Mdonya Old River Camp

particularly busy with animals in camp

Mdonya Old River Camp is located in the Ruaha area of southern Tanzania.

This property is owned and operated by Essential Destinations, based in Dar es Salaam and closely related to Coastal Aviation, the leading internal airline in Tanzania.

The camp was established by our great friend and aviation legend, the now deceased Nicola Colangelo. He passed it on to the lovely Malcolm Ryen, a trained biologist from Italy, who we have known since he was a young whippersnapper and who is always keeping us up-to-date with his safari adventures.

The biggest upside is the remoteness of the location. Virtually no outside vehicles penetrate the inner sanctum of these riverine forests, yet vehicles from the camp can easily reach the main wildlife viewing areas elsewhere in the reserve.

The camp is remotely sited amongst an unusually shady patch of woodland alongside the Mdonya Sand River, a normally dry watercourse.

It is deliberately simple and, arguably, is the best value option in Ruaha. It is centred on a pair of open-sided tents containing the lounge and dining spaces, leading out to a campfire area.

Mdonya Old River Camp therefore tends to appeal most to outdoorsy folks who are looking for a truly authentic safari experience, whilst trying to keep a lid on the budget.

Animals in camp

The Mdonya Sand River, upon which the camp is set, serves as something of a highway for wildlife. The camp is often busy with elephants and other animals, which really enhances the experience.

One particular elephant, Sikio Mbovu, is often around, standing up on two legs to reach high branches and reaching into the bathroom areas to dismantle the showers.

However, this does mean that guests need to take great caution when moving around camp and children must never be unaccompanied and must never run.

“The camp itself is renowned for being busy with wildlife, the riverbed serving as a natural corridor, especially for the resident elephants.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Mdonya Old River Camp is in twelve large but relatively simple tented rooms, each with a private outdoor bathroom.

• Room : x10
• Family Suite : x2 : with two bedrooms

Activities

Mdonya Old River Camp provides the following guided activities, not all of which are necessarily included in the price …

• Vehicle safari
• Walking safari
• Balloon safari: not included
• Bush meals
• Night vehicle safari

The obvious downside is the need for repeated drives out through the encircling combretum woodland, which has to be done at speed to outpace the dreaded tsetse flies.

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