher Tour built from the ground up.
Private routes can take in Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe and Zambia border, Chobe National Park in Botswana, Cape Town, the Garden Route, Kruger National Park, private reserves where the Big Five are regularly spotted, and Madikwe, a malaria-free reserve the company suggests for those on their first safari.
Why the planning starts now
Now that the chagim have passed, October is the month when many families turn their attention forward and lock in travel dates for the year to come. On a Kosher trip, booking early counts for even more. Kitchens, chefs, mashgichim and imported supplies must all be slotted into the route, and private itineraries especially rely on knowing exactly where the family will be each day so the catering can keep pace.
Describing itself as a lean boutique operator backed by strong supplier relationships, the company says this is what lets it hold prices down without giving ground on kashrut or quality. Its stated conviction is that every frum family deserves the chance to experience Africa on a Glatt Kosher safari. Accommodation spans three, four and five star hotels through to private reserves and VIP retreats, and the team leans on domestic flights wherever they save time, with VIP assistance at border crossings between countries.
The local guides at Glatt Safaris are recognised for how well they know the wildlife and landscapes of each region, while the company's director manages the on-the-ground logistics, everything from hotel check-ins to arranging minyanim. Families weighing up Kosher Safaris are welcome to reach out to the team directly with any questions on kashrut, medical matters or the specifics of a given route, through its offices in New York, London, Jerusalem and South Africa.
Complete information on the group tracks, private tours and Kosher catering 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 headquartered in Johannesburg. It operates Glatt Kosher gourmet safari and holiday tours throughout South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, 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 alongside each group, and minyanim and Shabbos arrangements are built into every trip.
Media Contact
Glatt Safaris
Email: info@glattsafaris.com
Phone: +27 21 300 1844
Website: https://www.glattsafaris.com/