Kichaka Zumbua

the best walking safari experience in Africa

Kichaka Zumbua is located in the Ruaha area of southern Tanzania.

The property is home to the fabulous Andrew ‘Moli’ Molinaro and Noelle Herzog, who personally host and guide. These guys previously managed Jongomero Camp, before taking the plunge to go out on their own in 2014. We are very proud to say that we were the primary supporters of this move and provided just about all of their guests over the first three years of operation.

We absolutely adore this place, as do literally all of our guests who have been lucky enough to stay here. It is the perfect blend of gentle, intelligent and heart-pumping safari, interspersed by dining experiences filled with animated conversation and laughter. Virtually everyone plans a return visit as soon as they get back home.

The lodge is centred around an unusual building (nicknamed Moli’s Erection), whose bar is wrapped by a plunge pool and whose twin spiral staircases lead up to a viewing platform that is ideal for star-gazing.

On the eastern side of the bar there is a comfortable thatched lounge, which is a nice place to retire with a book or sit and chat on a lazy afternoon.

On the western side there is a simple open-sided dining room, where much of the magic takes place. Whilst Noelle does run a really good kitchen, the main event here is simply spending leisurely hours around the dining table, chatting and laughing with both the hosts and like-minded guests.

The whole camp enjoys a remarkable fish-eye view of the Ruaha River, lined by beautiful palm trees and set against a backdrop of endless bushland and distant mountains.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Kichaka Zumbua is in a total of just three guest rooms, the size of the camp being limited to the number of guests that can accompany Moli on each walking safari.

Accessed via long sandy tracks through the light forest, the rooms are enormous and simply spectacular. The main bedroom is under thatch and encircled by canvas and gauze windows, with that same magnificent view.

To one side there is a gorgeous outdoor bathroom, with twin basins, a very large plasterwork tub and separate rain shower.

On the other side there is a shaded outdoor lounge with a plunge pool (the one in Room One is almost large enough to be called a swimming pool), with an outdoor sleeping area upstairs.

The rooms are large enough to accommodate an extra bed or two for children 12-15 years.

Activities

Kichaka Zumbua provides the following guided activities …

• Walking safari
• Vehicle safari
• Bush meals

Walking safari may be the primary focus here, but you don’t need to be a walking fanatic to visit, you simply need a moderate level of mobility, healthy levels of curiosity and the confidence to place your life in the hands of others.

Despite being one of the best reserves in Africa, Ruaha tends to feature in a remarkably small proportion of trips, mainly because it is obliged to compete with the Serengeti region. It is one of those places that tends to appeal most to more experienced safari travellers.

The usual stay duration is 3-5 nights in one camp or 5-12 nights in two or three camps.

Safari planning

Ruaha is most commonly combined in trips with other safari areas across Tanzania, like Serengeti or Selous (Nyerere), often in addition to the tropical beaches of Zanzibar, Pemba or Mafia islands.

Since around 2018, with the opening up of ever more diverse sectors within Ruaha, we have steadily increased the number of nights here. Most trips now combine two lodges over around six nights, with some trips extending to nine or more nights in three or even four different lodges.

Can you let Ruaha completely replace Serengeti in your trip? That has become the burning question. For ever more people the answer is a very definite yes.

Seasonality

The classic time to visit Ruaha is generally considered to be during the Jun-Oct dry season, when the wildlife is focused on the river and easy to view. But there are also good reasons to visit during other months.

Getting there

Ruaha is almost always reached by light aircraft. To the south and east there are daily services in both directions (Dar, Selous, Ruaha). Connections with the north are slightly less predictable, but usually operate daily (Serengeti, Manyara, Tarangire, Arusha, Ruaha, Selous, Dar). There are also services to and from the west (Ruaha, Mufindi, Katavi, Mahale).

It is possible to include Ruaha in a private-guided overland safari, in combination with Mikumi, Udzungwa and Selous, but the routing includes a lot of busy main road miles, causing this style of safari to fade since around 2015.

common to combine two or even three lodges