Families who keep Torah observance now have a firm calendar to build around: Glatt Safaris has released the group departure windows for its 2027 season, and with September only just underway, there is ample 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 because these dates land so far in advance, the documentation side of the journey, which travellers routinely underestimate, can be worked through without pressure.
Confirmed dates fall under two group tracks. The Gold Track departs 15 February 2027 and returns 25 February 2027, matching 8 Adar 1 to 18 Adar 1, and offers a second slot from 16 August 2027 to 26 August 2027, which is 13 Av to 23 Av. The Silver Track departs 15 February 2027 and returns 22 February 2027, or 8 Adar 1 to 15 Adar 1, and has its own August option running 16 August 2027 to 23 August 2027, or 13 Av to 20 Av. Each track shows the Hebrew dates next to the civil ones, a detail that helps families weigh a departure against yahrzeits, chagim and school terms before signing on.
Releasing the schedule so early is the practical side of what is on offer. A public tour carries between 20 and 40 guests, so a family booking as a group has to know the window in order to lock in international flights, and no one wants to book an international flight to Johannesburg more than once.
What the Gold Track covers
Spanning eleven days, the Gold Track is the border-crossing itinerary, taking in South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana with five star hotels throughout. It begins 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. Next comes a flight 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 full Shabbos in town 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 where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans converge, boards a boat to Seal Island, and follows the coastal road to the Cape of Good Hope and the penguin rookery. Next the itinerary heads north to Victoria Falls, sails the Zambezi River to sunset, and takes in the falls from both the Zambian and Zimbabwean sides. On this Kosher Tour Victoria Falls appears twice, once on foot through the rainforest beneath the spray and once from above on the helicopter ride known as the Flight of Angels. An elephant ride accompanied by the Indunas, plus a crossing into Botswana’s Chobe National Park, celebrated for its elephant numbers, close out the eleven days ahead of the flight home.
What the Silver Track covers
Staying within South Africa, the Silver Track runs one day shorter. It begins with a private safari at the Lion Park just outside Johannesburg, then continues to Kruger National Park, a reserve the company says holds more animal species than any other, with 150 mammals, upward of 500 birds and 100 reptiles. Guests spend two full days on game drives before flying to Cape Town.
The Cape portion adds the Stellenbosch wine route with a tasting at a private estate winery, along with 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. For anyone visiting the continent for the first time, the Silver route is the tidier choice, being one country, two domestic flights and no border crossings, yet it still delivers the Big Five and the Cape.
Private tours for families working to their own calendar
A group window does not suit every family. In addition to the two tracks, Glatt Safaris builds private itineraries throughout South and East Africa, tailored to budget, interests and pace, which is the customary choice for honeymoons, anniversaries and multi generation family trips. Private guests choose the accommodation tier, ranging from three, four and five star hotels up to private reserves and VIP retreats, and decide how to allocate the spend. One family might economise on hotels and take pre packaged Kosher meals so they can reach more destinations, while another might invest in a private reserve with a personal chef and see fewer places at an easier rhythm.
Private routes can include the Garden Route along the east coast, Cape Town and Table Mountain, Kruger Park, Botswana’s Chobe National Park, Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe and Zambia border, and Madikwe Safari Reserve. Madikwe frequently comes up for first time safari goers, both because its terrain delivers varied game viewing and photography and 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 the same kashrut standard. Guests are served three Kosher le’mehadrin meals daily 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.
Within Cape Town and Johannesburg, Kosher restaurants can provide the meals. Out in remote areas the company brings in its own food, chefs and mashgichim, establishes temporary Kosher kitchens and works with imported Kosher ingredients that guests may inspect. Rather than leaving them to the traveller, religious needs are built into the tour, covering minyanim, a Sefer Torah, mikveh access, spots for netilat yadayim, Kiddush wine and Shabbat candles. The meals run to three courses, cooked by chefs in Mediterranean and South African styles, and vegan, vegetarian and other special diets are accommodated on request.
Why the lead time is the point
Reserving a year out involves more than seats. Passports have to stay valid for six months beyond the trip and hold three blank pages, which for a family of six means a queue at Home Affairs or a consulate instead of a quick afternoon’s admin. Vaccination queries belong with a traveller’s own health department well ahead of time. Insurance is best bought at registration instead of later, so that any cancellation on unexpected medical grounds falls inside the policy terms.
Families with children need even more runway. South African rules in effect since 1 June 2015 for anyone under 18 arriving in, departing from or transiting the country impose documentation requirements, and the company keeps the relevant paperwork on hand at its offices for guests who need it. Beginning that process in September for a February departure, rather than in January, is what separates a routine task from a last minute crisis.
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. Outside the price are international flights into Johannesburg and home from Cape Town or Victoria Falls, along with medical and luggage insurance, personal spending and optional add-ons such as Robben Island. Gold Track guests should further allow for the entry visa paid on arrival in Zimbabwe and Zambia. The company points out that shifts in flight prices move the price per traveller, one more reason early planning usually works to a family’s advantage.
Anyone comparing a group departure with a private itinerary can look at both, together with full day by day schedules for each track, on the Glatt Safaris website at https://www.glattsafaris.com/.
About Glatt Safaris
Glatt Safaris is a South African tour operator started in 2013 by Chanan Green, a frum Israeli South African who took up organising trips after putting together a safari for relatives visiting from Israel. Registered as Glatt Safaris (PTY) LTD and located at 48 Orchard Road in Johannesburg, the company operates Glatt Kosher gourmet safari and holiday tours across South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, on public Gold and Silver tracks as well as fully customised private itineraries. Its Kosher Safaris hold Badatz Cape Town approval, with three Kosher le’mehadrin meals each day supervised by the Cape Town Beth Din, a mashgiach travelling alongside the group, and minyanim and Shabbos arrangements woven into the schedule. The company keeps contact lines running in New York, London, Jerusalem and South Africa.
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Glatt Safaris
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +27 21 300 1844
Website: https://www.glattsafaris.com/
