Sam and I had two full weeks planned for our honeymoon (late December), and we each had many ideas on the perfect destinations. We talked about Hawaii, Fiji, and the Maldives, all tropic destinations that screamed 'honeymoon'. And then I brought up a safari. Sam wasn't initially sold on the idea, and then I suggested pairing it with relaxation at a beach and he was sold. There were a few combinations to choose from, and we landed on Tanzania because it offered great safari locations (Serengeti National Park) and a popular beach area (Zanzibar). We quickly realized with the planning of the wedding and the type of trip we wanted that we would need a tour company to build our trip. We compared a couple options and this led us to Serengeti Smile, a relatively new company that had some great (and legit) reviews and was reasonably priced at around $5k a person. This company took one of their standard luxury options (we think generally these ended up being 3.5 stars versus the $20k/person that would have offered 5 stars) and customized it to fit our needs. Sam dealt with the logistics of working with Serengeti Smile, which was quite nice! We ended up with 6 full days of safari and 5 full beach days, and here is what we did...
Heading to Tanzania
After a WONDERFUL (and hectic) wedding weekend, we said goodbye to our family and friends and made our way to the Miami Airport. We had a terrible experience at this airport due to rude Swiss Air staff and passengers interrupting our conversations with the desk attendant. We connected through Zurich and had two easy and on time flights to our destination of Mt. Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania. Our Serengeti Smile driver was ready as we exited baggage claim and we had about an hour drive to Arusha. I had used Marriott points to for our first night's stay at Four Points by Sheraton Arusha. I must've caught a stomach bug because I woke up that night and threw up. Luckily I only felt sick for less than 24 hours.
The next morning we met our safari guide, Goodluck, who would be with us for the next 6 days. I'm sure he thought Sam and I would get him sick because he met me while I was slumped over on the couch and then Sam got a bad cold for 2 of the days while on safari. Luckily, he took it in stride and was ready to get us to our first destination of the journey, Tarangire National Park. Once registered at the park, Goodluck popped the top (oh how I wish I owned a safari vehicle) and we were ready to spot animals.
Safari Day 1: Tarangire National Park
This was one of our favorite parks because we saw so many animals! The big showstopper was the elephant baths occuring at the watering hole where they were rolling around in the mud to protect themselves from the hot sun. We also saw monkeys, giraffes (oh how I love them), and lions on our first safari day. The animals were easy to spot and the guides all radioed each other if there were good opportunities to spot animals.
Overnight: Lake Burunge Lodge - a nice tented lodge that had a lovely pool and a very enjoyable overlook for stir fry dinner. We learned that at all lodges you must be accompanied by a guide at night due to the animals roaming around.
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Safari Day 2: Lake Manyara National Park
After breakfast the next morning, Goodluck drove us to Lake Manyara National Park. We quickly learned not all safari days are created equal. We wouldn't have the open plains this day, but rather lush forest with harder to spot animals. We saw plenty of baboons and water buffalo though!
Overnight: Escarpment Manyara Lodge - a nice lodge with a pool and also clawfoot tubs in the huge rooms.
Safari Day 3 and 4: Serengeti National Park
Our absolute favorite park of the trip. So it was great that we had two full days here. There were so many animals to see, a lot of offroading, and an absolutely unforgettable hot air balloon ride one morning. We also saw elephants REALLY close. Even Goodluck was afraid to turn on the car when this one came near us.
Hot Air Balloon with Miracle Experience: We did this extra early on our second day. I couldn't have had more fun during the calm float of our balloon safari or during breakfast where they gave Sam and me a cake to celebrate our honeymoon.
Overnight: Lake Masek Lodge Ndutu - another tented lodge that also had a pool (are you sensing a theme). We stayed here two nights and the second night we watched giraffe and zebra walk by us as we sat on the porch at the main lodge. How cool is that?!
Safari Day 5: Ngorongoro Crater
We made the steep decent in our safari vehicle down into the crater. The amazing thing about the crater is it's ginormous and you can see animals from super far away. We saw hippos up close and also our first and only rhino (though from a far distance).
Overnight: Ngorongoro Serena Lodge - this place was huge and offered a great view of the lodge (when not cloudy).
Day 6 (Christmas Day!): Lake Eyasi
This was not a traditional safari day. Rather, we spent the day with two Lake Eyasi tribes. The first was the Hadzabe tribe who specialized in hunting. We poorly attempted to learn some of their language, which involved clicking the tongue, and then we went out for about an hour to watch them hunt. There wasn't a ton of activity that day, so they ended up with a squirrel and then roasted it for a snack. They offered but we didn't partake.
The second tribe we visited was the Datoga tribe who specialized in blacksmithing. We met the ladies in one of their huts and we asked each other fun questions via our local guide. Then the guys showed us how they melt and make the arrowheads, which they trade or sell to the Hadzabe. It was interesting to see how the two tribes work together and capitalize on their tribe's heritage and skillset.
Overnight: Retreat at Ngorongoro - such a lovely lodge with walking paths and a fruit farm on site. We also had a nice Christmas feast and table poppers to celebrate.
Day 7: Transfer back to Arusha and flight to Zanzibar
We had a long drive back to Arusha, and then a wait at the airport because we didn't check in upon arrival and got bumped to a later flight. We said goodbye to our guide, Goodluck.
Luckily we made it to Zanzibar with no further issues and our driver met us for the journey to Z Hotel at Nungwi Beach.
Day 8-12: Zanzibar, Nungwi Beach
We quickly learned that Nungwi Beach is VERY popular, and not as relaxing as we were envisioning. But we were able to get pool loungers each day to enjoy the very toasty weather and dips in the pool. The hotel itself was fine, but not our favorite due to a broken bathroom window upon arrival (with no rooms to trade to night 1 since it was sold out), and the AC units not being top notch. But we made it work! One day we went out on a small boat to swim with dolphins (a very hectic experience - for us and the dolphins) and snorkel. We also walked around the local market to get some beaded souvenir bracelets. Overall, we made Nungwi Beach work. And since we will likely never be back to Zanzibar, we're glad to have had the experience.
Heading Home in Style
On our final day we made our way back to the Zanzibar airport for our flight home. We ended up changing our return flight to get Business Class tickets on Qatar Airways. It was SO worth it for our 22 hour journey home. We had full recline seats and were able to sleep as we made our way back to JFK and reality.
Overall, we had such a wonderful time on our honeymoon and were lucky to have two weeks to spend exploring a new part of the world. Sam and I are excited for our many adventures ahead and already have a few lined up (especially since we now have a $1500 Delta credit since we changed return flights)!
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