Guest Story
"We have been married for twenty-five years. We have travelled together to more than forty countries. Nothing we have done together has come close to this. Nothing has made us feel more like a pair."
— Claire and Robert Watson, twenty-fifth anniversary
Claire and Robert Watson have what they describe as a "committed travel relationship." They plan trips together, they share the planning, and they have never once gone somewhere that only one of them wanted to go. Their twenty-fifth anniversary was always going to be significant. They spent four months deciding where to mark it.
Tanzania was Robert's suggestion. He had been watching wildlife documentaries for thirty years and had never been to Africa. Claire had always said she wanted to see the Great Migration before she died. When they found Bobby Safaris and spoke to Don, they told him: we want something that feels worthy of twenty-five years. We don't want to feel like tourists. We want to feel like guests who were invited into something rare.
"Don asked us a question we had not expected. He said: 'When you are watching animals in their most unguarded moments — the leopards, the crossing — do you want to be close enough to hear them breathe, or do you want to feel the vastness of the landscape around them?' We chose vastness. He built the entire trip around that answer."
— Claire Watson
The Anniversary Night
On the actual anniversary night, their guide Godfrey had arranged a private dinner on a rocky outcrop near camp. Not a planned feature — a suggestion he had made, that the camp team had executed. A table for two, lanterns, the chef from camp who had prepared a specific menu they had discussed with Don. The sun went down over the Serengeti. They ate. They talked. A lion roared somewhere in the distance.
Claire said later that she understood, that evening, what all of their travel had been preparing them for: the ability to be fully present somewhere extraordinary, with someone extraordinary, and to know it in the moment. She said she had never had that before. She said the Serengeti gave it to her.
Mark Your Own Anniversary
Every Anniversary Is a Story Worth Planning For
Don designs anniversary safaris around what the occasion means to you — not just the logistics of the trip.
Common Questions
Anniversary Safari Planning
What makes an anniversary safari different?
The attention to the specific couple. An anniversary safari is designed around what that relationship means, what the couple values, and what they want to share. The private bush dinner, the specific camp atmosphere, the guide who understands celebration — these are all arranged for you.
Can you combine Tanzania with Zanzibar for an anniversary?
Yes — and the combination is particularly compelling for an anniversary. Five or six days on safari followed by four or five nights on Zanzibar's coast is one of the finest itineraries in Africa. Bobby Safaris arranges the complete trip, including the internal flight and every transition.
How far in advance should you book?
For peak season (July to October), four to six months minimum. The best camps and guides book six months ahead. For shoulder season, six to eight weeks can be enough, though more time always allows for a better-designed itinerary.