Andrew “Moli” Molinaro had guided across Africa for years before a single visit to Ruaha in 2007 settled the matter. The isolation won him over completely. Noelle Herzog arrived the same year from San Francisco, an anthropology graduate who came to study local cultures and never quite left. She worked her way through a Ruaha camp, and there the two met.
Reaching the animals on their own terms is the whole point
In 2013 they founded Kichaka Expeditions in the park’s wild eastern corner, and built it around a single idea: understanding big game on foot. Rather than watching from a vehicle, here you track elephant and buffalo across open plains, sandy riverbeds and craggy hills. Reaching the animals on their own terms is the whole point, and it changes everything.
Walking is the reason to come. Moli or fellow guide Jacques leads, an armed ranger alongside, through terrain that sees little other tourism. You learn to read spoor and behaviour, and the near-silent way an elephant moves through thick bush. Approaches to buffalo and elephant are deliberate and closely managed, the distance closing slowly.
Moli or fellow guide Jacques leads, an armed ranger alongside
Ruaha holds a large elephant population and big lion prides, with leopard, cheetah and wild dog moving among the kudu, roan, sable, buffalo, zebra, giraffe and hippo. Through the dry season, from June to October, the animals gather along the Great Ruaha River, and the sandy beds and rocky vantage points near Kichaka give walkers a natural line to follow them. From Zumbua’s ridge the plains open out below the suites, game often crossing the ground beneath camp.
For those who want to go deeper, the walking pushes further still from the permanent base. Kichaka Kidogo raises lightweight dome tents in a few hours along riverbanks or in forest. Kichaka Wild is a seven-night private expedition into the park’s more remote reaches, guests sleeping on cots under canvas with a bucket shower and a short-drop toilet, the Milky Way overhead once the fire has burned down. Game drives cover ground and night drives run under park licence, but the walking sets the pace throughout.
None of this suits a traveller after a vehicle-only safari with short transfers and easy access. The point of a stay here is to be on foot, and the whole operation is built around that. Moli and his guides opened up a stretch of eastern Ruaha that had barely seen a visitor before they arrived. Between owner-led guiding, multi-day walking expeditions and a sector still largely without other camps, this is a serious walking programme, one of relatively few in Africa built to this depth around a single activity.
After dark, lion calls and hyena carry across otherwise silent country
Evenings gather at the campfire, where Moli and Noelle host communally and the day’s tracking turns into conversation. With a maximum of six guests, the atmosphere runs closer to a home in the bush than a lodge. Meals come freshly prepared from local ingredients, served in the open dining area at Zumbua, carried as a picnic during activities, or cooked over an open fire at the fly-camps. After dark, lion calls and hyena carry across otherwise silent country, with no engine noise to interrupt them.
Kichaka Zumbua opened in 2021, grown from the founders’ original tented camp into a permanent base of three suites on raised platforms under thatch. Each has a stone bathtub, an outdoor shower and a private plunge pool, and some carry rooftop terraces for views across the plains. Guests can also stay at Kichaka Kidogo, a smaller permanent camp, while the walking itineraries move between wilderness locations on the park’s little-trafficked east side, far from other lodges and vehicles.
accommodation
Kichaka Zumbua has three tented suites on raised platforms under thatch, their canvas sides opening to the day. Each has a stone bathtub, an outdoor shower and a private plunge pool, and some carry rooftop terraces. Kichaka Kidogo and Kichaka Wild use up to three dome tents with cots, bucket showers and short-drop toilets, for a maximum of six guests.
activities
Guided walking safaris are the core of a stay, led by Moli or Jacques with an armed ranger and covering tracking, spoor reading, bushcraft and closely managed approaches to big game on foot within Ruaha National Park. Game drives cover more ground, and night drives run under park licence. Multi-day fly-camping, birdwatching and stargazing round out the programme.
conservation
Kichaka supports the work of the Ruaha Carnivore Project and the Southern Tanzania Elephant Program, backing research into the park's large carnivores and elephants. Through the Kichaka Expeditions Environmental Program, run in partnership with STEP, the camp contributes to ranger training. Staff mentorship runs deep: guide John Moyo started as a barman with limited English and now ranks among Tanzania's most respected walking guides.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
01
Ruaha National Park
02
Ruaha National Park
03
Ruaha National Park
04
Ruaha National Park
05
Ruaha National Park
06
Ruaha National Park
07
Ruaha National Park
08
Ruaha National Park
09
Ruaha National Park
Ruaha is a remote southern park, reached by air. You fly into Dar es Salaam or connect from Arusha on your international flight, then join a light aircraft to the park's Msembe airstrip, before a game drive east to this wild corner of Ruaha, from where a short game drive brings you to camp. We build these charters into your itinerary so the connections line up in a day. For a leg as long as Ruaha, we can also arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, flown direct to Msembe on your own timings.
Seats are shared and the exact departure is fixed the day before, once the airline sets its routing, so the final timings firm up close to the day. Luggage is soft bags only, with a weight limit of around 15 to 20kg depending on the airline, which we confirm with you before you pack.
Yes. Ruaha lies below 1,800 metres, and current UK guidance from TravelHealthPro treats all of mainland Tanzania below that height as a malaria area. The camps help with screened tents, nets and repellent, but antimalarial tablets and covering up after dark are the real protection.
Health advice can change from year to year, so we always ask you to confirm the current position with a travel clinic or your doctor before you travel, and to take the usual care against bites after dark.
Ruaha runs hot and dry through the June to October safari season, with warm to hot days, dust and cooler evenings rather than real cold, and October is the hottest month of all. In the green season the rains of March and April can close roads.
Pack light, breathable clothes in neutral colours, a fleece for early starts, a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses and strong sunscreen, plus a light waterproof if you travel in the green months.
Walking is the whole point here. Kichaka is built around understanding big game on foot, so rather than watching from a vehicle you track elephant and buffalo across plains, sandy riverbeds and craggy hills, led by the owner Moli or fellow guide Jacques with an armed ranger, the distance closing slowly and under close control. Drives cover more ground, night drives run under park licence, and there is multi-day fly-camping too, but if walking is not your priority another Ruaha camp will suit you better.
Come in the dry season from June to October, when the animals gather along the Great Ruaha and the going on foot is at its best; the green season is lush but wetter. Because it is remote and built around expeditions on foot, we would suggest at least three nights, and it pairs well with Nyerere or the coast.
It is a walking-focused expedition camp in a genuinely wild corner of Ruaha, with tracking of big game on foot at its heart, so it is not suited to young children.
Tell us the ages of any older children and how they are on foot in the bush, and we will say honestly whether Kichaka fits.
Ruaha is one of Tanzania's wilder parks, so keep expectations low. Where a camp has wifi it is usually confined to the main area and often slow, and some camps choose not to offer it at all; mobile signal across the park is very limited.
Most guests treat it as a genuine chance to switch off. If you need to stay reachable for work or family, tell us and we will confirm what this camp currently offers before you go.
rated five stars by our clients
our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
