Andrew Zimmern Joins Ker & Downey Africa for an Immersive South African Safari

The Archive Folio

• June 23, 2026
• ByKeri Bridgwater

The journey between Cape Town, the Cape Winelands, and Greater Kruger explores culture, conservation, wildlife—and food—with one of television's most celebrated storytellers, creating an itinerary that promises to redefine what a luxury safari can be when it is guided by genuine curiosity rather than mere spectacle. This is not a safari in the conventional sense—a checklist of big-game sightings and sundowner cocktails—but an immersive odyssey through the sensory landscape of South Africa, where every meal tells a story about the land that produced it and every encounter with the wild reveals something unexpected about the human relationship with the natural world.

Andrew Zimmern brings to this journey the same voracious intellect and infectious enthusiasm that have made him one of the most trusted voices in culinary travel, but it is his willingness to go beyond the surface—to ask the questions that others might not think to ask, and to listen to the answers with the attentiveness of someone who genuinely wants to understand—that transforms this from a celebrity-hosted trip into something far more meaningful: a masterclass in how to see a place, and perhaps oneself, with fresh eyes.

Luxury safari specialist Ker & Downey Africa has teamed up with chef, writer, and television host Andrew Zimmern on a new hosted journey through South Africa scheduled for May 2027—a collaboration that brings together two of the travel world's most distinctive voices in a shared vision of what immersive, culturally rich travel should look like. Called The African Table, the ten-day itinerary moves between Cape Town, the Cape Winelands, and the Greater Kruger, pairing private wine tastings, chef-led experiences, and coastal foraging excursions with luxury safari stays and Big Five game drives, creating a journey that is as much about understanding a place through its flavors as it is about witnessing its landscapes and wildlife.

The partnership represents a meeting of expertise that is rare in the luxury travel space: Ker & Downey Africa's deep knowledge of the continent's most extraordinary destinations combined with Zimmern's unparalleled ability to use food as a lens through which culture, history, and community come into focus. The result is an itinerary that does not simply add culinary experiences to an existing safari but builds the entire journey around the understanding that food is the most intimate and revealing entry point into any culture.

Developed in collaboration with Zimmern and Heidi Ladell Collective, the trip is designed to explore South Africa through its food, landscapes, wildlife, and the people behind them—a multidimensional approach that recognizes the most meaningful travel experiences are those that engage every aspect of a destination rather than cherry-picking its most photogenic elements. Every element of the itinerary has been conceived to reveal connections between what grows in the soil, what swims in the waters, what walks the bushveld, and what appears on the plate—connections that most travelers never have the opportunity to perceive.

The collaboration between Zimmern's culinary expertise and the Heidi Ladell Collective's logistical precision creates a rare alchemy: an itinerary that feels both meticulously planned and wonderfully spontaneous, as if the journey itself has a kind of intelligence that anticipates what you want before you know you want it. From private tastings at storied Stellenbosch estates to fireside conversations with conservationists who have dedicated their lives to protecting the creatures of Greater Kruger, each experience is designed to illuminate the invisible threads that connect the land, its people, and the extraordinary cuisine that emerges from their intersection.

Ker & Downey Africa are leading luxury safari specialists

Zimmern, best known for the long-running television series Bizarre Foods, will host the departure personally, bringing to the experience the same infectious curiosity and genuine respect for local culture that has made him one of the most beloved figures in food media. Over the course of two decades, the Emmy Award-winning broadcaster has built a career on the idea that food offers one of the best entry points into understanding a destination and its culture—a philosophy that goes far beyond the simple enjoyment of unusual dishes and into the realm of genuine cultural engagement and mutual understanding.

That philosophy sits at the very heart of The African Table, shaping every aspect of the itinerary from the selection of producers and purveyors to the design of each meal and experience. Zimmern's presence ensures that every encounter is informed by decades of experience asking the right questions, listening with genuine interest, and drawing connections between food, culture, and community that most travelers would never discover on their own.

"This is not simply a food-focused itinerary," says Sarah Morris, General Manager of Private Clients at Ker & Downey Africa, with the emphatic clarity of someone who has spent years crafting journeys for the world's most discerning travelers and understands the critical difference between adding food to a trip and building a trip around food. "It is a journey through South Africa told through flavor, landscape, wildlife, and the people behind it all. Food becomes the thread connecting every part of the experience—the thread that transforms a collection of extraordinary moments into a coherent and deeply meaningful narrative."

Morris's description captures something essential about the philosophy that distinguishes The African Table from the growing field of culinary travel experiences: the understanding that food is not an end in itself but a means of access—a way of understanding the land, the people, and the culture that produced it, and through that understanding, developing a connection to the destination that transcends the merely scenic.

Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Andrew Zimmern

The itinerary begins in Cape Town, that extraordinary city where Table Mountain presides over a meeting of two oceans and a culinary culture as diverse and dynamic as any in the Southern Hemisphere. From there, the journey continues into the Cape Winelands, where some of the world's most breathtaking vineyard landscapes produce wines of remarkable quality and character, with winery visits that go beyond tasting rooms into the cellars and vineyards where the real stories are told, meetings with local producers whose families have been working this land for generations, and a series of private dining experiences that showcase the extraordinary bounty of the region. Along the way are chef-led encounters that reveal the techniques and traditions behind the dishes, coastal foraging experiences that connect the table to the ocean in the most direct and visceral way, and meals showcasing the diverse influences—indigenous, Dutch, Malay, Indian, and more—that have shaped South African cuisine into one of the world's most fascinating and underappreciated culinary traditions.

From there, the focus shifts dramatically from vineyards to wildlife, as the journey moves from the cultivated beauty of the Winelands to the untamed majesty of the bush.

Guests will continue to the Sabi Sand Reserve bordering Kruger National Park for luxury safari experiences that include Big Five game drives through some of Africa's most wildlife-rich terrain, bush dinners beneath the stars that combine the thrill of the African night with the pleasure of extraordinary cuisine, and time in one of the continent's most celebrated wildlife regions—where the ancient drama of predator and prey plays out against a backdrop of acacia and grassland that has changed little since the first humans walked this earth. For Heidi Ladell, founder of Heidi Ladell Collective, the idea grew from a desire to shine a spotlight on African cuisine in a way that goes beyond the occasional tasting menu or cooking demonstration—experiences that, however enjoyable, rarely engage with the depth, complexity, and cultural significance of African food traditions.

"Nothing exists that goes deep into the cuisine of Africa the way it deserves," Ladell says with a conviction born of extensive research and genuine passion. "We built The African Table around that gap and around Andrew, who brings a dimension to this experience that no one else could—because he doesn't just eat the food, he understands it, and he makes you understand it too."

Veld & Sea specializes in wild food foraging experiences

Culinary travel continues to evolve beyond restaurant reservations and cooking classes into something considerably more meaningful, and increasingly, travelers are seeking experiences that connect food with history, conservation, local communities, and a stronger sense of place—travelers who understand that the most satisfying meals are those that come with a story, and that the best restaurants are often not restaurants at all but the homes, markets, and open fires where food traditions are actually lived rather than merely performed. "Andrew has always approached food as a gateway into understanding people and place," Morris says, articulating the philosophy that unites every element of The African Table. "That perspective mirrors how we believe Africa should be experienced. Not simply seen, but understood."

Priced from $25,000 per person and limited to a small group of guests to ensure the intimacy and exclusivity that the most discerning travelers demand, The African Table will take place May 11–20, 2027—an invitation to experience South Africa not as a tourist passing through but as a guest welcomed into the deepest and most authentic expressions of its culture, cuisine, and natural world.

All photos courtesy of Ker & Downey Africa, capturing the raw beauty and refined spirit of a South African safari experience that exists at the intersection of wilderness and wonder. Each image documents a moment where the boundaries between the civilized and the wild blur—a leopard's eyes catching the last light of day, a table set beneath a canopy of ancient stars, the hands of a chef preparing a meal from ingredients sourced mere kilometers from where they are served. The photography embodies the same philosophy that defines Ker & Downey Africa's approach to travel: that the most powerful experiences are those that are deeply rooted in place, authentically connected to people, and unafraid to embrace both the ruggedness and the refinement that make Africa the most compelling continent on earth for the adventurous traveler.

From the golden savannahs of Greater Kruger to the emerald vineyards of the Cape Winelands, each photograph serves as an invitation—a visual promise that the journey ahead will be one of transformation rather than mere observation. The images capture the texture of the African experience with a specificity that no stock photo could replicate: the particular way that dust catches the afternoon light on a game drive, the warmth of a smile from a lodge keeper who has welcomed generations of guests, the quiet majesty of an elephant moving through tall grass at dusk. Together, they compose a portfolio that is not merely promotional but genuinely evocative, offering a tantalizing glimpse of an adventure that awaits those bold enough to answer the call of the wild.

Ellerman House Hotel in Cape Town