If you’re looking for the perfect honeymoon safari destination, we’ve just found it – IN ZIMBABWE

By glamourmagazine.co.uk

If planning the perfect holiday takes you weeks of endless Googling, scrolling, planning and budgeting, then you can imagine the research that goes into confirming your dream honeymoon.

The ‘trip of a lifetime’. The ‘biggest’, most ‘meaningful’, most ‘memorable’ holiday you’ll ever take. That’s a lot of pressure to put on one fleeting sojourn, particularly one that you’re likely planning in any downtime you have from putting the finishing touches to ‘the most special day of your life!!’. Anyone would think getting married was just one very long, stressful, expensive to-do list…

Two years on from my own, however – with the distance and rose-tinted nostalgia having perhaps clouded my memory – I can confidently say that the spreadsheets were worth it.

But what was even more worthwhile, I hate to admit, was the relentless search for the very best honeymoon destination imaginable, because it ultimately led me to Matetsi. (And, yes, I’m about to save you six months of research. You can thank me later.)

Landing at Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls airport in 39°C after sixteen hours of travel I felt somewhat bleary eyed as we made the forty-five minute drive to our home for the next three nights. But nothing could’ve combated my groggy state quite as effectively as the fifteen foot tall giraffe taking shade beneath an enormous, solitary tree on the approach to the reserve.

I caught my breath just quick enough to take a picture (naturally) as if this were a once-in-a-lifetime sight. Little did I know how prolific such moments of magic were about to become.

Having ticked-off my most-longed-to-see animal before we’d even checked in, the bar had truly been set.

Nestled peacefully on a private 15km stretch of the breathtaking Zambezi river, Matetsi Victoria Falls is a luxury, family-owned and independently run safari lodge that sits within its own 136,000-acre wilderness and comprises of 16 suites, 2 family suites and a private villa.

Having been welcomed by the incomparably warm team of hosts – and after an incredible lunch spread on the banks of the Zambezi with nothing but the perfectly still outlook and a very cheeky monkey (actual monkey) eyeing up dropped crumbs for company – we made our giddy way to the suite to freshen up.

As a 32-year-old woman (and someone’s actual mother) who tragically still squeals at the sight of a spider and is perpetually afraid of intruders, staying in the middle of the wilderness wasn’t something I saw on my life’s bingo card. I also, however, despise overdone, over-fussy interiors that prioritise trends over authenticity and feel as though you could be anywhere.

Luckily for me, Matetsi has somehow found that elusive balance of total, understated luxury that is entirely integrated within its surrounds, with a contemporary, distinctly African interior and refreshingly little technological faff.

Having freshened up – and taken a modest 400,000 photos of our suite’s pool gently resting on the banks of the Zambezi – we were greeted by our own private safari rangers, Lance and Willard, who were limitlessly knowledgable and who were about about to become two of our favourite people on the planet.

They asked us how many game drives we’d like to go on per day (we said as many as possible, deciding a relaxed afternoon by the pool could wait for another holiday), if a 5am wake-up call sounded doable (yes!) and what our coffee orders were for said wake-up calls (anything with an extra shot, having committed to the previous request).

And then we were off.

Four days, six game drives, infinite lion/zebra/giraffe/buffalo/hippo/warthog/snake/impala/monkey sightings, two incredible thunderstorms, a lot of Amarula sundowners, one afternoon spent soaking up the spray of the nearby Victoria Falls (an official Natural Wonder of the World and the largest waterfall on Earth), countless memorable dining experiences from bush breakfasts to dinners on the river, one unforgettable Zambezi evening river cruise, a newfound understanding and deep-seated appreciation of the fundamental intersection of tourism and conservation at such a place, and a whole new extended family in the form of the 100% Zimbabwean team at Matetsi; we were leaving this magical wonderland as two entirely new people.

Luckily, having just committed our lives to one another, these new people were still pretty fond of one another.