Safari Honeymoon to Botswana & Tanzania

Botswana has always rewarded the discerning visitor. It's not a country of mass group tours or a dozen safari trucks surrounding a lion pride. With an emphasis on unique experiences and personal encounters with nature, Botswana makes an idyllic first stop on this honeymoon vacation. After landing in Maun you're transferred to a light aircraft and flown into the wilderness, the blue channels of the Okavango shimmering beneath the wingtips. Relax on your private verandah and a gaggle of four-legged characters saunters past; impala, elephant, zebra, and more. The fenceless camp provides a unique immersion in rugged nature and a honeymoon suite that befits the occasion. A sublime raised bed offers views onto Okavango and the en-suite bathroom is nestled beneath a canopy of green. It's a five-star interior befitting its five-star surroundings.

The two of you burst with excitement as your first game drive departs, a skilled guide taking you into a mopane forest of camouflaged marvels. Redolent eyes peer from the branches; look closely and it's a cloaked leopard surveying the nomads moving through the trees. Impala, hartebeest, eland, then turn another corner and there's a dozen giraffe munching silently from the branches. After a long morning game drive, you return to camp for a hearty lunch and a leisurely afternoon of indulgent luxury. A late afternoon game drive takes a different route, sticking close to the river and bringing intimate moments with elephants, hippos, and even the elusive wanderings of a rhino. Safari never stops on this itinerary, even at dinner time. Sit down on a private table beneath the moonlight and three gourmet courses come complete with the resonant roars of a distant lion pride.

This safari honeymoon isn't just 10 days of game drives. There are many ways to experience the wildlife and today's two game-viewing activities come from the annals of safari reverie. Board a traditional wooden mokoro, a narrow canoe that silently cruises the lagoons and channels of the delta. It's serene and silent. Yet the gondolier paddles around a corner and 40 or so hippos cover the water. Keep cruising downstream and a herd of elephants are mischievously playing along the riverside. Zebra splash around and there's a divine feeling of being miles from any road or development. In fact, your camp is situated on an island in the Okavango, so you couldn't be any further from the modern world.

Another easy afternoon in camp is followed by a walking safari. It's one for grabbing each other's hand and setting off into the wilderness; the same wilderness that teems with elephants, giraffe, and more. Expertly guided and wonderfully authentic, a walking safari is an opportunity to experience the wildlife from ground level. And a three ton elephant is much bigger once you realize that you barely reach the top of its leg. Complete the walking safari by opening the champagne on an elevated platform, the Okavango landscape rolling on beneath your eyes.

A light aircraft whisks you away from Okavango and into a second of Southern Africa's renowned wonders. Descend into a lush green awning and check into your remote safari amp, your deluxe wooden suite raised on stilts and looking down on the remarkable Savuti Channel. This river was parched for over 30 years, but the water has returned and it's been transformed into a wildlife paradise. Savuti stands on an important migratory route for elephants and the numbers are staggering. Tens of thousands roam through Chobe and the epic herds start to blend into the backdrop. Two game drives are included today, both likely to bring a diverse range of wildlife and hundreds of intimate elephant encounters; babies barging into the river, impressive old bulls staring each other down, and herds that tower above the safari truck before wandering on.

Spend the morning sleeping in; it's your honeymoon after all. Even from the bed you only need to open the curtains for pristine views onto melodious wildlife. A late morning game drive explores the trees and heads onto the floodplains, where lion prides lounge and buffalo herds give you a steely stare. A picnic hamper is unloaded and you enjoy lunch beside swamps dotted with hippos, your guide understanding when to provide privacy on the game drive. Included this evening is a Chobe sunset dinner cruise. Gastronomic delights are served as you cruise past thumping hippos, resting crocodiles, and four legged silhouettes that emerge from the trees. Drinks are included, as is an iconic sunset reflected in the Chobe waters.

From Savuti you fly across Chobe, marveling at the elephant herds as they maraud great paths through the forest. Land on the eastern edge of Chobe and it's barely a 45-minute drive across the border to Zambia and Victoria Falls. Elephants crossing the road beside the immigration office are a common sight here. Your guide whisks you straight to Victoria Falls and you explore at your own pace. Descend the steps to the Zambezi canyon floor, walk across Knife-Edge Bridge, marvel at the falls from isolated islets in the river, and enjoy a whole afternoon absorbing the beauty of the world's most powerful waterfall. Spend the night along the banks of the Zambezi in the unparalleled luxury.

Botswana provides the best of Southern Africa. Now your luxury safari to Tanzania provides an iconic East African safari with the landscape defined by endless savannas and towering volcanic domes. Land at Kilimanjaro International Airport and your guide is waiting to take you to the rim of Ngorongoro Crater. It's a beautiful ride, climbing uphill through thick forests until you're gazing down on the inactive caldera. Your lodge on the crater rim combines the style of a traditional Maasai homestead with the old-world charm and luxury usually reserved for royalty. With a Maasai warrior discreetly standing guard (in case any wildlife gets too close), and a crackling fire illuminating the night, this is another memorable addition to your honeymoon of suites.

With the morning mist gently clearing you're descending, zigzagging down steep roads onto the crater floor. No less than six ecosystems can be found on this compact volcanic floor. Flamingos and hippos mark the lakes, elephant bulls patrol the woodland, buffalo herds cross the grasslands, and within moments you spot lionesses out on a hunt. A number of prides call Ngorongoro home and the open caldera makes spotting them relatively easy. Quiet areas in the forest provide a break from the game drive and a steaming mug of coffee, and then the brittle grassland sees two other indelible characters make an appearance; first the scuttling movements of hyena and now the power of a rhino slowly plodding past and leaving you both in wonderment. Return to the lodge for a leisurely afternoon and evening, the spacious suite always bringing greetings from four-legged wanderers.

Driving from Ngorongoro to the Serengeti is a special experience, the gradual descent affording mesmeric views onto short grassed plains that seem to roll on forever. You leave early today, arriving in the Serengeti by mid-morning and then taking a few hours to cross west through the park. Impala are everywhere, wildebeest herds clump together as they dot the grazing land, and thousand-strong zebra herds are common. The Serengeti's remarkably prolific grass provides the food for millions of ungulates. And where there are four hooves there is often four paws, so expect this game drive to constantly deliver lions, leopards, cheetahs, and more. Your final honeymoon base is an idyllic camp tucked into the southern reaches of the park and offering seemingly endless panoramas onto the world's most famous safari destination.

Champagne is uncorked and you soar above the Serengeti, the scale of the wildebeest numbers best appreciated from the tranquil aerial position. Beneath you is a patchwork, a jumbled collection of scorched grass, flourishing green, grazing herds, marauding herds shrouded in dust, and the whiff of excitement that predators always bring to the proceedings. It's the perfect way to complete a safari, a gentle showcase of scale that compliments nine days of intimate moments. But it's not over just yet. You've got one final day of memories to take from this honeymoon safari; a long game drive brings the delights of the Serengeti before a romantic dinner for two is served on the plains, a resonant soundtrack complimenting the moonlight.

An isolated airstrip provides the means of departure, a scheduled safari link flight taking you away from the safari brilliance on the final day of your honeymoon vacation. Land at Kilimanjaro International Airport where your international departure awaits.You may want to read about traveler experiences while on a safari. Be sure to browse the safari trip reviews to Tanzania.