Luxury Holidays & Honeymoons to Tanzania & Zanzibar

The great hulks of container ships that tread the waters off the coast of Dar es Salaam – Tanzania’s capital, and vibrant, Indian-influenced port city – give way, eventually, to the wild, sumptuous hinterlands of the Serengeti. This is a mountainous place, studded with coffee plantations and great, lazy rivers. People come to Tanzania to see where the world of humans is overtaken by the animal kingdom – by the stately hippopotamus and agile lion. Others, on their luxury holidays to Tanzania, chose the white, sun-drenched sands of Zanzibar; one of the world’s ultimate luxury honeymoon hotspots.

Some 50 km off the coast of mainland Tanzania, the island cluster of the Zanzibar archipelago arouses in the mind images of spice, coral reefs, and white sand beaches. Their beauty belies the island’s storied past – once a land grab of Portuguese and British colonialism. Today, while turtles and lionfish paddle over the reefs, locals still talk of the spirits that slip between the shadows of the trees. It is a beautiful, breath-slowing location, but it has a history – and a sense of place – that reaches far back in time. Luckily, a popular local cocktail is the dawas – ‘magic potion.’ Put another way, there’s something restorative, something healing, during any luxury honeymoon spent in beautiful Zanzibar.

It would be heretical to hit up Tanzania and not to go in search of animal life. The country boasts some of the world’s best safaris … driving safaris can lead you into multiple encounters with these fractious beasts, whereas walking tours put you at their eye level. Buffaloes that glance, quickly, suddenly, from the tall grass; distant crocodiles that flop into lazy waters; or the strange nests of the hamerkop bird, decorated with old bones. Most importantly for any luxury safari holiday to Tanzania, the country is part of the route covered by the Great Migration – that once yearly, mass movement of zebra, buffalo, and gazelle. Heart-thumping, jaw-dropping. You don’t want to miss out.

Luxury holidays to Tanzania and Zanzibar are – yes – all about the animal life. But the country’s natural scenery cannot go unmentioned. The Ngorongoro conservation area, a World Heritage Site in the Crater Highlands of Tanzania, features the massive, wild, and animal-filled caldera of Ngorongoro. The name stems from the sound made by the cowbell (ngoro ngoro) used by Maasai pastoralists. The crater widens the eyes – in great, sloping waves of sharp green and blue-tinged mountains that rear in the expansive distance. A little to the north, on the Kenyan border, is the stately massif of Mount Kilimanjaro – snow-slaked, and holding up the vast East African sky.

Far from a sleepy city, Tanzania’s capital – Dar es Salaam – has grown from a small Zaramo fishing village into a sprawling, thriving metropolis. Facing out onto the Indian Ocean it represents, understandably, a confluence of cultures and remains one of East Africa’s biggest, and busiest, ports. Despite the hustle and bustle (there is a lot of that), the city is an unmissable part of the Tanzanian experience – with a low-key, down to earth atmosphere. Take a deep breath and swallow up some of Tanzania’s tantalizing city culture, before heading out through the gateway to begin your luxury safari in Tanzania’s hinterland.