Day 1 and 2 - Ras Kutani Lodge

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Day One:

The BA flight was good, very quiet so we could spread out across lots of seats and try to get some sleep. Getting our Visas was an experience - Anton struggled with the VERY laid back African systems...i.e. you just give a guy $50 each and your passport and wait for him to (hopefully) return at some point!

The private charter flight was amazing thanks to George the pilot, the views were stunning, although the weather was very mixed today. We felt pretty special having our own plane and pilots with our cases just thrown on the back seat as if we were in a taxi!

It was raining during the flight and the plane had no windscreen wipers so seeing the pilots hanging out the window to get their directions was rather amusing (to Anton) and scary (to Vicky).

The lodge is very pretty and being rowed in across the lagoon was really special - the views are breathtaking as the lodge is sandwiched between a lagoon and the ocean.

The weather stayed overcast for most of the day, so we spent the day lounging around in our hammocks reading or on the huge bed in our room sleeping (!).

The food was excellent - and Anton quickly became accoustomed to the local beer Kilimanjaro or 'Kili' as the locals call it.

I on the other hand worked her way through the impressive cocktail menu and certainly felt very relaxed by the end of day one. Dinner on the first night was a real treat, not only was the food delicious (huge langoustine followed by red snapper) but the staff had also set up a private candlelit table for us on the jetty overlooking the moonlit lagoon - very romantic and excellent seranading by the frogs!

After dinner we rejoined the other guests for a few drinks looking out across the sea. What a first day!

Day Two:

We had sunshine - yayyyyy!!! After breakfast we spent the morning by the pool catching some rays and had a lovely lunch.

We had massages that afternoon which were amazing, followed by a siesta in the hammocks (must get some for home!).

That night it was Swahili night for dinner which started with cocktail hour down on the moonlit beach. The goat curry was particularly impressive according to Anton. We intended to get an early night as we were flying back to Dar Es Salam the following morning but got tricked into a nightcap which turned into several with the lodge manager joining us until about 2am...some very sore heads the next morning but great fun and lots of stories about famous celebrities and even royalty who have visited! Apparently Camilla is a real sun worshipper haha!

Overall a really wonderful first couple of days on our magical honeymoon. Most memorable bit? Dinner together on the jetty with the beach on one side and the moonlit lagoon on the other - perfect!

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