| Only a few years ago the idea of flying to Africa | | | | environment and give work to local people. |
| for a honeymoon would have seemed | | | | The lodge is Guludo, a collection of nine tented |
| outrageous. Now a safari is one of the most | | | | bandas on the sugary white sands of |
| popular types of honeymoons amongst | | | | Mozambique's Quirimbas National Park. At most |
| well-travelled couples who want a little more | | | | luxury hotels guests are cocooned, but at Guludo |
| excitement than two weeks lying in the sun. | | | | they are encouraged to visit people's homes and |
| A safari honeymoon is not just about viewing | | | | play in a daily football match against a village |
| game. You can stay in stunning remote camps, | | | | team. Local women offer traditional muciro face |
| take hot air balloon rides at dawn, arrange | | | | masks while Amy, a marine biologist, takes guests |
| champagne breakfasts in the bush, visit local | | | | diving and teaches them about the seas. |
| villages and then crash out on a beautiful white | | | | Not only has the project proved a huge hit, but |
| sand beach. | | | | Amy and Neal are being recognised as pioneers of |
| Grootbos South Africa | | | | a new kind of tourism. Last year Amy, 25, was |
| At first glance you might think the Grootbos | | | | named Young Social Entrepreneur of The Year at |
| Private Nature Reserve looks a bit worthy. A | | | | the New Statesman Edge Upstarts Awards. This |
| five-star eco-resort in South Africa's Western | | | | year the pair plan to open a game lodge run on |
| Cape, it's so environmentally friendly that it | | | | similar principles. |
| banishes non-indigenous trees from its lush | | | | Six nights full board at Guludo plus a night at |
| grounds and lectures guests about lichens and | | | | Pemba costs from £1,035 with Okavango Tours |
| seaweed. | | | | and Safaris. |
| But dull it ain't. Although hardly visible from the | | | | Porini Camps Kenya |
| road, the hotel is built on a wooded hillside | | | | Everyone is pretty much agreed that safari parks |
| overlooking Walker Bay, a wild curved beach near | | | | are a good thing. After all, they protect wildlife. |
| the southern tip of Africa. It is made up of two | | | | But what's the view from the other side of the |
| wings, both stylish and comfortable. The original | | | | fence? |
| family-friendly lodge has a dozen cottages hidden | | | | In Kenya it seems that local Masaai people feel |
| amongst milkwood trees, while the contemporary | | | | excluded from the action - they don't feel that |
| adults-only wing boasts huge bathrooms with | | | | they benefit too much from tourism and they |
| floor-to-ceiling windows. | | | | aren't exactly keen on the busloads of tourists |
| The food is outstanding. I lunched on red roman, a | | | | who parde into their villages to view the |
| succulent line-caught fish, as the owner Michael | | | | "colourful" natives. |
| Lutzeyer outlined the hotel's ethos - "luxury, | | | | So it's not a surprise that the Masai continue to |
| conservation and social responsibility". Fizzing with | | | | hunt protected animals, which they regard as a |
| enthusiasm, he explained why he had opened a | | | | threat, not a benefit. |
| gardening school, the first in South Africa, to train | | | | This inspired Jake Grieves-Cook, a white Kenyan, |
| jobless men from the nearby township, and built | | | | to do something. He decided to open a camp on |
| four football pitches for local schoolkids. "The | | | | Masaai land just beyond the park border, employ |
| children can only play if they turn up with a bag | | | | local people to build and run it and pay them rent. |
| of rubbish to recycle. We're also teaching them | | | | Not only would the Masaai benefit from tourism, |
| about wildlife. They love it!" he said. | | | | they would also have an incentive to conserve |
| It's worth visiting Grootbos just to see the | | | | the wildlife. Visitors, in turn, would experience an |
| fynbos. One of the world's six botanical kingdoms, | | | | authentic warm welcome and get the run of a |
| fynbos is unique to South Africa, an area of bush | | | | vast area of wilderness, rather than following a |
| covering 500 by 50 miles. Within it are about | | | | trail of minivans around an overcrowded park. |
| 9,700 plant species, of which 6,700 are endemic | | | | The result is Amboseli Porini, a small tented camp |
| (compare this with the UK, which has about 1,500 | | | | in the Masaai-owned Selenkay Conservancy next |
| plant species, 25 endemic). | | | | to the Amboseli National Park. Because only 12 |
| A half-hour boat ride gets you to Dyer Island, | | | | visitors a day are allowed into the conservancy, |
| home to a colony of 60,000 cape fur seals. This is | | | | the animals - elephant, lion, leopard and cheetah - |
| where the BBC's Planet Earth recently filmed the | | | | remain genuinely wild and unaccustomed to the |
| animals being eaten whole by great white sharks. | | | | sight of vehicles. |
| Nearby you can see penguins and dolphins and, | | | | Grieves-Cook recently opened a second camp, |
| between June and October, southern right whales | | | | Mara Porini, built in the Ol Kinyei wildlife |
| cavorting a few metres offshore. | | | | conservancy, a vast area of riverine forest, |
| Grootbos isn't cheap - in high season you'll pay | | | | savannah and rolling hills overlooking the Masai |
| £178pp per night, but that includes all meals, | | | | Mara. |
| guided walks and drives, and horse riding. Children | | | | Prices compare favourably with other luxury |
| pay from £65. Details: | | | | tented camps. Three nights at Amboseli followed |
| Guludo Beach Lodge Mozambique | | | | by four nights at Mara Porini costs from £1,680 |
| Amy Carter and her partner Neal Allcock have | | | | including flights, conservancy fees, game drives in |
| built a small exclusive beach lodge in Mozambique | | | | open 4x4 vehicles, walking safaris with the Masai, |
| run strictly on Fair Trade principles. Their idea was | | | | all meals and drinks. Book with Africa Sky. |
| to alleviate poverty, protect the fragile local | | | | |