South Africa

[Lierissokewl1]

I saw a post on here a couple of months ago about someone travelling to South Africa this summer. I just returned from South Africa so here is some advice and info for anyone interested in travelling there.

First off, the trip was AMAZING. Not only because of food, but all aspects of it were absolutely wonderful.

Depending on where you are going, things may or may not be available. I toured most of the country so I was eating at many different places.

The BEST place ever for Celiacs lies in Johannesburg. I've never come across a place like this, even in the US! It is called O'Crumbs, and it is a bakery/deli/pizzeria. They sell several varieties of bread, they have brownies, eclairs, swiss cake rolls, and the chocolate covered pretzels are bomb. If you visit the place yourself, you can sit down and have meat ravioli (which I did ) pizza or any number of the gourmet and delicious foods on their menu. The real kicker is that I paid about four bucks for a whole serving of ravioli. I bought an ENTIRE box of goodies from them and it came to 260 something rand which is about $26. The website lists their menus, and they also cater to other food intolerances such as egg, soy, dairy and fructose. The website is

o-crumbs.com

Woolworth's- your best bet for finding gluten-free foods, it quickly became my fav store. They list gluten in their foods, but you have to be careful because I got the sense that they only list wheat and not barley or rye. I got sick from the Cape Dutch Curry sauce there so avoid it. All the dried fruits and nuts are fine. They sell rice thins and corn thins which are a great thing to have. I was fortunate enough to have kitchens in all of my hotels so I cooked a lot of meals from scratch. Fresh produce is so abundant there and it is all delicious and high quality. I ate a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, and they always have fresh and delicious juices available. The meat there is safe too, and you can buy free range chicken at woolworths for two bucks a pound which is so cheap.

Chips by Simba (they make the South African Lay's) will list gluten-free on the back of the bag if they are gluten-free. Be careful though because they contain aspertame and MSG which seems like a very unhealthy combo to me. In a pinch, you can get these at every gas station and supermarket. Everywhere also sells coke and appletiser (sparkling apple juice) and lots of other fresh juices and fruits.

DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT eat anything that the Celiac Association there tells you to eat!!!! They tried to tell me a cereal with barley in it was gluten-free!!! And most of the other foods weren't safe either. Buy cereal from O'Crumb's if you need some.

I wouldn't recommend eating at any restaurants other than the places I've mentioned. I tried eating at the Kirstenbosch Tea Room's and I got sick almost immediately after eating which was fortunate because I threw it away after that and did not get near as sick as I would have. I heard somewhere that Kauai has gluten-free salads, but when I went there they had no idea what I was talking about. My school had them prepare our lunches because they were just down the street from our hotel and they made me what they called a gluten-free sandwhich, but it was made with rye bread. So be very cautious because most people consider gluten to be strictly wheat, so many will offfer you rye bread, and call it gluten-free.

The Don suites in Jo'burg were extremely accomodating. Lucky is the chef and he is super nice and an excellent cook. He made a gluten-free meal for me every night. Usually meat cooked in olive oil w salt and pepper. There was always delicious salads and fresh fruits available. He also provided gluten-free bread, but he got it from some mysterious bakery and couldn't provide me with ingredients, so I didn't eat it.

Lastly, if you will be going to any private game reserves, I recommend &beyond. I went to both Ngala and Kirkman's, and they were the highlight of the trip. The service there is great, and althought they did not understand gluten-free, I was still able to eat. They make most of their foods from scratch so I would simply ask the chef exactly what was in the food and I would find something safe to eat. The main thing that I asked about was broths, soy sauce, seasoning or flour. I believe I did get slightly ill once or twice, but there were no kitchens and we were at least thirty miles from the nearest town, so I made due. The main things I ate were scrambled eggs (which I watched them make at out bush brunch that was outdoors on a grill) cheese, salads, fruit and yogurt. It is such a worthwhile experience, and I would recommend it to anyone travelling to SA.

Bring food with you!!! Just in case, you always want to have a stockpile. I brought one suitcase for my clothes and such and one for food. I brought tuna, hormel individual hash packets, allergaroo spaghetti (which I ate before my flight home), bread, crackers (found wonderful goat cheese at the flea market to eat these with), fruit snacks, chips, indv packged veggies, packets of mustard, mayo and ketchup (which weren't necessary, but came in handy when we first arrived and couldn't get to a store for four days) a can opener, tupperware container (to use in microwaves if you dont have dishes), spoon and knife, toaster bags (very important, o'crumbs bread crumbles without being toasted, no pun intended. I would have had no bread if I hadn't thought to bring these) and prob some goodies to keep you going like cookies and such. This is what I did and it worked very well for me, but it may not be necessary if you have other accomodations.

All in all, Jo'burg has the most accomodation for gluten-free, but you can get stuff at grocery stores anywhere. The main thing is to be vigilent and be sure people understand your needs. There is a language barrier and people can't always speak English perfectly so you must be very careful. It is rather easy to find gluten-free foods and it is very convenient that the produce is safe to eat. The most important thing is to stay out of restaurants unless you can be completely confident in their ability to make a gluten-free meal.

Also, if you are flying out of Amsterdam prepare to have a great meal on the plane. They spoiled me with gluten-free bread and coffee cake. When you fly out of SA be sure to eat before the flight. They served me frozen veggies with hot water poured over it and called it soup alongside a stale rice cake.

Have a great trip and if you aren't travelling to South Africa, you should!!!

[munchkinette]

Where did you do your research before your trip? Any websites that explain their gluten free standards? I ask because my (South African) boyfriend has a lot of ingredients and spices that he brought back from his last trip home, and we can't figure out if I can eat it or not. He doesn't know where to look online, and I don't know either.