A holiday to Africa doesn’t have to be just about the wildlife. We invite you to feast your senses on Africa’s culinary delights.
The continent offers extraordinary food and wine experiences which can be savoured from the water, from the vines, from the desert, from the mountains and many other exciting regions on this breathtaking land.
Imagine unique gourmet experiences like in house dining with locals, private chef tables, winelands tours with leading wine connoisseurs, cheese and chocolate walks, 8 course tasting menus with wine matching, spice tours, cooking classes, charcuterie courses and more. An Africa Gourmet Trail is designed like a tailored suit – fitting your precise measurements like food interests, palate and wine preferences.
In Africa, you can taste the richness and almost sense its history and soul through a good meal. It celebrates fresh produce without the hype of Western fancy techniques. You will experience succulent foods that have been nourished and enriched in flavour by the African sun and like a wildlife safari, you’ll undertake a real journey of discovery.
Anything is possible, of that we are sure… for we have tasted it ourselves!
When to Go
Never a bad time to eat, a Gourmet Trail can be experienced January to December day and night. If you are seeking certain seasonal foods of course we tailor your itinerary to suit. Alternatively, you may be interested in tailoring your Gourmet Trail to coincide with a contemporary Food Festival or Cultural Celebration that serves up traditional and contemporary cuisine to challenge your tastebuds and offers cooking classes for enthusiasts.
Good to Know
Even if you don’t specify a Gourmet Trail ‘flavour’ to your safari, your safari holiday itinerary will be peppered with culinary delights and unique Africa gourmet experiences. For being on safari means sometimes six meals a day. First up, the initial wake up, rise and shine with muffins, rusks, cookies and obligatory cup of tea or coffee. After a safari activity, it’s then time for breakfast in the bush. You’ll return to camp in time for a leisurely lunch where you linger longer before retreating to your room. Next up it’s afternoon refreshments or high tea before heading on safari. Whilst out in the bush or back at camp you’ll savour Africa’s sundowner with savoury snacks and cold drinks before returning to camp for dinner under the African night sky.
For the love of food
There is no love sincerer than the love of food. – George Bernard Shaw
East Africa
In East Africa, particularly Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya, food is heavily influenced by Arabic, English and German traditions. This region produces rice, cashews, coffee, coconuts, vegetables and of course the spices of Zanzibar and sumptuous seafood. Try different dishes like deep fried breads, spinach with coconut milk and peanut sauce, sweet potato and pumpkin dumplings to grilled seafoods and meat curries. Don’t miss Ethiopia and Kenya’s coffee either and bring home a bag for the team because we all love it.
Southern Africa
Southern Africa has a great variance of influences and food styles due to the colourful history and early settlers, from the German influences in Namibia, Dutch, English, French and Indian influences in South Africa to the Portuguese spices mixed with Mozambique’s fresh local seafoods. In South Africa, the Cape Malay Cuisine is worth a try, a fare whose foundations rest in ancient Greek and Roman civilisations. The Malays introduced the art of pickling and preserving and meat dishes bountiful in flavour. Curries are crucial in culinary culture here so try ‘Bobotie’, minced beef baked in rich custard like sauce with lemon and curry. Marinated meat ‘Sosaties’ on skewers cooked over open fires, ‘smoorvis’ or smothered fish that has been salted and air dried for preserving then flaked into spicy rice.
Destination Dining
Africa offers the opportunity for iconic, destination dining experiences. To give you an example, picture yourself in Cape Town. We pick you up, transfer you to the helipad for a scenic flight over the foot of Africa before arriving at a five star luxurious hotel on the rugged coastline just outside Cape Town for a private and very romantic picnic lunch in their exclusive surrounds. Or this, you wake early and walk down to the beach where you meet the chef and together greet local fishermen returning from the waters with fresh catch in hand for you to choose your lunch. Finally, it’s some of the cultural experiences in impressive locations that stimulate all of your senses like a traditional meal in Ethiopia shared with locals or campfire meals prepared by the San bushmen in the middle of the Kalahari.
Seafood Soiree
With such vast stretches of coastline and islands, you are sure to taste some of Africa’s finest seafoods. Africa is a continent where seas and oceans meet, great rivers flow and lakes conquer vast lands so you can expect sensational seafood cuisine. There is an astonishing assortment of fish and shellfish that have found their way to cooking pots and braaivleis (barbecues) across Africa. Expect everything from juicy prawns, calamari, Kingklip fish, crayfish to snoek and barracuda.
