Exotic Honeymoon

August 3, 2008 | Posted by Mizz Honeysuckle

Long before Mr Honeysuckle and I got engaged, I had this idea that I wanted to go to the Seychelles for my honeymoon one day. I don’t know why I fixated on the Seychelles over any other islandy destination with white beaches and clear blue water, but I just did. My cousin moved there with his wife quite a few years ago, and while it’s not like we’re particularly close (he’s quite a lot older than me) maybe I felt some kind of a link there, or that it would be a safe choice because I could trust them to tell me where to go and where not to stay. And LOOK at it!

Anyway, so I started my search by going into all the travel agents at my local mall and asking them if they had any package deals for the Seychelles in November this year. With no exception, they all blew me off. Every single one of them.
“Oh, we don’t organise packages this early.” (this was March, eight months in advance)
“I haven’t got anything at the moment; give me your detai;ls and we’ll get back to you.”
“I’ll have to wait for the owner/manager to come in and she’ll contact you.”
“We don’t do that sort of thing.”
So basically not one travel agent out of FIVE even wanted my business! I couldn’t believe it. What do they do for commission if they don’t want to deal with what I think is a pretty straight-forward request? (FYI, this is a common problem. My Dad had the same issue trying to get a flight to Namibia and a hotel there in Windhoek for two nights. Like that’s hard).
Anyway, so the honeymoon issue got put on a worrying backburner. In the meantime I went to a bridal expo in early April, where vendors just throw info and pamphlets at you, and put my name down at every travel agent there, asking for Syechelles honeymoon info. Again, there were about eight or ten there. ONE got back to me, a lovely lady called Mandy from Flight Specials. She immediately e-mailed me two options, but ever the perfectionist, one was too expensive and one was too “casino & family-friendly” for our tastes. We wanted peace and quiet! No problem, she e-mailed two more. There was something about them that wasn’t right either. Sensing I might have to give up on my Seychelles dream, I asked her to cast her net further afield, and she came up with THIS:

Oh.My.God. We just fell in love with it immediately. It’s a resort called Flamingo Bay in Mozambique, and the best part? NO CHILDREN UNDER 12. Therefore, peace and quiet! We jumped on it immediately. And guess what happened? The hotel is fully booked for the week we want! I could have cried. The first date they could offer us is two weeks after our wedding, which is too long, because while I could live with the wait, I’m damned if I’m going into work between my wedding and honeymoon, and I don’t have leave to cover all that! Much as I wish I did.

So we were back to Square One. We asked for more options in various places, none of which seemed to match the beauty and interest and price of the Mozambique one. Until, finally, she sent us THIS, an option I hadn’t even considered:

And where is this? PHUKET, Thailand! Yeah baby! Mr & Mrs (as I will be then!) HS are going to The Far East for seven nights! Actually….eight nights, because when we found out our flights went via Hong Kong, we asked the ever-patient Mandy to get us a one-night stopover there so we could look around. Because, seriously, when are we ever going to go to the far east again?

And the funny thing? This package to Thailand is cheaper than the one to Mozambique, which, in case you forgot, is our neighbouring country! We could drive there, for frick’s sake! No accounting, huh?

Comments

6 Comments so far

Queen Bee on August 3, 2008 9:13 pm
Its ridiculous how pathetic some of these “businesses” (if you can call them that) operate! Its actually disgusing! They should have at least made an effort to look for you - how pathetic, to have to ask your manager before you can book a holiday at a travel agent - hello….. isnt that what you do?

Anyways, Phucket looks STUNNING! You are so lucky. Take lots a pics for us k? :)
Mizz Honeysuckle on August 3, 2008 10:25 pm
Yeah I don’t know WHAT travel agents do! I mean, they did all they could to basically put me off and get me out their shop. I couldn’t understand why. Why couldn’t they find a holiday and help me book it? Where was the problem??

Ladies, if you need a nice, helpful travel agent I will give you Mandy Joubert’s number. Considering how useless everyone else is, she should be raking in the cash!
Mizz Calla Lilly on August 4, 2008 9:12 am
Really ? cheaper ? WOW, I am trying to get a place for my brother and his fiance for the honeymoon. AND I am having the same problems as you?
Mizz Honeysuckle on August 4, 2008 6:57 pm
Yeah, it was only a little cheaper…I think a few hundred each, but the fact that it’s So much further makes it much more cost-effective!
Lisa Rautenbach on September 2, 2008 6:20 pm
Anyone that can share honeymoon ideas with me? I’m desperate :-) our honeymoon is planned for upcoming December and I am lost amongst all the options, Phuket looks great, anyone have names of resorts we could look at or contact information of a good travel agent?
Mizz Honeysuckle on September 2, 2008 8:04 pm
Lisa, you could contact my travel agent - Mandy Joubert from Flight Specials. mandyj@flightspecials.co.za

She really was the only person who even bothered to help me find a honeymoon, and she was really sweet and helpful and sent us lots of info. Tell her Katharine sent you!

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