I all the time knew I needed my honeymoon to be an journey. It needed to be the kind of immersive journey you solely make as soon as in a lifetime, a bit like getting married (nicely, hopefully). My husband and I didn’t wish to spend the perfect a part of two weeks doing nothing, although that is what a majority of {couples} choose after the years-long chaos of planning a marriage whereas nonetheless attempting to perform as a considerably competent grownup. However we needed to make reminiscences, and loads of them. The ‘doing nothing’ might wait till we had been again dwelling.
We rapidly settled on a mixture of a safari and seaside vacation, which predominantly happen throughout Africa and the Indian Ocean. As a contract journey author, I’d heard Botswana talked about as the final word safari vacation spot steadily over time. Many vacationers typically overlook the distant, sparsely populated nation for its southerly neighbour, South Africa. However in Botswana, you’re rewarded with secluded, uncrowded wilderness – the truth is, on lots of our sport drives, it was simply the 2 of us (extra on this later). Within the Okavango Delta, the biggest inland delta on the planet, the water attracts a blinding number of wildlife, from herds of elephants cooling off within the mud to leopards, lions and wild canine stalking prey within the tall grass. Suffice to say, Botswana was a should.
For the ‘seaside’ a part of the itinerary, the preferred locations to go to after Botswana are Mauritius, Mozambique and the Seychelles. My husband and I obtained engaged in Mauritius in April 2024, and as a lot as we cherished it, we needed to expertise someplace new. I would been to the Seychelles years earlier than on a piece task, so we rapidly settled on Mozambique. We additionally determined so as to add just a few days in Zimbabwe, after realising the Delta’s proximity to Victoria Falls. When else had been we going to be this near the biggest waterfall on the planet?
However packing this all in to 2 weeks required lots of planning. So, after in search of recommendation from Yellow Zebra Safaris, one of many main African tour operators, we pulled collectively the under itinerary. If you happen to’re pondering of doing an identical journey, bookmark this web page and use the under as a information. You will not remorse it – it actually was the journey of a lifetime I hoped it could be.
Botswana
Day 1-3: Jao Concession
We started by flying from London to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, earlier than boarding our connecting flight to Maun, Botswana. Right here, we had been collected by a consultant from Wilderness, a number one conservation and hospitality firm with over 60 camps and lodges throughout eight African international locations. After a 40-minute flight on their non-public constitution airline, Wilderness Air, we arrived at our camp within the Jao Reserve, deep throughout the Delta’s Hunda Island.
With simply three tents, that is in all probability essentially the most intimate safari expertise within the Delta. In actual fact, we had been the one friends staying right here, so every sport drive was fully non-public, which was an actual luxurious. All tents have en suite loos with non-public decks and outside showers overlooking the floodplains, whereas the meandering, picket platforms make you’re feeling as if you are tenting in a treehouse. The primary eating space is shaded by a tree cover, there is a bar for sundowners providing panoramic views of the plains, and a swimming pool deck for cooling off and stress-free between drives.
Courtesy of Ali Pantony
Courtesy of Ali Pantony
