Kichaka Kidogo

taking your walking safari experience to the next level

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

This place is a simple satellite bivouac camp, which can only be visited in combination with the main camp, Kichaka Zumbua.

To stay here, you have to first spend at least two nights at Kichaka Zumbua, followed by usually 1-3 nights here, after which you can either return to the main camp or depart to your next location.

The latter 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 tend to recommend Kichaka Kidogo to guests who want to take their experience to the next level, to focus even more on walking safari and to enjoy an even more intimate connection with the bush. Tellingly, our returning guests almost all add this experience.

The camp itself is set out in the bush for each group of guests, in a location that Moli decides will best take best advantage of the current wildlife movements. Usually the camp is set along the Ruaha River to the east of Kichaka Zumbua, often within just a few kilometres. Nevertheless, it does always provide a very different perspective and experience.

One question that our guests always ask is whether or not staying here will mean that they will be personally hosted and guided by Moli himself. Of course, Moli can’t be everywhere all the time, but staying here will definitely increase your chances of spending more time with him.

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