CZ
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Nice hike, great weather, amazing food
I was surprised how big our team was and also our food was more than great. No problem at all with vegetarians. Our guide knew a lot about flowers and animals and was helpful. They lent us warm sleeping bags, so we weren't cold even at the highest altitudes. That was great, and our tent was waterproof and the mattresses were comfortable. I recommend bringing headache medicine with you because of the altitude.
But I would love to get more detailed list of things to carry with me. For example water filter would be nice to have because rivers and lakes as a water source are not safe enough for me. Also guide should have first aid kid with him not in the office and also weather forecast I think is important to check every day in mountains. Last but not least, I think that every company should carry a shovel for toilet needs. At every campsite, people go "in the bushes," and all campsites look accordingly. This is even the case around the lake from which drinking water is then taken. I think this needs to be changed.
JP
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
He had a kind personality and was very good.
It was a very enjoyable trip because he treated us, who were not good at English, politely.
CH
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Recommend the Gorilla trekking but don't go to another country other than Uganda and Rwanda
My girlfriend and I booked with Santaviva respectively Ivan a 14 days tour in the upper price segment for Uganda/Rwanda (Gorilla trekking) as well as Safari in Tanzania and 4 beach days in Zanzibar (no activities apart from a stone town visit the day we are leaving). It was our most expensive vacation so far (we paid together USD 14'000) and think it was for Santaviva as well.
For the Gorilla trekking, Ivan was very attentive and everything was well organized. He even helped us out and lent me his boots as my luggage did not arrive. If our trip ended there, it would have been 5 stars! But it didnt.
We do not recommend booking anything with Santaviva in another country other than Rwanda/Uganda. In Tanzania we needed another guide/driver (who did a very good job!) to do the Safari but Ivan joined the tour as well. However, this was absolutely not necessary and we did not see such a set-up of 2 guides with any other tourists (and there were a lot of other tourists...). As newbies and not knowing how things/safaris work in Tanzania we would have expected that we were at least asked about this but we were not. Throughout most of our Tanzania trip it felt like we were 3 tourists and Ivan was just there to take videos and pictures to promote his Santaviva business on social media and have a good time/vacation. He even joined for example the balloon safari and got a (free) premium breakfast with the balloon guests as the only guide/driver of around 80 guest, which made us feel uncomfortable as the staff enabling him that clearly expected a tip for that (we were not asked nor did we want him to join). Further, he was not honest with us about the nice accommodation he stayed in. Confronted with this set-up, Ivan mentioned that this is the way Santaviva ensures quality and provides service to guests.
Ivan even flew with us to Zanzibar, in his words to say goodbye at the end of his journey (or if we want any additional activities, which was clear it was not our intent for those relaxing beach days). And as the only activity (a tour in Stone Town) was organized by an intermediary anyway, it did not make sense to us at all. On the way from the airport to the hotel he mentioned that his flight is 2 days after ours, only to mention a few minutes later that it was changed and now is even before we left (before any activities would have happened). However, we heard him mentioning this "suddenly changed" flight date and time already a week ago to another guy, so this was clearly a lie. Overall, we were left with a feeling that our trust was violated and that we overpaid and financed his business promotion and vacation trip, which is obviously not what we had intended. Finally to mention - everything else on the trip has worked out and was well organized.
QA
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.
IN
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Stressful Experience with WildTrek Safaris Kenya - Not Recommended
I visited Kenya for a week in Dec 2025. The experience was extremely stressful and frustrating.
1. Apart from the driver, there was no contact information of any WildTrek Kenya representative provided to us. All communication was done through the driver.
2.The safari vehicle provided was a poorly maintained one when compared to other safari tour operators. I saw other vehicles from other operators that were better in cleanliness and comfort.
3. Driver was rude, and even demanded USD 10 per day tip. I thought tips were a measure of appreciation for the good service provided and not mandated.
4. I was asked to pay USD 300 extra for holiday season surcharge ( @ USD 25 per person per day of the trip ). My India agent blamed WildTrek, WildTrek blamed the hotels, and the hotels said they never asked.
5. When I was trying to negotiate the USD 300 surcharge with my India travel agent, WildTrek threatened to cancel the safaris if the money was not paid in cash immediately.
6. When I asked the driver that I wanted to speak to a WildTrek representative, he said they are not picking his calls. Whether they really did not pick or if this driver did not even call anyone is something I dont understand.
Please do not book with WildTrek unless you want your holiday to be a stressful harassment. I never enjoyed my vacation.
LT
50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
on average
The poor service does not match the advertised advertising. We saw few animals, the hotel is poor. They said there would be attractions and no occupancy. They advertised that it would be two days, but we were already at the hotel at 1 pm. Although the trip took over 3 hours, we left the park at 10 am. The price of the trip and the reality proved to be about 20 percent. The jeep is dirty, the seats are broken. The driver is polite, helpful. We are disappointed with the trip.
(automatic translation from Lithuanian)
RO
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Lovely nature, services expensive and not really rewarding
I had the 4 day 3 nights budget joining group in Tarangire, Serengeti & Ngorongoro. The nature is amazing, especially the crater, packed with animals and the views are crazy. Tarangire was also packed with animals. The Serengeti is huge, so we drove more and saw less animals.
What left a sour taste in my mouth was the price - service quality ratio. I will leave a breakdown here:
- Lem carnivores contact was responsive and polite, but the organisation was chaotic, the first 2 mornings we had to wait for a few hours each day (when animals are actually most active) just so they can organize the cars, they changed the driver and they don't communicate all this in advance, we felt like you never know what awaits you
- drivers & cook were nice people, although we would have expected more info from the drivers about the schedule
- first day accommodation was a very basic room, second night in Serengeti was an awful public campsite: tents smelled like dirty feet, there was no light in the bathrooms and showers, showers doors did not close, no toilet paper, no soap, no hot water and generally dirty. The third night in Ngorongoro public campsite was ok: tents were better, we even got pillows, bathrooms were clean, functional, they had toilet paper, light and hot water, but no soap.
- the cook was a friendly guy, we had more than enough each day, but I have high doubts about how the food is stored, because it is transported without a fridge and in the kitchen area there is no refrigerator. 3 of us got diarrhea, it was bad, we think it was the meat
- safari jeeps are not really well maintained. every day we would pass by broken down cars, lots of them!! in the last day ours broke as well in the exact moment when the diarrhea hit (to be so lucky...)
For me I believe 3 days would have been enough, considering the many hours you spend in the car on bumpy roads. If you have back pain, you will feel it a lot, so keep that in mind when booking.
I also believe that what I wrote here is a reality for all the operators, not only for Lem Carnivores, I just have the feeling that this is the most Tanzania services can provide.
All in all, I would have expected way more out of a 700 dollar experience (+3.5% transfer fees!), but the nature was amazing.
IT
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
No
Poor organization. Until the very last moment we did not have fixed schedules.
The timings were never clear. On the morning of the second safari we were given a time that was not respected at all; instead, we had to wait an extra hour for another group to finish breakfast.
On the first day, the jeep had several problems and only started when pushed — not exactly a great or reassuring way to begin a safari.
Until the last minute we didn’t know what time we were supposed to leave for the airport. They realized this far too late, threw us into another jeep, and we had to rush like crazy, arriving at the airport where they almost didn’t let us check in.
A nightmare. Stressful and very disrespectful, considering how much money we paid.
I strongly recommend turning to professional agencies instead.
MA
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Wild but expensive
Good experience and destination for wildlife, but you need to be patient and negotiate a lot prices are over for all activities and accommodation vs the services qualities.