Glatt Safaris Sets 2027 Kosher Safari Dates for Planners

Families who keep Torah observance now have a firm set of dates to build a 2027 trip around, because Glatt Safaris has confirmed when its group departures leave next year. Announcing this in September leaves comfortable room to book leave, secure flights and line the trip up with school holidays. The operator, run out of Johannesburg, offers Glatt Kosher gourmet safari and holiday tours reaching across South Africa and East Africa, and by fixing the calendar so far in advance it lets travellers work through the documentation, the element people tend to misjudge, without any last minute pressure.

There are two group routes, each with locked dates. The Gold Track departs 15 February 2027 and returns 25 February 2027, which is 8 Adar 1 to 18 Adar 1, and runs again from 16 August 2027 to 26 August 2027, or 13 Av to 23 Av. The Silver Track leaves 15 February 2027 and comes back 22 February 2027, meaning 8 Adar 1 to 15 Adar 1, with an August option from 16 August 2027 to 23 August 2027, or 13 Av to 20 Av. Each route shows its Hebrew dates next to the civil ones, a detail that counts when families are lining a departure up against yahrzeits, chagim and school terms before they commit.

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 before it can lock in international flights, and a long haul flight into Johannesburg is not something anyone wants to arrange more than once.

What the Gold Track covers

Spanning eleven days, the Gold Track is the cross border itinerary, moving through 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, the hours when lions, leopards and antelope are on the move, and 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 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 where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans converge, boards a boat to Seal Island and follows the coast road down to the Cape of Good Hope and the penguin rookery. A flight north then reaches Victoria Falls, where a Zambezi River cruise runs until sundown and the falls are seen from the Zambian and Zimbabwean sides alike. On this Kosher Tour Victoria Falls features twice over, once on foot through the rainforest beneath the spray and once from above on the helicopter flight known as the Flight of Angels. Rounding off the eleven days before the journey home are an elephant ride with the accompanying Indunas and a crossing into Botswana's Chobe National Park, well known for its elephants.

What the Silver Track covers

Staying within South Africa, the Silver Track is one day shorter. It starts with a private safari at the Lion Park just outside Johannesburg, then heads to Kruger National Park, a reserve the operator says holds a greater variety of animals than any other, with 150 mammals, over 500 birds and 100 reptiles. Guests get two full days of game drives before flying to Cape Town.

The Cape portion brings in the Stellenbosch wine route with a tasting at a private estate winery, plus 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 a first visit to the continent, the Silver route is the tidier choice, staying in one country with two domestic flights and no border crossings, yet still delivering the Big Five and the Cape.

Private tours for families working to their own calendar

A group window will not suit everyone. Beyond the two set tracks, Glatt Safaris builds private itineraries throughout South and East Africa, tailored to budget, interests and pace, and this is generally the choice for honeymoons, anniversaries and multi generation family trips. On a private booking the travellers pick the standard of accommodation, ranging from three, four and five star hotels up to private reserves and VIP retreats, and choose where to direct the spend. One family might economise on hotels and take pre packaged Kosher meals so they can reach more places, while another might invest in a private reserve with its own chef and cover fewer destinations at an easier tempo.

Private routes can take in the Garden Route running up the east coast, Cape Town and Table Mountain, Kruger Park, Chobe National Park in Botswana, Victoria Falls where Zimbabwe meets Zambia, and Madikwe Safari Reserve. Madikwe comes up often for first time safari goers, both because the terrain offers varied game viewing and photography and because it lies in a malaria free zone, taking malaria precautions off the checklist for families with young children.

Kashrut arrangements on the road

Kashrut is held to one standard on every Kosher Safari the operator runs. Each guest gets three Kosher le'mehadrin meals daily under Cape Town Beth Din supervision, and the company carries Badatz Cape Town approval that reaches the hotels in use and the pre packaged meals taken along the way. A mashgiach accompanies the group and can be spoken to ahead of any booking.

Within Cape Town and Johannesburg, meals may come from Kosher restaurants. Out in remote regions the company brings in its own food, chefs and mashgichim, builds temporary Kosher kitchens and works with imported Kosher ingredients that guests are free to examine. Religious provisions form part of the tour instead of being left to the traveller, 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 in advance concerns more than availability. Passports have to stay valid for six months past the trip and hold three blank pages, which for a household of six means a Home Affairs or consulate queue rather than a quick afternoon errand. Vaccination queries ought to reach a traveller's own health department with time to spare. Insurance is best taken out at the point of registration rather than afterwards, so that a cancellation on unforeseen medical grounds still falls under the policy terms.

Families bringing children need even more runway. South African rules in place since 1 June 2015 for everyone 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, instead of leaving it to January, is what separates a routine task from a scramble.

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 aboard the buses and entry fees to every reserve. Not included are the international flights to Johannesburg and home from Cape Town or Victoria Falls, along with medical and luggage insurance, personal spending and optional excursions 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 feed through to the price per traveller, one more reason planning ahead usually favours a family.

Anyone comparing a group departure with a private itinerary can look at both, together with the complete day by day schedule for each track, on the Glatt Safaris website at https://www.glattsafaris.com/.

About Glatt Safaris

Established in 2013 by Chanan Green, a frum Israeli South African who started organising trips after putting together a safari for family 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 operates Glatt Kosher gourmet safari and holiday tours through South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, on the public Gold and Silver tracks and on fully bespoke 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 programme. The company keeps contact lines running in New York, London, Jerusalem and South Africa.