Wild romance! Cheek-to-cheek with hippos and elephants, lazing with lions, and …

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This is uncharted territory – for two reasons. First, I’ve never been on safari; second, and more importantly, this is my honeymoon, when the stars are meant to burn brighter, the food taste better and the rest of the world disappears over the romantic horizon.

So, as our tiny plane touches down on the dirt airstrip of the Selous Game Reserve in the south of Tanzania, it does occur to me that we might not see any game and (perish the thought) my freshly baked husband and I might even have one or two disagreements.

Selous must be the most secluded safari experience on the planet. No hordes, no battles at the breakfast buffet.

Indeed, the only interruptions are the nightly roaring of lions and calling of hippos. The reserve – 50,000 square kilometres in total – was designated a protected area in 1896 and takes its name from the British explorer Frederick Selous.

Too sweet: A lioness grooms her cub in the wilds of Tanzania

It’s famous for its elephants, and though poaching has caused the number in the reserve to dwindle from 70,000 just five years ago to 13,000 today, we are not disappointed. Huge herds cluster in the dense, red soil patches of forest that are dotted across the open grasslands.

On our first afternoon, taking a sharp corner in one of the forests, we see a 20-strong herd, including a mother and tiny calf, just a few feet from us. It’s thrilling, but the feeling isn’t mutual. The mother sounds warning calls, just as a huge bull elephant charges out of the undergrowth.

Our guide accelerates towards the bull towering above our truck – who decides today is not the day to take on a carload of tourists armed with cameras, tablets and iPhones.

Such close encounters leave us in no doubt that we are in the animals’ domain and it adds a frisson of danger, allowing my brave husband to play the protector of his nervous bride.

For every slightly scary sighting, there are ten sweet ones, which have me cooing. We spot baby zebra, tiny wart-hogs meekly trotting behind their less-appealing mothers, and countless mini hippos.

One evening we even come across a
lioness resting under a tree with two newly-born cubs. Little more than
bundles of fluff, they totter around, unsteady on their feet, wrestling
with each other under the weary eyes of their formidable mother. 

Famous: The Selous Game Reserve is renowned for its elephants, though poachers have decimated their numbers

Face to face: Hippopotamuses walk pass the camp to a favourite grazing ground, and sometimes stop to visit

Our tent is gorgeous, filled with dark wooden furniture, crisp linen and a private plunge pool. We dine by candlelight just 20ft from the fast-flowing waters of the Ruaha, teeming with hippos and crocodiles.
This is exhilarating, but does mean I’m not always gazing fondly into my beloved’s eyes.

Every night, as darkness falls, the hippos, moving in pods of 12 or so, heave their enormous bodies out of the water and plod past our tent on a well-worn path towards their favourite spot for grazing.

One morning, we open our curtains and find ourselves eye-to-eye with a three-ton hippo, the mosquito net between us offering scant reassurance.

Safaris mean early starts, so we round off our honeymoon on an island where time has little bearing on proceedings. Pemba, part of the Zanzibar archipelago, is 31 miles north of Unguja, the main island. It is remarkably undeveloped, with a population of 350,000.

We stay in a beach-side villa at Fundu lagoon and it’s all of 20 yards from our terrace to the bath-water warm sea.

Pemba was dubbed ‘the green isle’ by
early Arab sailors because of its lush forests, and the trees grazing
the sands provide welcome shade from the afternoon sun – for us and the
local fisherman, whose traditional white-sailed, wooden dhow boats idle
in the shallows after lunch.

Wedding toast: Enjoy a sundowner at the poolside bar at Fundu Lagoon in Tanzania

Crystal clear: A swimmer enjoys the Fundu Lagoon Hotel pool in Pemba, known as ¿the green isle¿

While Fundu’s huge, secluded villas are the height of romance, we are the only newlyweds, sparing us any feeling of being in a honeymoon ghetto. In fact, we quickly find ourselves to be the star attraction with our fellow holidaymakers who are keen to raise a toast to us in the well-stocked beach bar, pool bar, the sunset boat bar and, when it gets really late, from the mini-bar.

The languor of Pemba is exactly the antidote we need to the high-octane adventures of the Selous Game Reserve.

Seeing all those animals out in the wild is a treat, but seeing each other at close quarters is, I am happy to report, just as wonderful.

TRAVEL FACTS

SCOTT DUNN (020 8682 5070,
scottdunn.com) offers four nights at Amara Selous and five nights at
Fundu Lagoon fully inclusive from £3,495 per person including flights
and private transfers.

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