We know instantly when a honeymoon place is special, and that’s the feeling we got as soon as we arrived at Baraza. Almost a sense of sadness that one day we’ll have to leave. As we walked through the stunning reception with its fountains, baskets of dried cloves and seemingly endless sparkling tiled walkways, I wanted to slow down time and I had to remind myself to enjoy our brief visit and not think of our impending flight out of Zanzibar.
Everything at Baraza gleams and reflects the dazzling light, not just because the resort is so new but because the colour scheme of white and gold gives the unmistakeable lustre of luxury and calm. Imagine being a pampered guest at a sultan’s palace and given free rein in beautiful gardens with a team of people dedicated to your every whim. Classical music mingles with the sound of the ocean and even the azure pool has piped underwater music.
Baraza is a fully inclusive resort, which means you just drift from meal to pleasant activity without a care in the world. Service is friendly but not over the top. The chef came to visit us personally to ask about our meal preferences and then freshly made food just appears – exactly as we like it. Try and refuse dessert!
Our villa is gorgeous, again I’m almost pained that we’ll have to leave it soon. Everything is perfectly appointed, luxuriously decorated and really, just leave me here to die propped up gazing at the ocean for my last dying breath. Over the top? Seriously, come here on honeymoon and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
The back-yard of Baraza is the beautiful Bwejuu beach, voted by Conde Naste traveller as one of the best 30 beaches in the world. It’s warm, sparkling and shallow enough for swimmers like me who aren’t that confident in open water.
If you’re sick of sitting around smooching your new spouse there’s a daily reef walk, bikes, snorkelling, daily yoga classes, a beautiful library, afternoon tea (in addition to all those other gorgeous meals), two stunning pools, a luxurious spa and much more.
I have to stop gushing, because it reminds me this isn’t our permanent home. Moses our villa host may have to prise the villa key out of my hands, or maybe I should just hide somewhere…?
Our last two 24 hour posts were pretty intense, both were pretty typical days but they were also crazy and busy ones.
We wanted to share a more chilled out day and this last 24 hours were sooooo relaxing! Pretty much a typical day on our own honeymoon.
8:30am We woke up in our gorgeous bed at the Tongsai Bay, surrounded by mosquito netting. The room is quite dark as all the curtains around our cottage are drawn. We open the curtains and aredazzled by the light. We missed the sun coming up by quite a few hours, but instead the sun is shining and shimmering across the sea.
Our room, nicknamed The Hideaway Cottage is more like a small house with an unbelievable deck and relaxation bed. It’s WAY too bright for yoga outside, so we set up our mats in our loungeroom.
10:00am Breakfast! We walk to the restaurant instead of calling the golf cart and greet our favourite juice lady. She sets up a fantastic fruit table and you can request a customised juice. She’s hilarious and knows us by name now.
After breakfast, we visited the games room for a quick game of pool. Neither of us had played for a least a year, so we were both a little rusty. At least it was better than yesterday, we took about half an hour to finish one game and we were just kinda hitting the balls around randomly.
I won 🙂
11:30am We get the golf cart back to the room. It’s not that far, but it’s pretty hot and we’re feeling lazy. The golf cart zips around pretty fast. How much fun would it be if they just gave us the keys?!
We basically spend the next couple of hours lazing around on the cottage. It’s absolutely BOILING, so we fill up the jacuzzi with cold water to make a mini-pool. Mark works inside in the airconditioning and I hang outside and enjoy the view of the ocean.
We can’t be bothered having lunch, but the cottage is stocked with fresh fruit and cookies, so we eat that, plus a couple of raw bars we bought in London.
3:00pm Guess what? We’re getting married! We start to get ready, which we can do pretty quickly these days. This time we call the golf cart so we can get to the wedding in style.
As well as performing the two weddings (more about them in a separate post), we also did some interviewing on camera. It was pretty hilarious, trying to take turns talking on camera and not talk over each other. The producer jokingly asks us to jump in the pool, but we politely decline!
The golf cart has been decorated with a “Just Married” sign and is trailing tin cans!
5:30pm More chilling out at home and we crack open a bottle of wine. Mark’s working on the most recent video, and I’m uploading all our recent photos. We’re going to end up with absolutely thousands of photos.
7:00pm It’s suddenly pouring rain (it’s monsoon season here), so we debate going to the restaurant vs ordering room service, but there’s a gap in the rain, so we decide to head out. I’m STARVING!
Hmmm, good dinner. We skipped dessert because we’re pretty stuffed, and after five months, we’ve learnt that we can’t eat everything!
10:00pm
I’ve got to do some work on my Irish Times article, which I LOVE to do. Before doing this job, I really wanted to get into writing, and the job came with a monthly two page spread in a major newspaper!
Late… Mark decides to stay up late to watch the Man Utd game and see if Rooney makes a statement about his future. I’m going to bed… good-night.
We sent our honeymoon testers Denise and Mark to have a Masi style wedding in Kenya!
Here’s their report:
When we arrived in Tipilikwani in the Masai Mara, the camp manager Evans told us that he had arranged for us to do a ceremony here at camp in traditional African robes.
Little did we know what he had planned. After our morning safari, three Masai men came to our tent to dress us. Jackson Naimoodu, a Masai dressed us and painted our faces with red ochre.
The outfits were muli-layered cloth in red and yellow, some with checked pattens and others plain. I had a purple skirt on underneath, and we were both laden with beaded belts and necklaces. Mark also wore a goat’s skin wrap over his robes.
A gourd was put down the back of my robes to signify the children that I would carry for my new husband, and Mark was given a horse hair swish and a short spear.
The Masai led us down the path to the garden behind the open air restaurant. There we were suprised to see an entire tribe of Masai, all dressed traditionally and waiting for us. Not knowing what to do, we were pretty nervous and overwhelmed by the spectacle.
The men and women lined up on different sides of the path, with us between them. Jackson led the way towards a big circle of chairs. We had to cross between some of the tribe elders, who blessed me before I joined Mark. They put grass in my shoes, and then took turns spitting it on my feet for good luck.
Thus blessed, I joined Mark inside the circle as everyone took their places in the circle around us. The three elders took seats in front of us, and Jackson as our best man beside us. John Ole Tome, the compere explained what was going on in English for us, and told us what we had to do.
The whole thing was so overwhelming and magical, especially when the Masai men did their traditional jumping ritual, then the whole group got up to dance and sing.
Finally there were speeches, where our compere thanked us profusely for being involved in their culture, and encouraged us to talk about the famous Masai tribe all around the world. We were so touched. We couldn’t believe that they would include us in such a traditional and beautiful ceremony and he was thanking us?
Luckily, Mark as the new husband made a lovely speech thanking everyone for suprising and including us.
Truly a memorable experience. The Masai are a very proud and beautiful tribe of people, with great traditions and culture, and we thank them for sharing this experience with us.
The Amala is one of the most exclusive and intimate wellness and detox retreats in Asia, a perfect oasis of calm and harmony situated in the heart of Seminyak, Bali’s most fashionable and exciting area.
We spent four relaxing and beautiful days in the Amala and loved the sense of peace, incredibly friendly staff and the delicious and very healthy food. It was just what we needed after overindulgence in champagne and wedding cake over the past four months.
A wellness retreat might seem unusual for a honeymoon, but we chose one in Bali for our actual honeymoon in 2009 and we loved it. It was the perfect way to unwind after our wedding, and then we experienced the rest of a traditional Bali holiday afterwards.
Villas for privacy and relaxation
Balinese architecture combines the best of the indoor and outdoor with beautiful clean lines and style dedicated to wellness, relaxation and peace of mind. The Amala is a collection of 12 luxurious and tranquil private villas, each designed to impress.
Each villa comes equipped with a beautiful private pool which is a seamless part of the living room and open to the sky. The dedicated 24 hour butler service can help you enhance and personalise your stay, and you can decide to take any meal in your room at no extra charge. Complimentary drinks and snacks are topped up daily, and the equipped kitchen has a filtered water system for all day fresh water.
The wood and stone en suite bathroom boasts a large jacuzzi, natural body products and a selection of hand-made luxury soaps made from wild and organic ingredients. The incredible rain forest shower, combined with living green plants in the bathroom, make you feel like you’re showering under a tropical waterfall.
It’s fairly tempting to stay in your villa the whole time, especially since the private pool is so lovely. The living space has a huge flat screen TV, complimentary wifi and an ipod docking station. The TV swivels, so you could watch it in the pool if you desire!
The common areas include the gorgeous Bamboo restaurant, a pool with outdoor relaxation area, a library for holiday reading and the treatment rooms.
The healthy ethos of the Amala also extends to their choice of “Colloidal Silver” mineral water filtration system in the main swimming pool, solar panels for electricity generation, recycling systems for plant watering, and the use of local natural materials such as Bandung marble.
Wellness and relaxation
Amala means “pure and unspoiled” in Sanskrit and everything at the Amala is specifically designed for your body and mind to experience harmony and wellness, using ancient Asian medicine and Western holistic therapies, natural philosophies and mostly organic produce.
We highly enjoyed our couples massage in the beautiful wellness spa. The massage therapists are highly trained and it was a joy to watch them work in seamless tandem. Every treatment begins with a fresh cucumber, lime, mint and honey juice followed by a relaxing foot bath. Balinese massages tend to be quite vigorous so make sure you ask for your preferred pressure, otherwise a therapist who looks quite small can really surprise you with her strength.
The Amala offers a daily yoga class in the Wellness Studio, with visiting yoga teachers and Masters in residence. Private lessons are available, or you can borrow a mat and practice in your own room. We loved doing our private class beside our pool, especially since there is a full length mirror along side the living room.
Yoga on holiday is a brilliant way to balance your mind, give you a lot of energy and to strengthen your body and mind.
Also on offer is a range of beauty treatments, water pilates, CranioSacral therapy, meditation, Tai Chi, Qigong and Martial Arts. Your programme can be personally adapted for your needs and requests.
Cleaning and delicious nutrition
The menu is focused on clean, healthy and incredibly delicious food and is organic where possible. We felt nourished and satisfied after each meal, rather than stuffed full because the meals are so full of vitamins and minerals. Each course includes a raw, vegan or vegetarian option accompanied by detox juices, cleansing mocktails or your own customised healthy drink.
We particularly recommend the fruit salad for breakfast with ginger glazing, and for lunch or dinner, the incredible quinoa salad with chopped almonds and tasty dressing or the tofu ricotta eggplant rolls.
The staff arranged a romantic, candlelit 3-course healthy dinner to be served inside our villa. Even the desserts feel like an indulgence but are really quite healthy.
Within 5 minutes walk, there is a huge range of restaurants, bars and noodle bars. Staff can recommend the most popular restaurants in Seminyak, the best seafood bars, healthy organic stores or just the best cheap local cafe. The hotel concierge can organise a complimentary drop off, or order you a taxi, which are very reasonably priced.
A gourmet supermarket close to the resort carries fresh fruit, gourmet Western food, a cafe, bakery and with a huge range of every day items. We grabbed lunch there before heading to the nearby beach.
A healthy honeymoon
A honeymoon or romantic stay at the Amala is the best of both worlds. You can experience all the excitement and vibrancy of Seminyak, with it’s great bars and amazing shopping and you can be pampered and indulged in the privacy of the Amala.
Seminyak is a wonderful place and honeymooners must go home with a piece (or three) of traditional artwork or sculpture. It’s also easy to ship larger furniture items back (virtually every shop can arrange it for you), so you could furnish your new house with beautiful Balinese items, home-wares and textiles.
The Amala is also very popular for individuals or friends coming to experience wellness together. Anyone who is looking for a haven away from their busy lives will love to visit. The staff really make you feel like a part of their family, they will remember your name, your preferences and really make an effort for your stay to feel personalised and special.
Honeymoons in Bali are relaxing, romantic and leave you with a feeling of peace and well-being. The Amala is highly recommended as a world-class relaxation retreat, sure to give you the peace of mind you need after your hectic wedding.
Many thanks to Lifestyle Retreats and China Airlines for sponsoring our trip to the Amala.
