Charlie Ruaha

By light aircraft to Jongomero airstrip in the south of Ruaha National Park, then about an hour and a half by road to wherever the camp is standing that week; the camp moves along the river during a stay, so the drive can be shorter or longer and we confirm it for your dates. Coastal Aviation's timetable, valid to the end of May 2027, flies Dar es Salaam to Ruaha daily, leaving at half past eight and landing at eleven with a stop in Nyerere National Park, and its Ruaha service lands at both Jongomero and Msembe; the flight only runs once two seats are sold, so we book early, and connections feed into it from Zanzibar and Arusha. Auric Air links the Serengeti to Ruaha direct on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, which is how we join a northern safari to a southern one without going back through Dar.

We can also arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12, from Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Zanzibar or another park straight into Jongomero at a time that suits you. On the scheduled flights the limit is fifteen kilograms a person including hand luggage, so pack a soft bag. Most people combine Charlie with a few nights at Kigelia, the camp's tented camp in the centre of the park, and the same airline serves both.

Yes. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, says there is a high risk of malaria in all areas of Tanzania below 1,800 metres, and the CDC draws its line at the same height, 5,900 feet. The Ruaha River valley where the camp stands lies far below that, so both class it as a risk area, and both list antimalarial tablets alongside bite avoidance among their recommendations for it. The camp's own fact sheet says the same in three words: malaria protection advised.

That is what the sources say rather than advice from us: we plan safaris and are not medical people, so the decision on tablets, and which, belongs with you and your doctor or a travel clinic, ideally a month or more before you fly. Practical detail we can give: the tents are fine mesh rather than netted beds, dusk by the river is the hour to have sleeves down and repellent on, and Ruaha's wooded stretches hold tsetse flies, which are a nuisance rather than a health risk for visitors and are drawn to dark blue and black, so keep those colours out of the bag.

Nobody under sixteen. The minimum age is sixteen, for the camp and for every walk, and the reasons are plain once you picture the place: the days are spent on foot in a park full of lions and elephants, the two bathrooms are shared, the camp is unfenced with askaris walking guests to their tents after dark, and there is nothing to occupy a child who does not want to walk.

Because the camp is taken as a whole, one booking for up to six, a family with teenagers of sixteen and over has it to themselves and sets the pace. Tell us who is coming and how they are on their feet and we will say honestly whether it fits, or point you to a camp better set up for younger children.

No, neither, and the camp says so plainly: no wifi and no mobile signal at any Charlie location. Lighting is by solar lantern, and the only sockets are the three-pin and USB points in the game-drive vehicle, so camera batteries charge on the move rather than in the tent. The crew carries a satellite phone for emergencies, and we include medical evacuation cover as standard.

Treat it as a proper break from the phone, which is most of the point of the place. If someone genuinely has to be reachable, tell us before you travel and we will plan a camp with wifi for the nights either side, and download anything you want to read before the flight in.

Dry, with the whole season inside Ruaha's rainless months. July and August are the coolest, with days around 27 degrees and dawns of 14 or so, cold enough for a fleece on the first walk; September warms and October is the hottest month of Ruaha's year, with afternoons above 30 and the first showers possible at its very end. The camp's own weather notes give 15 to 28 degrees for June to September and 20 to 32 for October.

Pack for walking rather than for a lodge: broken-in boots or trail shoes with grip for sand rivers and rocky ground, long trousers and long sleeves in khaki, olive or tan, since tsetse go for dark blue and black, a wide hat, strong sun cream, a warm layer for early starts and evenings by the fire, a head torch, and binoculars. Soft bag, fifteen kilograms on the light aircraft including hand luggage. There is no laundry at this camp, unlike the camp's fixed camps, so bring enough for the nights you are there.

Fit enough to enjoy several hours on foot in the morning and be happy to do it again the next day. Walks run from around three hours to most of a morning depending on the party and what turns up, always with an armed scout from the camp and an armed park ranger, six people at most, and the vehicle covers the long gaps and the last hour of light. Routes are set to the slowest walker, not to a timetable.

Two or three nights is the sensible stay, and the camp itself suggests a couple of nights at Charlie after time at Kigelia, so a Ruaha itinerary usually runs five or six nights across the two. The camp may move once or twice while you are there, so the tents are at a different bend of the river when you walk back in, and that is the plan rather than a change of it.