When Hannah and Carter asked us to plan their honeymoon, they wanted Africa, but they didn’t want it to be all about safari.
So we put together a journey that gave them three very different experiences: the wildlife of Tanzania’s Northern Serengeti, a few wonderfully relaxed days on Zanzibar, and a final dose of adventure at Victoria Falls.
As it turned out, they managed to pack rather a lot into 13 days.
First stop: the Northern Serengeti
After a night in Arusha, Hannah and Carter flew north to the Serengeti, where they spent four nights at Serengeti Mara River Camp.
August is an exciting time to be here. The Great Migration is moving through the Northern Serengeti and, while nobody can ever promise a river crossing, the camp’s location close to the Mara River puts you in exactly the right area should one happen.
For Hannah and Carter, the wildlife certainly delivered.
“Spotting the Big 5 in the northern Serengeti and seeing the Mara river crossings of the wildebeests were definitely a safari highlight for us and something we were so excited to be able to check off our bucket list.”
There were some lovely individual moments too. On their final safari they set out determined to find a rhino and managed to spot two. A leopard proved considerably more elusive, but after searching all afternoon and almost giving up, they finally found one.
Sometimes those hard-won sightings are the ones you remember most.
From safari to Zanzibar
After four days of early starts and game drives, we deliberately slowed things down.
Hannah and Carter flew across to Zanzibar for three nights at Kilindi, staying in an Ocean View Luxury Pool Pavilion. Set within 50 acres of tropical gardens beside its own stretch of beach, Kilindi has just 15 pavilions, each with plenty of privacy and its own plunge pool.
Hannah described it rather better than we could:
“That place is just spectacular. It looks just like the pictures in real life.”
There were beautiful sunsets, wonderful service and, slightly less predictably, some regular dinner companions.
The local monkeys apparently developed quite a taste for their bread and provided plenty of entertainment while they were there.
It was exactly the change of pace we’d wanted for this part of their honeymoon.
And then travel threw in a curveball
Leaving Zanzibar was where things became rather less relaxing.
Industrial action by aviation workers at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport caused widespread disruption just as Hannah and Carter were due to fly from Zanzibar to Nairobi, connect onwards to Johannesburg and then continue to Victoria Falls.
Their Zanzibar flight was delayed meaning their connection in Nairobi was missed.
This is the part of travel planning that isn’t particularly glamorous, but it matters.
While Hannah and Carter were at the airport, we were monitoring their flights from our end, speaking to our teams on the ground and looking at every realistic way of getting them to Victoria Falls.
When it became clear they couldn’t get there as planned, we secured the remaining seats we could find for the following day, rearranged their Johannesburg accommodation and updated their travel arrangements and tickets.
They lost a night at Victoria Falls, which none of us wanted, but they weren’t left trying to unravel a chain of disrupted flights on their own in the middle of their honeymoon.
And we loved receiving Hannah’s message later that day:
“Thank you for everything and being so available for us ❤️”
It’s easy to think that using a travel specialist is all about choosing lovely hotels and putting together a great itinerary. That’s certainly part of it. But sometimes our most important work happens after the trip has begun.
Finishing on a high at Victoria Falls
Thankfully, the travel disruption didn’t get the final word.
Hannah and Carter made it to Victoria Falls and checked into Victoria Falls River Lodge, right on the Zambezi in Zambezi National Park. Their stay included the opportunity for game drives and river cruises, alongside time to experience the Falls themselves.
And they certainly made up for lost time.
They walked the Falls, watched two elephants fighting right in front of their safari vehicle, took a helicopter flight for an entirely different perspective and then decided a helicopter wasn’t quite enough adrenaline and followed it with the gorge swing.
Hannah’s verdict?
“Scary, but so worth it just to say we did it!”
And for someone who loves being beside the water, Victoria Falls River Lodge proved the perfect final stop, with its position directly on the Zambezi.
Three very different sides of Africa
What we particularly love about Hannah and Carter’s honeymoon is that there wasn’t one standout destination.
As Hannah told us:
“I think it’s so hard to pick a favorite spot, because each place we visited was so unique.”
And that’s rather the point.
The excitement of the Serengeti. Barefoot downtime in Zanzibar. The sheer scale and adventure of Victoria Falls.
Even with an unexpected flight disruption thrown into the middle, they came home talking about river crossings, rhinos, leopards, sunsets, mischievous monkeys, elephants and helicopters.
Which sounds like a pretty memorable honeymoon to us.
Thinking about an African honeymoon of your own?
We plan each journey around the people taking it, whether that means safari and beach, something more adventurous, or a combination you might not have considered. And we’re here throughout the trip too, should the unexpected happen.