GUIDE ON VUMA HILLS CAMP IN TANZANIA

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Vuma Hills is a medium sized, 16 room tented camp at the heart of Mikumi National Park in the southern sector of Tanzania. Set amongst woodland on a hillside with spectacular forest views, the camp offers an authentic African safari experience, with an impressive list of visiting wildlife. Bush babies, porcupine and honey badger have been seen with cat cousins, African civet, serval, genet and an occasional rare caracal.

During the day impala, warthog, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and buffalo are common and an old bull elephant isolated from its herd of matriarchs may be encountered. Mikumi National Park, gazetted since 1964, is now transected by the Tanzam Highway, and is a popular southern Tanzania overland game-viewing destination with a number of vehicles on its road network, but Vuma Hills Camp is sufficiently isolated to preserve its wilderness ambience.



Vuma Hills is open all year round and is easily accessed From Dar Es Salaam, by air or road. Mikumi sits to the north of Selous and Ruaha, and for AfricanMecca safari guests visiting the area, it forms a convenient nonconforming southern Tanzanian vacation stopover en-route from one to another.

Mikumi itself consists of a vast expanse of central flood plain, often difficult to access from March to May due to water-logging of the black cotton soil, although this is the best time for a birding trip to Mikumi. From June to February, the dry grassland accessible by road from Vuma Hills is teeming with wildlife from small herds of eland, ox-like antelopes with spirally twisted horns to frequent predatorous sightings of leopards and lions (read more on when is the best time to visit Mikumi for a southern Tanzania safari). Two mountain ranges enclose the Mkata plain, providing miombo forest habitats for rare and elegant Sable antelopes and stately Greater kudu.

Accommodation At Vuma Hills Camp

Vuma Hills Camp is one of the affordable and value gems of Southern Tanzanian accommodations owned by the Fox family, well established and experienced in providing pioneer hospitality in wilderness surroundings. 16 spacious tents, makuti thatched, straddle the hillside on stilted wooden decks, paradoxically combining comfort with the wilderness experience.

Two double beds, storage chest and safari chairs furnish the colonial style, zebra-themed living partitioned area. An en-suite bathroom boasts flush toilet and 24 hour solar hot water to power shower and hand wash basin. A large, private rail balcony with chairs and table affords excellent views, so much so that you could spend a chill-out African holiday adventure by simply forest game-absorption by day from your own quarters and listening to trumpeting elephant, roaring lion and the eerie call of the black-backed jackal by night.



An expansive, simple, airy dining room with a bar, adjacent lounge seating with a tiny library area and a decked balcony, all adjoining, make a central focal point. In the evening, lovable bush babies frequent the bar area and beautiful cat-like genets are attracted by food left-overs put out by the staff.

Friendly and helpful staff will go out of their way to help, if you are one of few AfricanMecca guests in the low season, but understandably, more guests in the high season means less time for a highly personalized service. Overlooked from the central lodge, there is a small, tree-shaded swimming pool to relax in after a dusty, warm adventurous Mikumi tour.

Safari At Vuma Hills Camp

Game drives from Vuma Hills can be guided by local Mikumi experts with a lifetime of experience in tracking and spotting well-camouflaged wildlife. A secretive leopard may hide in the shade, or a pack of Painted African dogs blend into the shadow-striped grassland. Unmoving animals are hard to spot, but there is nothing like the surge of excitement when a tree-climbing lion in the fork of a branch, or a monitor lizard against dry, cracked soil, suddenly leaps into focus when pointed out.



The game-viewing vehicles are custom built for comfort and all-round viewing on an exploratory Tanzanian safari, with 4WD, tiered seats and sun canopies. On board refreshments and two-way radio for information exchange are standard. There are also blankets for cold mornings. AfricanMecca Safaris recommends not to wear blue or black as these colors can attract tsetse fly in some areas at most times of the year.

Game drives can be taken twice daily, at dawn and in the late afternoon when animals are on the move, or an all-day safari to a distant destination may suit the more enduring traveler on an unforgettable photo tour in Tanzania. Crossing the flood plains, you will see elephants grazing on grass rather than shrubs among large herds of buffalo, wildebeest and zebra. In waterholes where hippos congregate, you will also find hundreds of wading birds as well. Lichtenstein’s hartebeest, looking like a cow-horse hybrid, is found in woodlands around the Kikoboga River where baboons, monkeys, giraffes, wildebeests and other ungulates escape the midday sun.

Dining At Vuma Hills Camp

All the Fox camps and lodges are supplied with fresh food from the family home farm in the Southern Highlands. Special diets can be catered with advance notice. Vegetarian options are possible. You are advised that decaffeinated coffee is not readily available in Tanzania, unless you bring it with you. At dawn, tea or coffee is served before an early start to the day’s adventuring. You can opt for a continental breakfast with fruit, or wait until you return for a full English breakfast.

Meals are unadorned but filling and appetizing, with an excellent brunch of cereal, eggs and toast,  a welcome end to an early morning Vuma Hills safari. A cold buffet lunch offers salads in season with a choice of cold meats followed by a dessert. You may eat companionably at shared tables, or opt for privacy if that is what you prefer.



After a midday siesta, you can take a second game-trailing safari until sundowner time when you can enjoy cocktails around the convivial campfire, iconic of authentic travels in Africa. Throughout the day, light conditions change, giving unprecedented drama to your photographic safari excursion with AfricanMecca as pale morning mist gives way to bright amber sun to deep purple twilight. For dinner, choose a starter and one of two main courses with a pudding and coffee/tea to finish. End the day in company around the campfire, or listen to sounds of the African night from the safety of your tent.

Related Pages

1. Mikumi Safari Park Guide	2. Best Time & Weather To Visit Mikumi
3. Mikumi Map	4. Safari Lodges, Camps & Hotels In Mikumi