Kichaka Usangu

one of the ultimate safari experiences

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

This truly fabulous walking safari is personally guided and hosted by Moli and Noelle.

During the precious gaps when Moli and Noelle don’t have any guests at their main base, Kichaka Zumbua, they love nothing more than to sneak off with a bivouac camp, explore new areas and enjoy the purity of genuinely untouched wilderness. In order to ensure that they can keep doing this regularly, they have decided to invite guests to join them.

The safari is primarily (but not exclusively) aimed at guests who have previously stayed with at Moli and Noelle, and specifically want to return to spend more time with them, whilst exploring a remote part of this fabulous reserve.

There are four such trips each year (Kichaka Tembea, Kichaka Mpululu, Kichaka Kilola and Kichaka Usangu), the location and timing of each being carefully chosen to take advantage of seasonal variations across the greater reserve.

Please note that we have given this safari a very low rating in order to keep it quiet. The real rating would place it amongst the very best options in Africa.

The trail

Kichaka Usangu is best operated Jun-Oct and heads out to the remote southwest of Ruaha.

The simple bivouac camp can be located in the various positions around the impressive Usangu Wetlands, from where it is possible to explore a range of different ecosystems, largely on foot.

This really is a vast and extremely impressive wetland area, totally different to the rest of the reserve.

The safari can only be booked by a private group of up to six guests.

For experienced safari travellers who are keen on authenticity, remoteness and exploring on foot, it seems impossible to imagine a more exciting and enjoyable proposition. Returning guests will already know quite how entertaining these guys are, what an extraordinary privilege it is to spend quality time with them.

There is a good deal of flexibility in the itinerary of each safari. You can, in theory, undertake any of the four safari options during any of the four date windows. We usually like to arrange a call between Moli, Noelle and the guests in advance of booking, to discuss various options and fine tune plans. They can usually escape to the radio room for half an hour whilst their current guests are enjoying an afternoon siesta.

The opening position is that guests should be relatively fit and the minimum age is 16 years, but there may be a good deal of flexibility on both of these issues.

Obviously, with this safari only running once per year, availability can be a major issue. We therefore recommend planning at least one year ahead. Please get in touch for details on prices, availability and dates.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Kichaka Usangu is in just three simple dome tents, each with stretcher beds and a private bush bathroom, as well as solar power for lights and device charging.

Activities

Kichaka Usangu focuses on the following guided activities …

• Walking safari
• Bush meals
• Vehicle safari: not widely done

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