Rosh Hashanah is usually imagined around a familiar table, surrounded by family, tradition, and the foods that make the New Year feel like home.

But there is something remarkably powerful about welcoming it beneath an African sky.

Imagine leaving the noise of everyday life behind and arriving at a private safari lodge where the rhythm of the day is already being shaped around your family. Before you arrive, kosher provisions have been carefully arranged, with meat sourced through trusted kosher suppliers such as Moishe's Butchery in South Africa or, where appropriate, Chabad communities in East Africa. Nothing is left to be figured out once you are there.

As the afternoon light turns the savannah gold, the game vehicle returns to camp. Your family has spent the day watching elephants move between acacias, listening to lions calling across the plains, and discovering how quickly children can become completely absorbed in the natural world.

Then the pace changes.

A beautifully prepared Rosh Hashanah table awaits. Kosher wine is opened. Apples and honey are set out. The evening is private, unhurried and deeply familiar, even though everything around you is extraordinary.

There is no need to choose between observing the holiday properly and experiencing Africa at its finest.

The itinerary is designed around the rhythm of Rosh Hashanah, with thoughtful timing for meals, services, family needs and time to simply be together. Your private guide understands that the most meaningful moments cannot always be scheduled.

Perhaps that is what makes Rosh Hashanah on safari so memorable.

The New Year begins without airports, crowded resorts or another complicated family schedule.

Instead, there is firelight, open sky, familiar traditions and the people you love most.

A different setting.

The same sense of home.

Kosher food in Africa is certified by the Beth Din of South Africa which is the Jewish religious court responsible for ensuring that food and other products meet the standards of Jewish dietary laws.

Stainless steel pots and pans are boiled and torched clean between each meal or for a nominal fee new pots, pans, plates, and cutlery/flatware will be supplied and be inspected by you when you check into the safari lodge or camp, or if you prefer you can bring in your own pots & pans.  After every use, they are washed in a special designated area.  During your stay, you are more than welcome to inspect the kitchen to ensure you are pleased with how your meals are being prepared.

Deluxe Option

At our approved Kosher Safari Lodges, Pareve meals will be prepared fresh on-site by chefs who have been trained in kosher catering, and at your request, kosher milk products as well as kosher meat from a Mehadrin Commission Kosher Butchery will be brought in.

Private & Exclusive

A Mashgiach who is Shomer Shabbat and has completed the Mashgiach kashrut course will be flown into the safari lodge.  If the lodge doesn't have a dedicated kosher kitchen, he will set up a temporary separated kitchen with new cooking utensils & equipment as well as import the Kosher approved ingredients including Chalav Yisrael & Mehadrin meat as well as shabbos candles and fragrance for havdalah.  He will supervise all the cooking.

If needed we can also get a private Jewish Kosher chef from a recognized kashrut authority to accompany him.  Both of them are very involved in the Jewish community in South Africa and work with full permission of their overseeing Rabbi. 

Shabbat While On Safari:

For all lodges & camps that we recommend Eruv is key, so we ensure the lodges/camps we select are on enclosed grounds.  To avoid elevators we book rooms at lower levels as well ensuring they don’t have electric pass keys or they are electronically disconnected during Shabbat.

To ensure compliance with Jewish dietary laws Shabbat dinner and lunch are cooked before Shabbat starts. A stove or grill with a blech or an oven will be used to keep food warm over Shabbat.

Hot water for tea or coffee over Shabbat will be boiled and preserved in flasks.

Activities during Shabbat

Whenever available we will select kosher safari Lodges that have watering holes where animals visit and from the comfort of your chair, you will have a wildlife viewing experience during Shabbat.  Another option during Shabbat is to have a Walking Safari in the Masai Mara or Serengeti escorted by an armed guard