A remote and high-end safari camp on the Ikuka Escarpment with spectacular views of Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park
Lounge, dining area, library, bar, and swimming pool
Seven open-fronted luxury guest tents, including a two-storey family tent, all with jaw-dropping views
Game drives, walking safaris, birding, and photography
Owner Mark is a qualified safari guide. He leads some seriously impressive game drives and walks, covering the incredibly biodiverse area close to the Mwagusi river. Ruaha National Park is a Yellow Zebra favourite for game drives, based on the sheer diversity of landscapes and superb variety of wildlife. Sprawling savanna, towering baobab trees, miombo woodlands, lofty kopjes, and a network of waterways including the Great Ruaha River – all home to species such as lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, antelopes, hyenas, jackals, wild dog, and hippo.
Walks start directly from the camp, where the hilly terrain boasts stunning scenery as well as the chance for some good exercise! You’ll most likely come across elephant, impala, kudu, and giraffe, as well as discovering the smaller details of the bush often missed on game drives. Please note that the minimum age for walking safaris is 16 years.
The birdlife in Ruaha National Park deserves a mention too, as almost six hundred species have been spotted here, including eagles, ospreys, herons, pelicans, ducks, geese, bee-eaters, and guineafowls. Bird enthusiasts should remember to bring binoculars!
Keen photographers are offered handy tips on wildlife photography from Mark or one of the expert guides. Let us know if you’re looking for help setting up your camera or figuring out how to get the perfect shot while out on a game drive.
*This property is unfenced and located in a wildlife area, so large and potentially dangerous animals do pass through. If you opt to stay here, always be alert when walking around the camp and request for a member of staff to escort you if you have any concerns. Any guest is escorted after dark as a matter of course.
Ikuka Safari Camp is located high on the Ikuka escarpment in Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park – part of Tanzania’s southern safari circuit. Access is by light aircraft to Msembe airstrip, from either Dar es Salaam or one of the other Tanzanian safari parks, followed by a 45-minute drive to the camp.
Completely open-fronted, the airy, light-flooded communal areas at Ikuka Safari Camp include a well-stocked bar, a lounge area with comfy leather sofas and coffee tables, a dining space with panoramic views from every angle, a telescope, and an upstairs library area where guests can relax and leaf through one of the guide books on display.
Bar
Telescope
Library
Swimming pool
Wi-Fi
Outside, there’s a swimming pool that also takes full advantage of the views, and is illuminated by night with paraffin lamps. Wi-Fi is available in the main area and there is a good mobile phone signal at the camp for those who prefer not to disconnect completely.
Ikuka Safari Camp features seven luxury open-plan guest tents, including a two-storey family unit, all with magnificent views overlooking Ruaha National Park.
Fans
Indoor rain shower
Flush toilet
Family room plunge pool
Incorporating locally sourced materials, including white quartz from the escarpment, the rooms blend effortlessly into the surrounding landscape – all completely open-fronted, with lofty thatched roofs. Outside, viewing decks offer the perfect spot to gaze at the landscape from an elevated vantage point. Super-king-sized beds occupy the central part of the tent and are surrounded by full-length curtains that can be drawn at night. There are reading lights on either side, writing desks, an integrated living area with a comfortable sofa and coffee table, fans, and safes. Each spacious en-suite washroom has twin washbasins, a flush toilet, and an indoor rain shower with plenty of hot water. The two-storey family tent accommodates two adults on the ground floor and a maximum of three children upstairs, and has a shared bathroom, a sitting room, a pool deck, and a plunge pool.
Ikuka Safari Camp is an upscale yet beautifully understated property in Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park, run by safari experts and hands-on owners Mark and Chloe Sheridan Johnson, together with a top-notch team. Ikuka Safari Camp is an upscale yet beautifully…
Kichaka Expeditions is an adventurous, off-the-beaten-track safari experience incorporating a secluded, high-end property, a back-to-nature fly camp, and an exhilarating seven-night expedition in Tanzania’s vast, remote, and truly wild Ruaha National Park.…
Kichaka Wild is a seven-night expedition camp, personally led by owner and well-respected safari guide Andrew Molinaro, best known as ‘Moli’. The camp is designed for exclusive use, and guests are offered a choice of four wild locations in the remotest…
As it has just three dome-style tents, the experience is intimate, offering guests from sister camp Kichaka Zumbua the chance to walk in some of the remotest corners of Ruaha National Park. By day, head out into the bush with some of the region’s top wildlife…
Offering some of the best walking safaris in Tanzania in an untouched wilderness setting, the camp and the Kichaka experience are all about authentic, unpretentious comfort and truly welcoming hosting. Whether you’re out on a night drive, walking in the wilds…
Built in 2022, Asilia's Usangu Expedition Camp is the inaugural lodge to open in Ruaha National Park, nestled in the southern corner of the park, alongside the Usangu Wetlands. Over the last twenty years, the region has been reclaimed from poachers and…
Mwagusi Safari Camp is owned and run by Chris Fox, one of East Africa’s most famous guides. Chris founded the camp in 1987 with the aim of providing authentic no-frills safari experiences to adventurous travellers. Just over thirty years later, the camp is…
Operated by Asilia, Kokoko Camp is a simple, exclusive-use tented camp in the heart of Tanzania’s south-central Ruaha National Park. Here, the surrounding wilderness takes front row, with a comfortable back-to-nature approach, including meals cooked outside…
