Central South African Culinary Getaway...Cooking Vacations...Culinary Getaways...Cooking Classes!
Central South African Culinary Getaway
1-800-405-0313
4 Delicious Days in The Great Karoo!
4 days | 3 nights
Pricing: $1,598 (For One Person, Double Occupancy)
Availability: Year Round Based on Your Travel Dates
Package includes:
- 3 Nights, Prince Albert Guesthouse - Lux Cottage – For One (Dbl Occ)
- Arrival and Welcome Dinner
- All-Inclusive Meals
- Weltevrede Fig Farm, Jam Making and Olive Oil Pressing
- Karoo Cooking Class, Bergwater Vineyards and Museum Tour
Four Fabulous Foodie Days in the Central Karoo
The United States has its Southwestern Sonoran Desert, Australia has The Outback, and South Africa has The Great Karoo. Unique among all arid zones, The Karoo is home to the largest number of plant species in the world. It is also home to endless plains and mountains that dazzle in their tranquility. Stars at night are so vivid that you’ll want to reach out and touch them. This culinary getaway has been designed to stir your inner chef, while giving you a chance to recharge your batteries in four glorious days. Enjoy a visit to the region’s only wine estate, immerse yourself in culture, learn the art of jam making on a famous fig farm, and rub elbows with professional chefs. Come relax among friends, refresh your spirit and experience the flavor of this enchanting land.
Prince Albert Guesthouse - Lux Cottage – For One (Dbl Occ) map
Your accommodations consist of handpicked and renovated cottages in this charming Karoo town of Prince Albert. With traditional irrigation canals running along the streets, this combination of well-appointed and luxurious living spaces coupled with the sound of trickling water is a haven in which to unwind. All guesthouses offer luxury bedrooms, air conditioning, heating and spacious garden privacy.
Arrival and Welcome Dinner
After you have checked in and made yourself comfortable, you will be given a tour of the facilities and your cottage accommodations. This evening you will enjoy an authentic South African dinner at the restaurant where you join other visitors to this quaint village. Be prepared for an invitation into the kitchen for one-on-one interaction with the culinary team, and a discussion of the evening’s menu. Between courses, you may also lend a hand, and observe the efficiency of this tranquil kitchen at work.
All-Inclusive Meals
Each morning you will rise to the excitement of the day’s adventures that lie ahead, and the aroma of a traditional Karoo breakfast made from seasonal produce, with an emphasis on Prince Albert and Karoo flavors. Your package includes all meals during your tour, some at the conclusion of your cooking classes, some during your excursions (such as picnic lunches), and a few designed to expose you to authentic flavors and customs of South Africa and the Great Karoo.
Weltevrede Fig Farm, Jam Making and Olive Oil Pressing
A tour of Weltevrede Fig Farm isn’t just a fig tour, but a game drive as well. This is the largest working fig farm in South Africa (over a thousand fig trees), and has been family-owned for six generations. Adams, White Genoa and Cape Brown Figs are all grown on the farm and sold around the world. You will learn how to use these small luscious orbs to create jams and preserves using tradition techniques that are centuries old. You’ll also see wild game as you tour the farm, and then settle into a comfortable patch for a delicious picnic lunch in the fig orchards. Today’s excursion will also include a trip to Prince Albert Olives to learn about harvesting and pressing extra virgin oils…as well as plenty of tastings! You will complete the day with another traditional dinner, and a lesson in southern hemisphere astrology – or star gazing as they like to call it in the Karoo.
Karoo Cooking Class, Bergwater Vineyards and Museum Tour
Enjoy a guided walk and orientation of the village, then it is off to Fransie Pienaar Museum. Fransie Pienaar was born in 1897 in Prince Albert, but left after school to study music at Sullivan College in Cape Town. Upon her return, she spent a lifetime collecting antiques which continues to grow even today. Mid-day you are off to visit Bergwater Vineyards, the only wine estate in the arid region of the Great Karoo. Here you will enjoy a wine tasting and gourmet picnic lunch. This evening you will learn to cook famous Karoo lamb and venison dishes, as well as summer soups that are popular during this time of year.