Planning a honeymoon is a daunting task! There are so many countries to choose from and an overwhelming number of hotels and activities in each.
For many Tanzania is an ideal choice; a truly exotic and little visited country, where you can combine an amazing safari (picture the Serengeti) with an Indian Ocean beach or island (think Zanzibar), easily accessible from London and with perfect weather in our summer.
Every trip we arrange is tailor-made with different camps, parks, and durations depending on the kind of experience you are looking for. The most important decision to make is whether to safari in the North or the South (the North is more famous, commercial and busier than the South, which is more intimate and wild). For the beach are you looking for barefoot luxury or more of a glitzy resort, and is diving important to you?
How much will it cost
Tanzania is an expensive destination for a number of reasons including tricky logistics of running a luxury tented camp in the middle of nowhere! Generally the safari portion of the trip is more expensive than the beach or Zanzibar, so having a shorter safari with an extended beach, or even a ‘beach-safari-beach’ itinerary can offer better value for money.
When to go
Getting the right season is very important when planning a honeymoon; the last thing you want is to be sheltering from rain which is often the case over our summer in the Caribbean or Asia. The summer and early autumn period is the best time to travel to Tanzania, hot, dry and sunny with great game viewing and low humidity.
If you are looking for a short safari then heading to the South of Tanzania is ideal; 3 to 4 days in the Selous can give you an incredible experience, and its greatly contrasting neighbour Ruaha is an ideal extension. If you are heading to the North of Tanzania, due to the travel time and the number of parks, you need to spend at least 5 nights, preferably more like 8 or 9. However remember that safaris are tiring; early starts, huge distances, etc, so getting the balance between safari and beach is key.
Flying times
Crossing the world for your honeymoon is an exotic thing to do but dealing with jet lag for the first 3 or 4 days can be a real downer… one of the joys of Tanzania is that the time difference is only a couple of hours so once you arrive your body clock isn’t affected and you can start enjoying your honeymoon straight away! Also the internal flights are all quite short.
Moving forward …
It really is a good idea to talk to one of our specialists, even if just for a couple of minutes. From experience we like to think we know the right questions to ask, and this will allow us to create a number of appropriate itineraries. After a bit more feedback we will then be able to refine the itinerary until it is perfect.
Where possible we strongly recommend that you visit us in our offices in Putney, otherwise we can arrange “virtual presentations” where we can show you all the information on your computer. Failing that we have toll free numbers in the UK, US, and Hong Kong and we guarantee a speedy turnaround on emails.
It is also worth noting that booking with us will cost less than if you were to take the trouble to contact all the individual lodges direct and we have a price-match guarantee to match the price from any other reputable bonded tour operator
