Eat, Play, Love – honeymoon ideas
Text: Stephen Smith. Article from the February 2013 issue of Country Life Magazine.
If everything goes right, your honeymoon is the only one you’ll have so it might as well be spot on. After tying the knot Stephen Smith enjoys his right on our doorstep.
Honeymoon. A word that conjures up ideas of dreamy sojourns in exotic faraway places. But my Emily is not much of a traveller so I needed to plan around our shores. Happiest at home with her dog and her mom, and a roast chicken in the oven, Em has nevertheless always wanted to stay somewhere on stilts over an azure ocean…
Frolicking with Flamingos
Flamingo Bay Water Lodge is the proud owner of those stilts, a breathtaking luxury lodge that stretches out over the tidal plains of Inhambane Bay in Mozambique. Inhambane might be only a couple of hours away by plane, but you leave the airport separated by a world. The thick, fragrant air, the exotic notes of Portuguese chatter, the palm trees and, at the end of our journey, a little chalet at the end of a wooden walkway over the blue sweep and mangroves of Inhambane Bay.
So far, it’s the brochure picture of a honeymoon, and many of our fellow guests were enjoying just that. But the start of our honeymoon was to be a little different.
On the morning of our first day, we thought of an early run to clear the wedding cobwebs. As we trotted along the beach, back-lit fishermen were hauling in their nets and dhows were circling the bay. In the distance was a promontory, which seemed like a good goal to run to. But when we hit it another point beckoned. And then another, until the next point was the little village of Tofo.
It may sound bizarre, but walking all the way to Tofo, having lunch and walking back just in time for our afternoon horse ride would prove to be one of the highlights of our honeymoon, despite the blisters.
Recovering from that walk would be another, sitting on our private deck and watching fish feeding in the water below us, and then seeing a family of flamingos winging their way back to wherever flamingos put their feet up at the end of the day.
The next day, while sensible honeymooners were doing whatever it is that sensible honeymooners do, we were back on the beach waiting for a catamaran to ferry us to Pansy Island. I expected a natural treasure hunt, ferreting out an elusive bounty, but the reality was a sand bar covered in the intricate, flower-like shells, there for the picking.
Later, when we were told we were going to snorkel over a bed of starfish on our way back to the lodge, we expected a few pointy little distractions scattered across the ocean bed, and nothing could have prepared me for the thousands, literally thousands, of saucer-sized, multi-hued starfish so plentiful that I worried about where to put my feet.
Our four days in the exotic luxury of Flamingo Bay Water Lodge were by no means the stereotype of a honeymoon. Yes, there were moments of relaxation and decadence, but our days were filled with exploration, adventure, and making memories.Then it was on to the next stop.
Missing the Turtles
Emily, bless her cotton socks, is very fond of her nosh. Ask her about her day and she’ll start with what she had for lunch. Ask about her honeymoon and she’ll probably start with the kingklip Thai green curry at Thonga Beach Lodge…
Thonga is perched on a forested sand dune overlooking a lonely beach, not far from Lake Sibaya on KwaZulu-Natal’s Elephant Coast. It’s a place I had always wanted to visit, part of the allure being a turtle-watching trip along the beach, although getting married in the middle of winter doesn’t make for good honeymoon turtle watching. You live and learn…
Luckily, paddling on Lake Sibaya, the largest natural freshwater lake in South Africa, was another goal of mine, and this is what we did on our only full day at Thonga, rising with the sun and heading out to make ripples on the dark, still waters. Thulani Ntuli, our smiling fount of knowledge, showed us a lone hippo.
(“Don’t get too close to that one – he’s angry!”) and explained the ins and outs of the lake. Thulani is from the local community, which co-owns the lodge with Isibindi Africa and has benefitted greatly from its existence. But his tale of a hippo killing a few local men walking home from a drinking session didn’t make the paddle any more comforting.
In keeping with our honeymoon modus operandi, we didn’t spend the rest of the day relaxing on the deck and gazing at the breakers. No, we donned wetsuits and slipped beneath the water and into the natural aquarium that is the system of rock pools in front of Thonga. Lion fish, parrot fish, rays (but no turtles) – they all put in an appearance for this little aquatic safari. If only a turtle had decided to pop in for a second…
A Honeymoon for Hemingway
Emily may be a beach person, but as the son of a disenchanted lawyer who would have given anything to do it all over as a game ranger, I would never have been able to organise a honeymoon that didn’t include a little taste of the African bushveld. The 23 000 hectare and Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve was that morsel – a brief stay in the quilted, goose-down lap of safari luxury.
Times have changed since Hemingway wrote his autobiographical tales of African safaris, but Vlei Lodge, the smallest of Phinda’s lodges with just six very exclusive chalets, retains the romance and the opulence, not to mention the staff-to-guest ratio, of those times. The staff caters for every whim, interspersing your meals with snacks, and your snacks with offers of G&T. There’s so much food on offer, and such good food, that you can’t grumble when a genet sneaks out of the tree above your dinner table and makes off with a sample.
“Oh! Emm! Gee!”
The early morning cry of an American tourist shatters the silence as a white rhino crashes out of the thick sand forest bush, kicking up dust and not noticing the Land Cruiser that has screeched to a halt a few metres away from it, before thumping its way back into the bush. A few moments earlier or later, and all we would have seen was a few plants waving in the breeze.
Phinda is blessed with a healthy population of both white and black rhino, no doubt due to a diligent anti-poaching campaign, and in just two days we are lucky enough to see both species beautifully.
Our last evening drive is a special one. Emily and I have our guide, Martin Nzwire, and tracker, Josiah Mhlongo, the Land Cruiser and the aromatic bushveld night to ourselves. As with every drive, Martin asks us if there is anything special we would like to look for. The previous times we let the foreigners choose their poison (it’s amazing how excited they get about zeebrahs and gee-raffs), but now that it’s up to us we ask for what we think is the impossible. Black rhino”.
“OK,” says Martin. “We’ll look for them in the bush they like, but they’re not easy to see.”
We do just that, heading north in search of ‘Mbejane’. At a junction Josiah puts his hand in the air, then points to the ground. He says something in Zulu and we take a turn off the road. A few hundred metres later we stop. Josiah and Martin stand up and survey the bush. Josiah points again, and there is the shy and belligerent black rhino. I hurriedly snap a few pictures, expecting him to disappear at a trot. Instead he wanders towards us, sniffing the air. Then he yawns, strolls closer, almost into touching distance. He peers around, circles the car and nibbles on a bush. Then he ceremoniously sprays the bushes behind him. “He’s marking his territory,” Martin says with a laugh. We watch for another 10 minutes, enthralled with an unbelievable sighting of an elusive curmudgeon.
Half an hour later we have had more personal experiences with wildlife, from two herds of elephant meeting for sundowners to a pride of lions lazing in the afternoon sun. Then we round a corner and coast to a stop in a clearing next to waterhole. “What’s that?” asks Em, excitedly. And there, hanging from a tree, is a bottle of champagne in a silver ice bucket and a few glasses. A card says ‘Dear Emily and Stephen. Happy Honeymoon. Love, The Staff of Vlei Lodge’.
Then it’s back to the luxury of the lodge for supper, a hunting female leopard a welcome distraction on the way. But it’s another honeymoon surprise when we return, as the staff have set up a candle-lit bath, complete with scented bubbles, and a romantic dinner on our private deck. It’s the perfect end to our ten days of exploration and romance, a reminder that you don’t need to leave Southern Africa for world-class romantic destinations.
Flamingo Bay Water Lodge 011 023 9901, info@barraresorts.com, www.barraresorts.com
Thonga Beach Lodge 035 474 1473, res@isibindi.co.za, www.isibindiafrica.co.za
and Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve
Vlei Lodge www.phinda.com
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