# Honeymooning in Tanzania with Bonamy Travel

*Source: https://bonamy.co.uk/posts/honeymooning-in-tanzania-with-bonamy-travel*

A review by Emily Hardman of their honeymoon to Tanzania with Bonamy Travel - a trip of a life time.

## **My
husband, Tom, and I booked our honeymoon through Bonamy Travel to visit
Tanzania and Zanzibar - a trip of a life time! **

The
flight time from London to [**Tanzania**](/destinations/tanzania) is roughly 9 hours long so Tom and I made
the decision to stay in the city of Dar Es Salam for one night before we
started on our safari journey. 

Having caught up on some Zzzzs, we arrived in
Ruaha the next day via mini airplane (an experience in itself that was
unbelievable)! 

We were welcomed by a small family of elephants as well as a
number giraffe, zebra and impala surrounding the landing strip - as someone who
has spent their life growing up in the English countryside, it felt like I was
stepping into a scene from a movie set rather than this happening in real
life. 

Elephants crossing the river - Emily Hardman & Tom Spencer

We were
met by Geoffrey, our guide, who would be showing us around Ruaha in his jeep
whilst we were staying at Ikuka Lodge - Geoffrey has 10+ years experience as a
guide in Ruaha and knows the park like the back of his hand - we adored him and
hung off of his every word. 

Safari in the Ruaha  - Emily Hardman & Tom Spencer

From the offset he taught us the names of every
bird that flew close to us, testing us every so often, how to read tracks
("fresh tracks") of the animals that had left their trail behind
them, and what an 'ALT' was (an animal looking thing - essentially an
abbreviation for anything that gets spotted by someone thinking its an animal,
but it turns out to be a rock or a bank of sand to everyone's disappointment/enjoyment). 

Whilst we were staying in Tanzania, the weather was extremely wet
(which fortunately for us, didn't detract from seeing the animals at all)
but what it did make, was for some extremely fun muddy road racing. 

Raincoats on - Emily Hardman & Tom Spencer

I remember
Geoffrey getting a radio call from one of the other guides in the park and
without telling us what the call was about, he turned to us and said "put
your belts on, I need to drive fast"; the next thing we knew we were
flying around in the back of the jeep, mud flying at the wheels - in and out of
every sized pot hole you could imagine, killing ourselves laughing from all the
bumping around. 

When we got to our destination, Geoffrey revealed, what all the
madness was in aid of - a large female leopard lying up in a tree!! We sat
there for about an hour just watching this majestic animal and couldn't take
our eyes off of her, it was incredible to be so close to something so
beautiful. 

A leopard looking on - Emily Hardman & Tom Spencer

On another day whilst staying in Ruaha, we saw a large family of
elephants crossing a river (with a tiny baby in tow) - something that Geoffrey
said, he hadn't seen in many years - (we knew it was a big deal as he sat there
live streaming it to Facebook) - all whilst sipping on our G&Ts with the
sun going down in the background!

In
addition to the marvellous wildlife and the brilliant tour of the park, Ikuka
Lodge, where we stayed was absolutely out of this world fantastic. The views
are breathtaking, and we were lucky enough to be able to see a large storm roll
in over the park - deafening thunder echoing across the valley and lightening
turning the entire sky white - something I will never forget. 

The amazing team at Ikuka - Emily Hardman & Tom Spencer

The staff at Ikuka were our absolute favourites - so much personality runs through that place that every time I think about them, I smile. I felt like we really bonded with the staff - particularly Seif, Annie, Luka and Freddie - we miss them all!

Freddie, the friendly giant (and only 19 at the time) spent time teaching us Swahili and had the biggest smile every time he came to walk us to or from our room. And to top it all off, the food was fantastic - and so much of it!! The staff even made traditional 'Ogali' for us, changing their menu, after we mentioned we'd like to try it whilst we were staying in Tanzania! If we had gone home at this point and called the trip there, I would have been delighted, but we still had two more places to stay.

Dinner at Ikuka - Emily Hardman & Tom Spencer

Four
nights at Ikuka Lodge flew by and next thing we knew, we were boarding another
mini airplane to travel a short way to Selous where we stayed at Sand Rivers
Lodge. Here, we met Hamadi and his apprentice Penda (which means 'love' in
sawhili). We learnt that Hamadi had been a ranger before joining Sand Rivers as
a guide and had some absolutely incredible stories about his life. Tom and I
were intrigued to know how Sand Rivers would be able to 'top' Ikuka Lodge, but
it really was just as brilliant and gave us many different memories. 

Hamadi spent time schooling us about the plant
life in Selous and on our first trip out in the jeep with him, he stopped by a
small bush and picked off what looked like a very tiny lemon. He explained it
was an akesha fruit, and popped it into his mouth. 

He asked me to try it as
well and having watched him eat one, I trustingly sniffed it and then put it
straight in my mouth in one - it was a matter of seconds before the taste of it
exploded in my mouth and I felt like I had just taken a swig from a bottle of
very strong perfume - I coughed and spluttered much to his, Penda (and Tom's)
amusement and the taste didn't leave my mouth for a good hour! Lesson
learnt. 

Chamaeleon at Sand Rivers - Emily Hardman & Tom Spencer

The
wildlife in Selous is similar to that of Ruaha, however we saw many more
giraffe and hippo. We also managed to see Hyena, Wilderbeast, African buffalo
and Waterbuck which we hadn't seen in Ruaha - seeing the hyena in particular
was pretty thrilling (having been terrified of them since watching the Lion
King as a child!). One morning we set up camp for breakfast at a short distance
from a large family of hippo noisily taking a bath. On another day, we were
also lucky enough for Hamidi to take us on a private walking safari which was
absolutely incredible and we saw a mother hippo with her (marginally) smaller
son walking around foraging for food. 

We were instructed to stand down-wind
from them because although Hippo haven't got the best eyesight in the animal
kingdom, apparently they have a very good sense of smell! Hamadi was extremely
professional, kind and caring - he had a fantastic way about him that made you
feel like he was very protective of you - almost like a friendly parent. 

On the
walking safari and without us knowing, he had kindly arranged for his
apprentice Penda, to drive ahead to the top of 'Rhys' Hill' where there was a
bottle of champagne and some refreshing snacks waiting for us at the end of the
walk. The view was breathtaking and the whole setup left me close to
tears. 

Sand
Rivers lodge itself is stunning and our room was fantastic - it even included
our own plunge pool. The reception area also sometimes houses a resident bush
baby in the evenings which the staff have affectionately named 'Jocelyn' -
she's absolutely beautiful and very friendly with these beautiful saucer eyes!

Fabulous birdlife in the Selous - Emily Hardman & Tom Spencer

When
it was time for us to leave, Hamadi drove us in our jeep to the airstrip one
last time. Taking off and watching him wave us off, I found myself really
emotional to leave such a truly inspirational and charismatic person and such a
magical place. 

Our
final destination was Pemba - an island just off of Zanzibar. We were collected
in a taxi from Pemba airport and driven to a small jetty where we were greeted
by a group of kids shouting 'Jambo, Hello' and jumping off the side of the
jetty into the water. We boarded a small speed boat which took us to Fundu
Lagoon - a 15 minute journey by boat saw us arrive to the hotel manager waving
and welcoming us from the long jetty that stretched out from beautiful white
sand. 

Ultimate relaxation on Pemba - Emily Hardman & Tom Spencer

Georgie, the manager was extremely friendly and walked us to our little
hut on the edge of the beach - quiet, serene, absolutely beautiful. Inside our
hut were two stunning kimono's, a wicker bag and two wicker hats, which we wore
for the entirety of our stay - word of warning - the wicker hat has a wide brim
and doesn't fit through the hut door!

Beach accommodation - Emily Hardman & Tom Spencer

Georgie
left us to sit on the two loungers that were perfectly positioned in front of
our hut, looking out at the sea, with a bottle of champagne. 

The
following day, we woke up to absolutely stunning sunshine and decided to take a
half day trip to Misali Island - a 20min boat ride away from Fundu Lagoon.
Misali island is absolutely stunning and feels deserted - the sand is
incredibly white and the sea is crystal clear and turquoise in colour. 

Our deserted beach - Emily Hardman & Tom Spencer

We went snorkelling
close to the island and saw some amazing tropical fish. Once we'd spent an hour
or so snorkelling, we got back into the boat to travel back to Fundu. On the
way back, the guides started shouting and slapping the side of the boat and we
had no idea what was going on until a pod 15 dolphins started swimming in front
of the boat! 

They were close enough to touch and swam in front of the boat for
10 minutes - it was a memory that I won't ever forget!

A little slice of heaven - Emily Hardman & Tom Spencer

Over the
next few days on Fundu Lagoon, we ate some absolutely delicious meals and even
had a 'Swahili inspired' evening with traditional Ogali. Every night, the
manager chooses where you as guests will eat - so one night we ate by the pool,
the next night on the beach, another night in the restaurant and then we also
opted to have a private beach dinner. It is a FANTASTIC hotel. 

Toasting the end of an amazing honeymoon - Emily Hardman & Tom Spencer

That
concludes our honeymoon of a lifetime. Tanzania (and Zanzibar) is a truly
spellbinding place, full of friendly faces, amazing wildlife and incredible
food. 

We cannot thank Bonamy enough for organising the trip and hope to be back
to celebrate an anniversary in the not so distant future. 

Thank you Toby and
James!

***Emily Hardman***

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## Contact

Email: safari@bonamy.co.uk
Phone (UK/EU): +44 (0) 20 3575 1098
Phone (US): +1 917 310 1920
Website: https://bonamy.co.uk