About This Accommodation

Kigelia Ruaha is a gem of a safari camp in arguably the best game-viewing area of Ruaha National Park. Ruaha is a diverse park and Kigelia is located on the banks of the seasonal sand Ifuguru River and surrounded by ancient baobab, acacia, sausage, fig, and tamarind trees. This eventually turns into woodland which turns into a rugged series of low hills that are a part of the Great Rift Valley. Roaming this region are an abundance of elephant, giraffe, zebra, eland, sable, lion, hyena, and more. And the beauty of Kigelia is that you’ll hardly ever have to share your sightings with another vehicle. Activities at Kigelia Ruaha include game drives, birding, and guided bush walks.

What we like about Kigelia is that it’s a trimmed down safari camp that is simple and doesn’t detract from the wild safari experience. The six safari tents open completely in the front which is nice, but they can still get very hot in the warmer months. However, they’re spacious and otherwise comfortable and nicely decorated. One of the tents is a family tent with 2 bedrooms. None of the bathrooms have running water, but bucket showers and hot and cold water are available at a moment’s notice. The main areas are friendly, but not quite big enough for a full camp to spread out there during the heat of the day. The food is delicious and the staff is warm. We did, however, think the management could be a little more hands-on. We’ve enjoyed Kigelia, but under relatively new ownership, we think it has yet to hit its stride but it’ll only get better with time.

Ruaha experiences warm days and cool nights from June-September (great for walking), very hot days in October and November, and December-March can be humid with the chance of rain (good for birding and seeing calving animals). There are daily flights to Msembe Airstrip from Arusha, Dar, and the Selous making it easy to combine with other Tanzanian safari destinations.