OVERVIEW:
Kwihala Camp is owned and operated by Asilia Africa. This company, a favourite at YZ, has a fabulous portfolio encompassing the Serengeti, Kenya’s Maasai Mara, and many other parks and reserves. Kwihala has been awarded a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence! The accommodation is booked on a full-board basis, including all meals, a selection of drinks, all activities, transfers between camp and the nearest airstrip, and a laundry service.
Please note, the camp opens in June and closes at the end of November each year.
ACCESS & LOCATION:
The camp is accessed via 45 minutes’ road transfer from Msembe Airstrip. It’s situated in the Mwagusi area of Ruaha National Park. Mwagusi is renowned as the finest wildlife-viewing part of the park – and in our view, it’s one of the best spots for big game in Tanzania!
ACCOMMODATION & FACILITIES AT KWIHALA CAMP:
There are six guest tents, all made out of natural canvas to blend with the bushscape and with amazing views from their gauze-screened windows. Each is Meru style – an outer layer of canvas extends over the inner structure to create a shady veranda. The veranda is set with a couple of campaign chairs and a small table, and it’s the perfect place for relaxing while looking out for the local wildlife! Inside the tent, you’ll find a double bed, twin beds, or triple beds, as well as bedside tables and lighting, a writing desk and chair, a couple of storage units, a fan, a floor lamp, and colourful rugs on the canvas floor. Other soft furnishings feature the baobab tree, a nice touch in an area that has its fair share of these giants! The en-suite facilities occupy the back of the tent, behind a curtain, and they comprise flush toilet, washbasin on a stand with mirror over, and step-up bucket shower. The family tent has one double bed plus twin beds for children.
Most of Kwihala Camp’s communal facilities are housed in a smart mess tent, which is also natural canvas and Meru style. Both lounge and dining areas flow out onto the tent’s veranda, where lines of campaign chairs are set up for wildlife viewing! In the lounge, wood-framed well-cushioned sofas and armchairs surround a large coffee table, which is strewn with a few books and often some snacks too. There’s additional reading material in open shelves to one side of the space, and the camp’s bar occupies a corner. The dining area contains one large table, where everyone eats together. The camp provides bush breakfasts during early morning game drives, but a cooked brunch is always available back at the base. You can enjoy buffet lunches in the mess tent too, and gorgeous gourmet dinners are usually presented al fresco. The campfire, located just a short stroll away, is often the setting for pre-dinner drinks and sharing safari stories!
ACTIVITIES AT KWIHALA CAMP:
The camp offers classic safari activities – game drives, night drives, and walking safaris:
- The standard of guiding is high, as, rather unusually, Kwihala brings in top experts from South Africa.
- Game drives take place in early morning and late afternoon, and they provide exciting opportunities to see a real wealth of wildlife!
- Ruaha’s sprawling plains, miombo woodlands, rolling hills, and abundant rivers and secondary water sources provide a home for a great range of species. Four of the Big Five live here – lion, leopard, elephant, and buffalo!
- There are plenty of smaller predators and herbivores too, such as cheetah, serval, caracal, wild dog, giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, and all sorts of antelopes.
- Birding is equally impressive, with over six hundred types of feathery friend recorded at last count.
- If you head out on a night drive, you can expect to see varieties of fox and mongoose, and even the lesser bush baby! Walking safaris are also possible during early morning and late afternoon.
- This activity involves getting up close to the small things of Ruaha, including the plant life and insect life.
- Unfortunately it’s restricted to travellers aged 16 years and older.
- However, Kwihala is able to cater for families to some extent, with a private safari vehicle available at certain times of the year.
*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.
For more information about this, or any other aspect of staying in Ruaha, please get in touch with a member of our team.