Travel With Melly

08/14/2024

Partnerships like this are why I love working for Mantis so much. 🫶🏼

I got a pair of these slippers myself in Rwanda and they are a keepsake instead of ending up in a landfill like typical hotel plastic slippers… while empowering local communities.

🙌🏼 💖 Mantis Akagera Game Lodge

07/28/2024

Back to South Africa and Victoria Falls chasing waterfalls, sunsets and dreams with 2 amazing ladies… There is no place I would rather be in this world. 🌈 ✈️ 💖 📸 🌈

Thanks to Mantis and Vivari Hotel and Spa, Founders Lodge by Mantis, No5 by Mantis and Mbano Manor Hotel by Mantis for being such amazing and accommodating hosts over the past two weeks. 📸

Very special thank you to the inspirational Adrian Gardiner, Paul Gardiner and Doc Mati for sharing their amazing stories with us.

Our shenanigans were captured for Flyaways coming to the Travel Channel soon …

Part 2

07/28/2024

Back to South Africa and Victoria Falls chasing waterfalls, sunsets and dreams with 2 amazing ladies… There is no place I would rather be in this world. 🌈 ✈️ 💖 📸 🌈

Thanks to Mantis and Vivari Hotel and Spa, Founders Lodge by Mantis, No5 by Mantis and Mbano Manor Hotel by Mantis for being such amazing and accommodating hosts over the past two weeks. 📸

Very special thank you to the inspirational Adrian Gardiner, Paul Gardiner and Doc Mati for sharing their amazing stories with us.

Our shenanigans were captured for Flyaways coming to the Travel Channel soon …

Part 1

07/10/2024

I'm excited to share that Cape Grace, A Fairmont Managed Hotel has been named 3rd best hotel in all of Africa in the Travel + Leisure 2024 World’s Best Awards!

I couldn't be more proud of the re-fashioning over the last year and the extremely hard-working team onsite that made this happen. 👏👏

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Accor Group

From urban retreats to rural resorts, here are Travel + Leisure readers’ top picks for hotels in Africa for this year’s “World’s Best Awards” survey of 2024

07/07/2024

The sights and sounds of Las Vegas with family over July 4th week (in 115 degrees)… 🥵
🇺🇸 💃🏼 🥂 🫣 🥳

07/05/2024

Happy birthday America 🇺🇸 🎇 🎲

06/25/2024

Who's ready to go visit Fairmont The Norfolk, Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club and Fairmont Mara Safari Club in Kenya?

Check out my recent newsletter with more information on the properties...

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Accor Group

Fairmont Mt. Kenya Safari Club

06/17/2024

Colorado is officially summering… 😍 💖
🏕️🏄🏼‍♀️🌄 🌸

Visit Colorado

06/05/2024

I planned and hosted a beautiful private dinner on behalf of Mantis, Zambezi Queen Collection, Mbano Manor Hotel by Mantis and KAI at the stunning Denver Botanic Gardens last night for the top agents and tour operators selling Africa in Colorado.

This is one of the many reasons why I love my job… 💖

(Serendipity Catering crushed it…)

05/24/2024

“For a first-timer in Cape Town, there’s perhaps no better place for a soft landing in the city: a private quay on the edge of the V&A Waterfront district, with sweeping views over Table Mountain and a working harbour, where plenty of shops, restaurants, and museums lie within striking distance.”

Great review of the Cape Grace, A Fairmont Managed Hotel in Condé Nast Traveler 🤗 💖

Find Cape Grace, Cape Town, South Africa ratings, photos, prices, expert advice, traveler reviews and tips, and more information from Condé Nast Traveler.

05/21/2024

I couldn't be more excited to share that I’ve added the stunning Fairmont The Norfolk, Fairmont Mara Safari Club and Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club to the amazing collection of Accor Group Africa properties that I represent in North America including Cape Grace, A Fairmont Managed Hotel, Zambezi Queen Collection & Mantis Collection. 💖

05/12/2024

Happy Mother’s Day to Nancy, my amazing mom, and all my hard-working mom friends making it happen day in and out with a smile.

What women are capable of around the world never ceases to amaze me… 💪🏼 💖💖💖 

05/09/2024

My quarterly newsletter is out...

Happy (almost) summer! I hope you're having a great spring and bookings are exceeding expectations. I'm beyond lucky to have spent a month in southern and eastern Africa, vising colleagues and properties, going on adventures and hosting an amazing travel agent and tour operator fam trip with Man...

04/05/2024

Spring is springing in Denver 🌸
Happy Friday 🍻

Denver Botanic Gardens

04/05/2024

Happy 90th Birthday Dr. Jane Goodall🎂

Thank you for being such a positive impact to our planet and the animals in it. The world needs more people just like you … 💪🏼 🫶🏼 🌍 💖

5662 likes, 131 comments. “Happy 90th birthday to Jane Goodall! Thank you for continuing to encourage us to make personal choices that can have a positive impact on the planet.”

03/24/2024

Back to my Colorado mountain safaris…
A spring weekend of hiking, skiing and finding my favorite South African flower. 🌺 🌞 🐑 🏔️ 🥂

03/18/2024

The Masai Mara in Kenya (part 2)… 🇰🇪 🥰

It’s what dreams (and the movie Out of Africa) are made of. From a walking safari with rhinos and waking up to hippos playing outside to a visit with the Masai tribe, a hot air balloon ride at sunrise over the Mara and the sundowners watching the best sunsets in the world… it feels like it was all a dream. But I never dreamed this big and my heart is full. 🙌🏼

The Fairmont Mara Safari Club couldn’t have been more perfect. From top-notch safari guides to a prime location on the Mara River in a private conservancy, this is one of my favorite properties in the entire world. And the fact that I was asked to leave my mark by planting a tree in my name couldn’t have ended this amazing month long adventure more perfectly. 💖

Thanks to the Fairmont Kenya properties for being amazing hosts this week. I couldn’t be more proud to represent these properties in the US.

(And you should take this post as a sign to book the trip of a lifetime to Africa. It’s a magical and special place no images can actually capture. Now back to the real world for me… 😢)

03/18/2024

The Masai Mara in Kenya… 🇰🇪 🥰

It’s what dreams (and the movie Out of Africa) are made of. From a walking safari with rhinos and waking up to hippos playing outside to a visit with the Masai tribe, a hot air balloon ride at sunrise over the Mara and the sundowners watching the best sunsets in the world… it feels like it was all a dream. But I never dreamed this big and my heart is full. 🙌🏼

The Fairmont Mara Safari Club couldn’t have been more perfect. From top-notch safari guides to a prime location on the Mara River in a private conservancy, this is one of my favorite properties in the entire world. And the fact that I was asked to leave my mark by planting a tree in my name couldn’t have ended this amazing month long adventure more perfectly. 💖

Thanks to the Fairmont Kenya properties for being amazing hosts this week. I couldn’t be more proud to represent these properties in the US.

(And you should take this post as a sign to book the trip of a lifetime to Africa. It’s a magical and special place no images can actually capture. Now back to the real world for me… 😢)

03/13/2024

Kenya week 4 🇰🇪

My first trip to Kenya in 2018 was a little bit different than this adventure. I was previously here on a volunteer trip with Africa Network for Animal Welfare [ANAW] for a month vaccinating 3000+ cats, dogs, and donkeys from rabies with an amazing team of vets. We pretty much stayed in huts and pooped in holes in the ground. It was a very rewarding, but an extremely hard experience that I will never forget. 💖

Fast forward to today where I have the amazing opportunity to visit the luxurious 5-star Fairmont Kenya properties. Needless to say, this trip is a little different (and I couldn’t feel more blessed) but the kindness of the people, natural beauty of the countryside and crazy traffic in Nairobi remains the same as I remember.

Huge thanks to the Fairmont The Norfolk and Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club for their amazing hospitality this week I got the chance to bike with giraffes and zebras, visit an amazing animal orphanage that helps injured and abandoned animals and got kisses from an extremely endangered bongo… And a first - I had to negotiate with a monkey for 15+ minutes with mangoes to get my sunglasses back (that he stole off my head). 🙈 😏

Spending time with animals in nature, away from people, makes my heart and spirit happy. 🙌🏼 Now on to the Fairmont Mara Safari Club to close out this amazing African adventure… for now anyways. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Mt. Kenya Wildlife Conservancy ALL - Accor Live Limitless Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife - Kenya

03/13/2024

Part 2 (videos)

The wilds of Madagascar…
Fourth largest island in the world located along the eastern coast of Africa.

And the only place in the world to find lemurs - 107 different types are only here in the wild. And lots of creepie crawlies too…

Here are the lemurs I saw in the wild:
- Indri indri lemur (no tail, long legs, biggest lemur, can’t be bread or raised in captivity, less than a couple thousand left in the wild and critically endangered, super unique loud territory call)
- Red bellied lemur - rare to spot
- Diademed Sifaka lemur - 2nd largest lemur species (dancing lemur in Madagascar)
- Bamboo lemur - smallest daytime lemur
- Common brown lemur - found throughout the entire island. Most others are specific to a region.
- Black and white ruffed lemur
- Mouse lemur - smallest nighttime lemur

Thanks to Madagascar Classic Collection for taking great care of us. And thanks to , my favorite adventure partner, who goes along with my crazy ideas without thinking twice. 💖

03/11/2024

The wilds of Madagascar…
Fourth largest island in the world located along the eastern coast of Africa.

And the only place in the world to find lemurs - 107 different types are only here in the wild. And lots of creepie crawlies too…

Here are the lemurs I saw in the wild:
- Indri indri lemur (no tail, long legs, biggest lemur, can’t be bread or raised in captivity, less than a couple thousand left in the wild and critically endangered, super unique loud territory call)
- Red bellied lemur - rare to spot
- Diademed Sifaka lemur - 2nd largest lemur species (dancing lemur in Madagascar)
- Bamboo lemur - smallest daytime lemur
- Common brown lemur - found throughout the entire island. Most others are specific to a region.
- Black and white ruffed lemur
- Mouse lemur - smallest nighttime lemur

Thanks to Madagascar Classic Collection for taking great care of us. And thanks to Jen, my favorite adventure partner, who goes along with my crazy ideas without thinking twice. 💖

Madagascar Tourism Mantadia Lodge Andasibe-Mantadia National Park

03/04/2024

Botswana 💖

Honey badgers and scorpians

Feline Fields Mantis

03/04/2024

Botswana 💖 One of my favorite countries to go on safari.

Thanks to the Zambezi Queen Collection and Feline Fields for your amazing hospitality this week. 🐘. Mantis

02/28/2024

Mbano Manor Hotel by Mantis…. you’re beyond stunning. And of course Victoria Falls didn’t disappoint. I’m a very lucky girl. 🙌🏼 💖

Mantis

02/24/2024

Adventures around Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope with the best tour guide and hiking partner in the world… Such a special city 🙌🏼 🇿🇦 😊 💖💖💖 🐧

Visit South Africa City of Cape Town Cape Point Boulder's Beach, Simon's Town, Southern Cape, South Africa. Mantis Cape Grace, A Fairmont Managed Hotel

02/22/2024

I’m grateful to represent the historic and stunning 5-star Cape Grace, A Fairmont Managed Hotel, perfectly located on the V&A Waterfront in CapeTown, South Africa overlooking Table Mountain National Park.

The property just reopened after an extended closure and renovation, and I’m excited to share my pics of this beautiful and highly anticipated reopening.

With the 3 direct flights from the US to Cape Town, it’s the perfect space to begin or end your once in a lifetime southern Africa adventure… 💖 🇿🇦 ⛰️ 🌊

Visit South Africa Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

01/01/2024

Here’s to showing gratitude to everything amazing that 2023 brought me and welcoming all the exciting new adventures that 2024 brings… 🙌🏼 💖 🌍

Happy New Year’s Eve from my happy place🥂

12/21/2023

I’m very excited to join the APTA: Association for the Promotion of Tourism to Africa executive board and continue to share this amazing continent and the life-changing experiences you can have on it. 🐘
Mantis Zambezi Queen Collection Cape Grace, A Fairmont Managed Hotel

Following one of the closest elections in the history of the Association for the Promotion of Tourism to Africa, we are both excited and proud to announce the addition of two new members to our Executive Board. This election showcased the passionate involvement of our community, and we extend our he...

12/14/2023

She dances with wolves… and a puppy 🐺 🥰

12/06/2023

Los Angeles 💖 🫶🏼 🤩

USTOA Mantis Mantis Collection Zambezi Queen Collection

You’ve been a blast (but my liver and voice really need a break and I’m ready to ski… 🍸 ❄️)