Our mellivora African travels team
Mellivora African Travels
- Office In:
- Size:
- 10-20 employees (Founded in 2019)
- Member Of:
- TTB, TANAPA & TAWA
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $1,000 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
QA
Email Victoria | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great 2-day safari but ruined by bed bugs in Marera Valley Lodge
We had a nice 2-day safari with Mellivora’s Ludowig (Ludo for short). Ludo has 10 years of experience in safari tours so he is rich in information about the animals, the terrain, culture and even history. Thanks to Ludo's trained eye, we got to spot all the animals we wanted to see on our safari. We have with us my 5-year old toddler so we had to plan our potty stops with Ludo and he was very accommodating. His time estimates though made us nervous twice (it was 3pm and he said we need 5 hours to get to the airport. Our flight was 8pm. We reached the airport at 6pm 😅)
The Land Cruiser’s cooler did not work so Ludo felt he needed to buy us cold water and juice packs (for my toddler) at the end of the day. This is much appreciated. On the second day, he put ice in it so our drinks are cooler.
The lunch on Day 1 (in a hamper) is really good. We love the rice and the stew :)
Fransiscah is great with her work. From giving us the quotations fairly quick, to adjusting it to our requests, and to following us up. It was because of her persistence that we went with Mellivora, especially as there are so many tour companies and you just do not know who is truly legitimate. She always responds to your queries, before, during and even after the tour. Everything is coordinated because of her.
BUT the three stars is because of the bed bugs in Marera Valley Lodge. Since Mellivora was the one who pitched this lodge as one of our options in the safari package, we expected that they check these lodges regularly AND made sure that the lodge is taking bed bug infestation seriously. But the fact that the lodge would not even respond to Mellivora’s emails and calls about our incident - I doubt Mellivora has a good relationship with them. Marera does not respect Mellivora and their guests. Mellivora cannot NOT take responsibility and just push all the blame to Marera, as you guys are the one who introduced us to Marera. You could have at least given us medications/cream, if refund is not too much.
Reply from Mellivora African Travels
Posted on Jan 6, 2026Thank you very much for taking the time to share such a detailed and honest review of your safari experience with Mellivora African Travels. We truly appreciate both your kind words and your constructive criticism, as they help us improve the experiences we offer our guests.
We are delighted to hear that you enjoyed your 2-day safari with Ludowig (Ludo). He will be very happy to know that his experience, knowledge, and attentiveness—especially in accommodating your 5-year-old toddler—made your safari memorable. We also smiled at your airport story 😊 and are glad everything ultimately worked out smoothly. Your appreciation of his thoughtful gesture with the drinks and the Day 1 lunch hamper has also been shared with him.
We are equally grateful for your recognition of Fransiscah’s efforts. She takes great pride in supporting our guests from the initial inquiry through to post-safari follow-up, and your feedback reaffirms the importance of her dedication and persistence.
That said, we would like to sincerely apologize for the distress and discomfort you experienced due to the bed bug incident at Marera Valley Lodge. We fully understand how upsetting this must have been—especially while traveling with a young child—and we are truly sorry that this negatively affected your overall experience.
You are absolutely right in saying that, as Mellivora African Travels, we bear responsibility for the accommodations we recommend as part of our safari packages. While Marera Valley Lodge is an independently operated property, it was indeed introduced through us, and therefore we acknowledge that we should have done more—both in preventive checks and in our response after the incident.
We are particularly disappointed by the lodge’s lack of responsiveness to our follow-ups. This behavior does not align with the standards we expect from our accommodation partners, nor with the level of care we aim to provide to our guests. As a direct result of your experience, we are re-evaluating our relationship with Marera Valley Lodge and reviewing our internal processes for accommodation inspections and incident handling.
Regarding your suggestion, we acknowledge that offering medical assistance, treatment creams, or a form of compensation would have been a more appropriate response. We regret that this was not extended to you at the time, and we sincerely apologize for that shortcoming.
Please know that your feedback has been taken very seriously, and concrete steps are being taken to ensure that similar situations are handled better—or avoided entirely—in the future. Your experience will help us improve not only our accommodation vetting process but also our guest care when unexpected issues arise.
Once again, thank you for choosing Mellivora African Travels and for sharing both the highlights and the concerns of your journey with us. We truly hope that despite this incident, you will remember the wonderful moments of your safari, and we would welcome the opportunity to serve you better should you consider traveling with us again.
NL
Email Arnaud | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Perfectly organised safari for our family. :)
Family trip, 3 major Tanzanian parks in 4 days
(Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Tarangire)
Perfectly organized by Mellivorra and managed with experience and kindness by our driver/guide Jordan.
We saw lots of animals (I think all of them) and even the wildebeest migration, even though it wasn't the right season (climate change...).
Magical and unforgettable moments.
Email Jacob Farrant | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Overall Fantastic experience
My wife and I chose Mellivora as our travel operator for our honeymoon, we had an amazing 5 days Safari in the Serengeti, Ngorogoro crater and Tarangire park. Our Safari guide Jordan was brilliant in locating all the animals and ensuring we were well looked after. Fransisca was very responsive and helpful in answering all of our queries prior to arrival. We would highly this tour to any prospective holiday makers.
GH
Email MAAME YAA | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Seamless trip and paid attention to details
The driver was patient, experienced, communicated so well. He played the role of a tour guide and made sure we covered everywhere and saw all the big 5 animals.
Money worth every penny
Very reliable, he made the tour so enjoyable. Their meals were great
IE
Email Thomas | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Great to deal with
We had a great experience doing a 4 night/ 5 day Safari with Mellivora. Fransisca was very easy to deal with and communicated very well. She arranged the return flights from Zanzibar and airport transfers.
Our guide Joshua was also excellent and went above and beyond. The three lodge accommodations (in Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and lake Manyaea) were very comfortable with Great views.
AE
Email Collin Frank Rugarema | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding tour service
Very reliable, on time and very good customer care
Email Jess | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Outstanding honeymoon safari from start to finish
We booked our honeymoon safari with Mellivora African Travels and it was truly the trip of a lifetime. We spent 5 days exploring Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Tarangire, and the whole experience was flawless from start to finish.
Our safari guide, Jordan, was absolutely fantastic – incredibly knowledgeable and knew exactly where to take us for the best sightings. Thanks to him, we were lucky enough to see three leopards and even a cheetah. We also saw many lions, including adorable lion cubs, herds of elephants, and countless other incredible animals.
The organisation by Fransisca was seamless, and everything ran perfectly throughout our trip. We honestly couldn’t have been happier with how our honeymoon turned out – it was everything we hoped for and more.
We would wholeheartedly recommend Mellivora African Travels to anyone planning a special holiday. They made our honeymoon truly magical.
ES
Email Shiv66 | under20 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
The best I could get
We went on a five days safari from Zanzibar, we had an exceptional experience on everything, Perfect and reliable communication though out. Amaizing choices of accomodations and perfect safari car. Experienced tour guide who knows the area pretty well. I can confidently say that Mellivora team are true professionals in this industry. Highly recommended for the best memory.
IL
Email Henriett | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic
We had a private safari of four for two days. Fransciscah organized everything perfect: the pickup from and to the hotels, the domestical flight, the accommodation. In the first day we had a delicious hot lunch in the safari, the accommodation she chose was dreamy. James, the guide is so funny, has so much knowledge about everything- animals, birds, fauna, local culture and history... We spent a very pleasuant time with him. This safari tour was definitely an unforgettable experience , a dream that comes true.
Email Luke Hammond | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
6 Days 5 Nights Serengeti and Ngorongoro Honeymoon safari
I honestly couldn’t recommend Mellivora highly enough. The communication from the moment we enquired on safari bookings was impeccable and Francisca was very accommodating in helping us alter our trip throughout the initial stages. The service we received was fantastic, including all meals every day and drinks in the jeep whenever we liked.
From what I gathered however (as this was our first safari and an observation from our point of view), the quality of the guiding that we had with Mellivora was really exceptional. Our guide Elia was incredibly knowledgeable about the animals and worked extensively to find what we wanted to see on each day. Further, he seemed to have much more of an understanding of the animal behaviour than other guides as sometimes he would tell us to wait patiently near some animals as they were about to do something whilst other jeeps would stop and then shortly move on. Lo and behold they begun to hunt shortly after. This really added to our experience and made our safari after we saw both lions and cheetahs hunting (although we did feel quite lucky to have these encounters).
I would highly recommend going on safari with Mellivora and will be doing so to friends and family who visit Tanzania in the future. I myself was somewhat hesitant as they had slightly less reviews than a peer but I am very glad I made the choice to go with them (and the fewer reviews is one of the main reasons for writing this as I truly want to support this business)!
Thank you for such a fantastic trip!