Ruaha National Park, Tanzania

Jabali Ridge

Price per night from$1,917.86

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD1,917.86), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Upping the game

Setting

Roar-scored Ruaha

Perched in the baobab-blotted Ruaha National Park, Asilia Africa’s Jabali Ridge bursts with pride in more ways than one. Its luxe, Earth-kind camp beams with an infinity-edge swimming pool, treatment room, luxurious lodgings and all-encompassing views of your striking surroundings. But its confidence comes in equal part from the land, where low footfall and its lion share of big cats create prime seasonal sightings. 

Once you’ve booked your safari stays, the Asilia team will be in touch within 48 hours to help arrange travel between camps, which may include charter or private small-plane flights and/or overland transfers.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A souvenir glass animal, handmade in Tanzania or Kenya

Facilities

Photos Jabali Ridge facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Nine, including one three-bedroom private house.

Check–Out

10am. Check-in is at 2pm. Please note that late check-out may incur additional park fees, food, drink and transport charges.

More details

Rates include all meals and drinks (except premium wines), limited laundry service, open-vehicle game drives, walking safaris and return transfers to Msembe Airstrip. Stays in the Private House also include a private chef, guide and safari vehicle.

Also

Unfortunately, this remote camp is not suitable if you have limited mobility.

Hotel closed

Jabali Ridge closes its camp each year from the middle of March until the end of May.

At the hotel

Gift shop, library and information centre, lounge area, sunset deck and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: radio, electric fan, torch, USB charging ports, tea- and coffee-making kit, free bottled water, mosquito net, laundry detergent, bathrobes, slippers and Healing Earth bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Jabali’s Private House is the gold standard for an all-frill safari stay, with its trio of family-friendly bedrooms, alfresco plunge pool and very own chef and guide-accompanied game vehicle. The Suites may have smaller set-ups, but they make for an all-the-more romantic affair with cushy emperor-size beds and wraparound decks that watch over the bordering baobab forest.

Poolside

The small infinity-edge swimming pool (open sunrise till sunset) and surrounding sunloungers watch over Ruaha’s ancient baobabs from its hilltop vantage point. There’s a bar just behind that spotlights gin-based tipples, and if you’re staying in the Private House, you’ll have the added luxury of a private plunge pool.

Spa

Set back from the main pool between baobabs, a single treatment room (open 8am to 8pm) hosts hot stone and traditional massages — the signature 'Ikuka Waterfalls’ is particularly healing for its coffee and coconut body scrub, and the ‘Jabali Awakening’ employs ancient techniques and scents of lemongrass, ginger and Tanzanian clove to soothe. Treatments can also be set-up in your suite, or anywhere around camp.

Packing tips

All the safari staples: wide-brimmed hats, neck scarves to protect against the dust during dry season, hiking boots (walking safaris are Ruaha’s mainstay) and neutral colours.

Also

Once you’ve booked your safari stays, the Asilia team will be in touch within 48 hours to help arrange travel between camps, which may include charter or private small-plane flights and/or overland transfers.

Children

Kids aged five or older are welcome. For some activities, the minimum age is 12 years old; younger Smiths will need to stay at camp, supervised by one of their adults.

Sustainability efforts

Asilia is a B Corp business and sustainability sits at the core of their safari offering, with camps designed to have minimal impact, and every operational choice rooted in reducing harm. This starts with the camp build itself, using locally sourced, natural materials.  Across all safari operations they minimise waste, prioritise renewable energy and respect the wilderness. The primary power source in their camps is solar, waste is weighed, segregated, and recycled, emissions are tracked, and Scope 1 carbon is offset via REDD+ projects. Asilia invests in initiatives that enhance sustainability and your experience at their camps, such as farm-to-fork projects that ensure the freshest produce and reduce the need for supply runs across the fragile landscapes where they operate. As part of the Nawiri Group, Asilia contributes over $10m annually to nature protection and impact funding, providing long-term stable funding to partners across Africa. Their impact approach is community-led and includes a focus on expanding access to quality education in rural areas, funding programmes that benefit over 20,000 primary school students and over 200 vocational scholarships annually.

Food and Drink

Photos Jabali Ridge food and drink

Top Table

Watch as calming pastel hues colour the baobab-silhouetted skyline with a seat on the sunset deck.

Dress Code

Come as you are in this remote, outdoorsy stay.

Hotel restaurant

Expect farm-to-fork dining that showcases seasonality and is proudly low on food miles. A commitment to sustainability and a celebration of local, indigenous ingredients underpin Asilia Africa’s approach to cuisine across all camps. Breads, cakes and even ice-creams are made freshly in-house, and dishes are always paired with South African wines. 

At Jabali Ridge, breakfast might be a picnic in the bush consisting of fresh fruits, yoghurt, muesli, freshly squeezed juices, baked pastries, breakfast sandwiches and wraps. But if you're staying in camp, you also have an option to start your day with hot dishes à la carte. 

Across all Asilia Africa camps, the menu changes by the day; at each meal, there’ll be a choice of starters, mains, sides and desserts, with vegetarians as well served as meat eaters. Lunch on Wednesdays and dinner on Sundays are a distinctly Swahili affair, spotlighting local culinary traditions. If you have food preferences or dietary requirements, the camp’s kitchen team will be happy to adapt dishes to suit. 

Hotel bar

There’s a dedicated-to-gin bar at the pool, with menus that put traditional African twists on the celebrated spirit, for sharp concoctions served straight to your sunlounger. You’re also welcome to order drinks to your suite, should you prefer your sips to be a little more secluded.

Last orders

Rather than working to scheduled hours, meals fit around your plans and staff are happy to flex to meet your wishes.

Room service

Available 24 hours: you can order drinks and snacks to your suite; meals, too, can be arranged chez vous.

Location

Photos Jabali Ridge location
Address
Jabali Ridge
Ruaha National Park
Ruaha
Tanzania, United Republic of

In south-central Tanzania’s Iringa region, Jabali Ridge rests alongside the seasonal Mwagusi River in the north of Ruaha National Park.

Planes

From Kilimanjaro, Arusha or Dar Es Salaam airports, connecting flights touch down at Msembe Airstrip, where you’ll be met by Asilia staff for the 50-minute drive to camp, included with your stay.

Automobiles

All the driving at Jabali Ridge is taken care of by trained staff using Asilia vehicles.

Worth getting out of bed for

Jabali Ridge puts you in the heart of Ruaha National Park’s ecological patchwork, where semi-arid plains, baobab forests and miombo woodland create a haven for Tanzania’s wildlife. Between July and October, day and night game drives — as well as walking safaris — trail prowling big cats, giraffes, zebras and buffalos. Or, if you’d rather watch from afar, hot-air ballooning offers a scenic snapshot. Birders will find their flock in December, when 550 species of migratory birds come into sight. In January, herds of elephants graze the Mwagusi River’s banks, where you’re also welcome to go fishing. Cultural and community visits explore the native Hehe tribe’s legacy and influence; and conservation talks teach you more about Asilia’s efforts to protect this park’s rich biodiversity. 

To explore the exceptional safari landscapes of Ruaha in detail, you could add Asilia Africa’s sister camp in south Tanzania to your itinerary. Start with three nights at Usangu Expedition Camp to explore the flora and fauna of its diverse wetlands and Miombo woodlands, before heading for the (slightly plusher) creature comforts of Jabali Ridge, where it's also advisable to stay for three nights. 

Local restaurants

You’ll feast on the spectacular scenery of Ruaha and enjoy your fill of safari adventures, but other than this, you can expect all your dining to take place either in camp or arranged by your hosts out in the bush. 

Reviews

Photos Jabali Ridge reviews

Anonymous review

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this conservation-focused camp in Tanzania and unpacked their Asilia-marked memorabilia, a full account of their East African break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Jabali Ridge in Ruaha National Park… 

Asilia Africa is renowned for its thoughtful conservation of East Africa’s nature reserves, and celebration of its quieter safari spots. And upscale Tanzanian outpost, Jabali Ridge, is cosseting testament to the fact that this is a craft that Asilia has mastered. 

This all-frills retreat perches above the baobab forests of Ruaha National Park, where a mosaic of biodiverse landscapes lend themselves to optimal game viewing. Stays here come with open-vehicle drives and walking safaris, securing predator sightings from July to October; while December and January bring herds of grazing elephants and abundant birdlife. 

Though encounters may flow with the seasons, Jabali’s luxe frills are your constant. Suites come with butter-soft beds and timbered shutters that fan out to panoramic decks, and if you’ve snagged the Private House, you’ll have your own chef and guide-accompanied vehicle. Add in a spa, infinity-edge pool and embracing cinematic views, and camp never felt so hard to leave. 

Book now

Price per night from $1,680.00