Our last stop to Ngorongoro Crater’s ancient collapsed volcano was a good way to round out the trip. The crater boasts one of the highest concentrations of predators in Africa, but has less than two dozen of critically endangered black rhinos. We saw a fair number of big (and little) cats (though not much in the way of chases or kills though) and one black rhino. 

If that doesn’t give you a good perspective to start married life, I don’t know what will.

RH Note, again: Huge thanks to Greg and Kim for sharing their story. Readers, if you haven’t checked out Greg’s other images at Flying Fur Photography yet, they’re a must!

Serengeti National Park. Yeah, this is the mother of all safari parks and it didn’t disappoint. Lions, hyenas, dead zebras (lions seem to prefer a bit more protein for breakfast than the dry Weetabix we ate), jousting juvenile elephants, stampeding wildebeest, gazillions of Thomson’s gazelles and pooping hippos.

The vastness of the Serengeti means you can’t see it all in a couple of days. We spent about 2 1/2 days there and just scratched the surface. After our first full day, we drove to the northern Serengeti where we had the best stay of our trip. More on that this afternoon.

Migration Camp was British luxury dropped in the middle of wilderness. It’s a permanent tent camp, but the “tents” have double sinks, solar-powered hot water, nice beds, wood floors, cushy leather chairs. The service and staff were top notch. We had our best meal of the trip there with wines matched to our food.

For romantic moments, sitting on a rooftop deck with cocktails watching the sunset before dinner was hard to beat. And it was kind of cool that after dark, management insisted guests be accompanied by staff in case of encounters with hippos, who come from the nearby Grumeti River to graze on grass near the tents. We were serenaded to sleep by the sound of those hippos grunting and awoken by mischievous gopher-like hyraxes jumping on the tent roof.

About two hours southwest from Arusha, Tarangire National Park this park is known for its herds of elephants. And we saw plenty of them. Big bulls. Little babies. They wandered so close to us at one point we were able to hear the crunching of dirt under their feet and the munching of acacia leaves in their mouths.  

There are tons of other animals in Tarangire besides elephants and we got to see many of them, from a male ostrich whose neck was red to attract the ladies doing a mating dance to a baby zebra trying to nurse with its clearly fed-up mother. 

Arusha National Park is smaller than some of the better-known parks but that means it usually has fewer crowds. We hit this reserve the morning after arriving in Africa and the rush of our first sightings of zebra, cape buffalo, warthogs, giraffes and other creatures actually in the wild as opposed to a zoo enclosure was incredible.

This point is probably obvious, but having a good, knowledgeable guide can be the difference between an okay trip and a spectacular one. Do some research to ensure you get an experienced one.

Going to Africa for our honeymoon was one of the smartest things my wife and I have done so far as a married couple. Well, that and buying matching pink Snuggies. (Stop judging us.) 

I had better luck with “we’re on our honeymoon” at one of the lodges where we stayed after our first room had a bug issue. (I even brought the remains of a large but squished creature to the front desk to help plea my case.) The next night, they upgraded us to a magnificent, two-floor suite with sweeping views of the Serengeti. 

Melody and Kevin knew that when you visit Belize, you can’t leave without seeing at least one Mayan temple.

She says, “We loved Lamanai, which has some of the highest and most fascinating structures.”

These honeymooners offered some great advice to other visitors, “If you go, brave the steep steps and climb all the way to the top of High Temple. It is terrifying, but you won’t regret it.”

One a honeymoon, you can find romance just about anywhere. For Melody and Kevin, while in Belize, that sweet moment was in the dark of an ancient cave. She says, “I know it probably sounds crazy, but the most romantic moment for me may have been trudging through waist-high, freezing cold water in the cave at Actun Tunichil Muknal and feeling Kevin’s hand reach for mine as he helped lead the way in the dark. There was something so spooky and cool about knowing how old those cave walls were and how many sacred rituals had taken place there – and there we were, quietly being a part of it. Even though we obviously saw other tour groups down there, at times it felt like we were the only two people in the whole cave.”

These two also had great company on their trek. Melody says, “The best tour guide ever – we would recommend him to ANYONE – was Ben Cruz. He led us through the above-mentioned Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) cave system. It was just us and one other couple in our group, and Ben was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable – not to mention a really warm and fascinating person. By the end of the day, he felt like family. We were heartbroken to leave him!”

And here’s Kevin, doing his very best Indian Jones impersonation.

The main focus of Oliver and Lisa’s honeymoon in Costa Rica was exploring the incredible natural beauty the country offers, both along the Caribbean coast and in the inland rain forests. Oliver did an amazing job of capturing in all in stunning photos.

The parks they checked out were Arenal Volanic National Park (home to Arenal Volcano), Monteverde and Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserves (where they did their zipline outing) and Manuel Antonio National Park.

In each of the parks, they were able to get up close and personal with the wildlife. The Capuchin monkeys put on the best show and keep all the tourists on their toes.

The monkeys may have been amusing and cute, but they also saw a lot of critters that we much more creepy and crawly. You can see more of them on his flickr site.

Many thanks to Oliver and Lisa for sharing their trip and images. I love that they took a make-it-up-as-we-go-along approach to their honeymoon.

Oliver says, “The truth is, if you don’t go the resort route in Costa Rica, I find that there are a lot of charming places that you happen across just by exploring. A lot of times, it’s the lodging with the best web presence that people usually wind up choosing because they want to book in advance. When that happens, you lose out on all of the quaint family run places with really friendly people.”

Talking with Oliver has me adding Costa Rica to the top of my own “Must visit” list. The wide range of activities, the laid-back vibe and relatively unspoiled natural beauty. Thanks so much to Oliver and Lisa for sharing their fantastic trip with us. Be sure to check out more of his awesome photography on flickr.

Oliver and Lisa were ready for a bit of adrenaline on their Costa Rica honeymoons, so they signed up for a trip through the air with Sky Trek Zipline Canopy Tour in Monteverde. This highland “Cloud Forest” has nearly 100% humidity all year long, meaning the rain forest is almost constantly covered in cloud mist. Sky Trek’s system of zip lines run from mountain to mountain, and together have a distance of 2.5 miles of linear cable, reaching heights of over 500 feet off the ground.

Anyone questioning whether a zipline trip is worth it, only needs one look of Oliver’s incredible shots of the Monteverde treetops to know they need to go. He says the whole experience “was a blast, and had beautiful scenery.” These two also took at nighttime nature hike through the park to learn more about the diversity of the forest inhabitants.

I absolutely love the details Oliver captured along their honeymoon adventure.