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Planning a safari or a tailor-made holiday across Africa, Asia, the Indian Ocean Islands, or beyond can feel like a lot to take in, but it doesn't need to be. We're passionate about curating trips around the people travelling, not a fixed itinerary, and we believe a journey is defined as much by the people you meet and the moments you share along the way as by the destination itself.
We've been named Best Safari, Wildlife and Holiday Company at the British Travel Awards three years running, held a long-standing Platinum Trusted Service Award from Feefo, and been recognised at the World Travel Awards, the International Sustainability Awards and by Condé Nast Traveller and Travel + Leisure. We're also a certified B Corp™, recognised for our commitment to sustainable, responsible travel. You can see the full list on our Awards page. Here's what sits behind it.
What Makes Mahlatini One of the Top Tour Operators in the World?
We Are Experts in Our Field
We've specialised in African travel since 2002, so we have over twenty years of first-hand experience of every destination we offer, every property we recommend and every activity we suggest. We won't put a property on an itinerary we haven't visited ourselves. Asia and the Indian Ocean Islands are a growing part of our expertise too, alongside a smaller, considered selection of trips to the Middle East. We're also one of only a handful of specialist tour operators to keep a permanent office on African soil, in Cape Town, so that knowledge stays current rather than second-hand.
Those same two decades have gone into building relationships with the suppliers and property owners we work with. That means preferential upgrades, activities you won't find on a standard rate sheet, a level of care that's hard to arrange independently, and end-to-end care from our team to ensure you feel looked after from the minute you set off until after you're home.
We Are a Friendly and Professional Safari Company
Luxury and exclusivity don't have to come with a stiff, sales-led approach, and ours doesn't. Book a safari or bespoke holiday with us and your dedicated travel expert stays with you from your very first ideas through to support before departure and while you're away. Our client reviews on Trustpilot, Feefo and Tripadvisor have stayed consistently strong, largely because of that.
Our Travel Specialists Are Trustworthy
We're registered and regulated by ATTA and ATOL, and every client is covered by financial protection through the Travel Trust Association, no matter the country you're travelling from.
Client feedback is independently verified by Feefo, where we've held Platinum Trusted Service status since 2020 (Gold, before that, from 2017). Trust matters to us because 98% of our clients tell us they're satisfied with the service they received, and we'd like to keep it that way.
We Offer Our Clients Value Without Compromise
We're a luxury operator, and we price accordingly, but that price is transparent, and everything it includes is deliberate. Alongside your accommodation, flights and activities, you get expert guidance from the planning stage onward, 24/7 support while you're travelling, and fantastic financial protection, all built in rather than added on. We also work directly with our partners, which means we are often able to secure a better rate than you can independently. We'd rather you know exactly what you're paying for than sell you on being the cheapest option.
Our Company is Committed to Conservation
We're a certified B Corp™, which means our commitment to responsible travel is independently assessed by B Lab.
Long-haul travel carries an environmental cost, so every Mahlatini client's trip funds a tree planted through our reforestation partner, One Tree Planted, across Kenya and Rwanda.
You can read more about our wider conservation work on our Conservation & Charity page.
We Offer Personal Guidance and Recommendations
Most people come to us with a rough idea of where they'd like to go. More often than not, we can point them somewhere they hadn't considered, quieter, further off the beaten track, away from the itineraries the bigger, more generalist operators tend to default to. The best-known places aren't always the best fit, and part of our job is knowing the alternatives well enough to suggest them with confidence.
Submit an enquiry with your travel wish list and the right travel expert will get in touch to help you curate the ultimate journey based on your unique passions and ideas.
