Glatt Safaris Locks In 2027 Kosher Safari Dates for Planners
Families who keep Torah can now lock in their 2027 travel around a set schedule, because Glatt Safaris has released the group departure windows for next season, and September leaves plenty of runway to sort out leave, flights and school holidays. Operating out of Johannesburg, the company runs Glatt Kosher gourmet African safari and holiday tours through South Africa and East Africa, and with the dates out this early, the documentation side of a trip, the piece most travellers tend to misjudge, can be worked through without pressure.
Confirmed dates sit on two group tracks. The Gold Track departs 15 February 2027 and returns 25 February 2027, which falls on 8 Adar 1 to 18 Adar 1, with a further run from 16 August 2027 to 26 August 2027, or 13 Av to 23 Av. The Silver Track departs 15 February 2027 and returns 22 February 2027, covering 8 Adar 1 to 15 Adar 1, and offers its own August slot from 16 August 2027 to 23 August 2027, that is 13 Av to 20 Av. Each track shows its Hebrew dates next to the civil ones, a detail that counts for families measuring a departure against yahrzeits, chagim and school terms before they sign up.
Getting the calendar out a year ahead is the practical side of the offering. A public tour carries between 20 and 40 guests, so a family hoping to book together has to know the window before any international flights are reserved, and a long-haul flight into Johannesburg is not something anyone cares to book a second time.
What the Gold Track covers
The Gold Track spans eleven days and crosses several borders, moving through South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, with five star hotels throughout. Things begin at Kruger National Park, where game drives are scheduled for the early morning and late afternoon stretches when lions, leopards and antelope are on the move, and where guests overnight in a private game reserve. A flight then brings the group to Cape Town for Table Mountain, a city tour covering Company's Garden, Bo Kaap, the Jewish Museum of South Africa and Greenmarket Square, and a complete Shabbos in the city, with a walk to a nearby shul, an unhurried Friday night meal, Shalosh Seudot and Melave Malka.
Leaving Cape Town, the group heads to the Cape Peninsula at the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, boards a boat to Seal Island and follows the coast road to the Cape of Good Hope and the penguin rookery. Next comes a flight north to Victoria Falls, a Zambezi River cruise that runs to sunset, and views of the falls from the Zambian and Zimbabwean sides alike. On this Kosher Tour, Victoria Falls features in two ways, walked on foot through the rainforest beneath the spray and seen from above on the helicopter trip known as the Flight of Angels. An elephant ride with the attending Indunas, plus a crossing into Botswana's Chobe National Park, well known for its elephants, close out the eleven days before the journey home.
What the Silver Track covers
The Silver Track stays within South Africa and runs one day shorter. It starts with a private safari at the Lion Park just outside Johannesburg, then heads to Kruger National Park, which the company describes as home to more animal species than any other reserve, counting 150 mammals, over 500 birds and 100 reptiles. Game drives fill two full days before the group flies on to Cape Town.
The Cape portion brings in the Stellenbosch wine route, with a tasting at a private estate winery, and a whale watching boat trip out of Hermanus. Table Mountain, the Cape of Good Hope, Seal Island and the penguins come next, and Shabbos is once more kept in Cape Town. As a first visit to the continent, the Silver route is the tidier choice, a single country, two domestic flights and no border crossings, yet it still takes in the Big Five and the Cape.
Private tours for families working to their own calendar
No group window suits every family. Beyond the two tracks, Glatt Safaris builds private itineraries throughout South and East Africa, tailored to budget, interests and pace, and this is the path usually taken for honeymoons, anniversaries and multi generation family trips. On a private trip, travellers choose the standard of accommodation, running from three, four and five star hotels up to private reserves and VIP retreats, and they decide how the budget is spent. One family might trim hotel costs and rely on pre packaged Kosher meals so they can reach more destinations, while another might pay for a private reserve with a personal chef and see fewer places at an easier pace.
Private routes can take in the Garden Route along the east coast, Cape Town and Table Mountain, Kruger Park, Chobe National Park in Botswana, Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe and Zambia border, and Madikwe Safari Reserve. Madikwe comes up often for first time safari goers, partly because its terrain offers varied game viewing and photography, and partly because it lies in a malaria free zone, which takes malaria precautions off the planning list for families with young children.
Kashrut arrangements on the road
Every Kosher Safari the company operates holds to one kashrut standard. Guests are served three Kosher le'mehadrin meals each day under Cape Town Beth Din supervision, and the company carries Badatz Cape Town approval, which reaches the hotels in use and the pre packaged meals taken on the road. A mashgiach accompanies the group and can be spoken to ahead of booking.
Across Cape Town and Johannesburg, meals may come from Kosher restaurants. Out in remote areas, the company flies in its own food, chefs and mashgichim, builds temporary Kosher kitchens and relies on imported Kosher ingredients that guests may inspect. Rather than leaving them to the traveller, the religious arrangements form part of the tour, taking in minyanim, a Sefer Torah, mikveh access, places for netilat yadayim, Kiddush wine and Shabbat candles. Meals come in three courses, cooked by chefs working in Mediterranean and South African styles, and vegan, vegetarian and other special diets are catered for on request.
Why the lead time is the point
A booking made a year out is about more than seats. Passports have to stay valid for a further six months beyond the trip and hold three blank pages, which for a family of six means a line at Home Affairs or a consulate rather than a quick afternoon's admin. Questions about immunisation ought to go to a traveller's own health department with time to spare. Insurance is best taken out at registration instead of later, so that a cancellation for unexpected medical reasons stays inside the policy terms.
Families with children need even more lead time. South African rules that have applied since 1 June 2015 to anyone under 18 entering, leaving or transiting the country bring documentation requirements, and the company keeps the paperwork guests may need on hand at its offices. Beginning that process in September for a February departure, rather than in January, turns what could be an emergency back into an ordinary administrative task.
What is included and what sits outside the price
Each group track covers the three daily Kosher le'mehadrin meals under Badatz Cape Town supervision, two domestic flights inside South Africa, luxury hotel accommodation, air conditioned tour buses, mineral water on board and entry fees to every reserve. International flights into Johannesburg and out from Cape Town or Victoria Falls fall outside the price, as do medical and luggage insurance, personal spending and optional add ons such as Robben Island. Gold Track guests should additionally set aside funds for the entry visa paid on arrival in Zimbabwe and Zambia. The company points out that shifting flight prices move the per traveller cost, one more reason early planning usually favours a family.
Anyone deciding between a group departure and a private itinerary can view both, together with the full day by day schedule for each track, on the Glatt Safaris website at https://www.glattsafaris.com/.
About Glatt Safaris
Founded in 2013 by Chanan Green, a frum Israeli South African who started arranging trips after putting together a safari for relatives visiting from Israel, Glatt Safaris is a South African tour operator. Registered as Glatt Safaris (PTY) LTD and located at 48 Orchard Road in Johannesburg, it runs Glatt Kosher gourmet safari and holiday tours across South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, on public Gold and Silver tracks and on fully customised private itineraries. Its Kosher Safaris carry Badatz Cape Town approval, with three Kosher le'mehadrin meals a day under Cape Town Beth Din supervision, a mashgiach travelling alongside the group, and minyanim and Shabbos arrangements built into the schedule. The company keeps contact lines in New York, London, Jerusalem and South Africa.
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Website: https://www.glattsafaris.com/