Michelle Obama meets Oprah in South Africa

U.S first lady Michelle Obama looks on during a visit to Cape Town stadium, June 23, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

First lady Michelle Obama met media mogul and friend Oprah Winfrey on Tuesday evening in South Africa, a White House official said, as the two women were visiting the country at the same time.

Obama is in the middle of a week-long tour of South Africa and Botswana, her second official solo visit abroad as first lady. Winfrey was in South Africa for an event related to her school, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls.

Kristina Schake, Obama's communications director, said the two women met at the first lady's hotel in Johannesburg and ate together. Tuesday was Obama's first full day in South Africa. She arrived on Monday night with her daughters and her mother.

Winfrey campaigned for President Barack Obama when he was a senator from Illinois running for the White House. She and the Obamas consider each other friends.

Mrs. Obama left Johannesburg on Wednesday for Cape Town. On Thursday she was to visit Robben Island, where former South African President Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades, but the trip was canceled because of choppy seas.