About Makoma
Makoma Expeditions is a UK-based safari company built around one partnership and one belief: that the guide defines the experience. We work exclusively with Willie Mollel and his team at Serengeti Wilderness Calls to offer private, expertly led safaris across northern Tanzania - with the planning, support, and accountability of a British operation behind every trip.
Why I Started Makoma
I've spent most of my adult life travelling and working in remote places - from the jungles of Borneo to the high Himalayas to rural China. I've always been drawn to the kind of trip that takes real planning, and I know the difference between one that's been properly thought through and one that hasn't.
In 2025, I went on safari for the second time. My father-in-law had travelled with Willie Mollel twelve years earlier, when Willie was working for one of Tanzania's top-tier safari operators. He told me then that Willie was the best guide he'd ever had - and that Willie had a dream of starting his own company one day.
Willie now runs that company - Serengeti Wilderness Calls - with his wife Florah, from their base in Arusha. But like most independent operators in Tanzania, reaching the UK market isn't straightforward. The best guides rarely appear on the booking platforms that British travellers use. That's where Makoma comes in.
I booked directly with Willie for our trip. The safari itself was extraordinary - genuinely the best experience of my life. But the process of organising it from the UK was not straightforward. Sending money internationally, coordinating logistics across time zones, navigating the details without a local point of contact - it took a level of trust and patience that most travellers simply wouldn't have.
That's why Makoma exists. I recognised something exceptional in Willie, and I wanted to make that experience accessible to people who would never otherwise find him. The same private guiding, the same extraordinary wildlife encounters - but with the planning, communication, and security of a UK-based operation behind it.
Willie Mollel
Lead Guide, Co-Founder of Serengeti Wilderness Calls
Willie grew up in a small village on the Maasai Steppe, surrounded by the wildlife that would become his life's work. He trained at the College of African Wildlife Management at Mweka - widely regarded as the most respected wildlife institution on the continent - and has spent the last 22 years guiding across Tanzania's northern circuit.
Before founding Serengeti Wilderness Calls, Willie worked for some of East Africa's top-tier safari operators. It was during this period that Jake's father-in-law first travelled with him - and came home saying he was the best guide he'd ever had. That was twelve years ago. Willie told him then that he dreamed of running his own operation one day.
What sets Willie apart isn't just his knowledge of the landscape - it's his judgement. He reads the mood of the animals as carefully as he reads the terrain. If a sighting is drawing too many vehicles, he moves on and finds something better. If an animal is showing signs of stress, he pulls back without hesitation. He stops to help other guides when their vehicles get stuck, exchanges sighting information with every driver heading the other way, and is greeted by name at every gate and every lodge. That kind of respect isn't given freely - it's earned over two decades in the field.
Whether you're a serious wildlife photographer looking for a specific shot, a couple on a honeymoon, or a family with young children, Willie adjusts. When we travelled with him, our group of seven included a five-year-old and a nine-year-old. He was endlessly patient - adapting the pace of the day, knowing when to stop and when to keep moving, keeping the children engaged without ever compromising the quality of the experience for the adults. By the end of the trip, the kids didn't want to leave.
Florah Chonjo
Operations & Cultural Encounters, Co-Founder of Serengeti Wilderness Calls
Florah grew up at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, in a Chagga community where food, farming, and family life are deeply intertwined. She co-founded Serengeti Wilderness Calls with Willie and runs the operation from their base in Arusha - managing logistics, staff, accommodation bookings, and the countless moving parts that make a multi-day safari feel effortless.
But her real passion is the cultural side. While Willie leads the game drives, Florah shapes the experiences that happen around them. She has spent years building genuine relationships with communities across northern Tanzania - from the Hadzabe hunter-gatherers at Lake Eyasi to the Maasai and Datoga - and she designs encounters that go well beyond what most visitors get to see.
On the slopes of Kilimanjaro, she can arrange an afternoon with a Chagga family - learning how they grow some of the world's best coffee, trying machalari, and tasting mbege, a local brew made from fermented bananas and finger millet. These are not staged performances. They are real introductions to real communities, arranged by someone who grew up among them.
It's some of these moments, away from the vehicles and the binoculars - that most clients say they remember longest.
Karibu Tanzania.
How It Works
Makoma Expeditions and Serengeti Wilderness Calls are two companies that operate as one team. Jake handles the UK side - planning, communication, pricing, and client support. Willie and Florah handle everything in Tanzania - guiding, logistics, accommodation, and ground operations.
There is no chain of subcontractors. No third-party agents. When you enquire with Makoma, Jake designs your itinerary in direct consultation with Willie. When you land in Tanzania, Willie is the one meeting you at the airport. The person who planned your trip and the person who leads it are in constant contact throughout.
It's a small operation by design. We don't want to run hundreds of safaris a year.
We want to run a handful of exceptional ones.
The Details
Makoma Expeditions Ltd is a UK-registered company (Company No. 16976519), based in Lymm, Cheshire.
When you book with us, you book with a British company - with a direct line to the founder and full accountability for every aspect of your trip.
If you have any questions about how we work, or you'd like to talk through what a Makoma safari involves, get in touch directly.
Email: jake@makomaexpeditions.com
Phone: +44 (0) 7397 120320