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Safari Planning · · 9 min read

Best Time to Visit Tanzania for a Safari

There is no single best month. Through the year, four things change: what you see, how easily you see it, how many other vehicles are there, and what it costs.

Last updated

The honest answer is that Tanzania has no bad safari season, only different ones. Through the year, the changes are how concentrated the animals are, how easy the roads are, how many other vehicles you share a sighting with, and what you pay.

The dry season, roughly June to October

This is the peak season, and it earns the label. Surface water disappears, so animals pull back toward rivers and permanent waterholes and become far easier to find. The grass is short and thin, which means you can actually see them. Roads are firm, and the light is hard and clear.

In Tarangire the effect is dramatic. The river becomes the only reliable water for a long distance, and the elephants that gather along it are the park's whole reputation. In the Serengeti, the northern part of the park is where the herds tend to be later in this window.

The costs are crowding and price. July through September is when the northern circuit is busiest, camps inside the parks fill months ahead, and rates are at their highest.

The green season, roughly November to May

Rain comes in two rough phases: a shorter spell around November and December, and a longer one from March into May. The landscape transforms: the plains go green, migrant birds arrive, and there are far fewer vehicles.

Game viewing genuinely is harder. Animals disperse because water is everywhere, and long grass hides them. Some minor roads become difficult. But the southern Serengeti in this window holds the wildebeest herds and the calving season, which is one of the great wildlife events anywhere, and prices in much of this period are markedly lower.

The long rains around April and May are the one stretch we would flag as genuinely awkward. Some camps close, and a run of wet days in a vehicle isn't much fun.

Which month for what

  • Calving on the southern plains: the early months of the year, around Ndutu. Timing shifts with the rain. See the migration guide.
  • River crossings in the north: later in the dry season, and no date can be promised.
  • Tarangire elephants: the dry months, when the river concentrates everything.
  • Birding: the green season, when migrants are present and residents are breeding.
  • Fewest vehicles: the green season, comfortably.
  • Kilimanjaro: the drier windows either side of the long rains.

The Ngorongoro Crater is the exception

Because the crater floor holds water and the animals don't leave it, the crater is dependable in any month. If your dates are fixed and awkward, the crater is the part of a northern circuit itinerary least affected by them.

How to decide

If you can travel any time and want the easiest game viewing, take the dry season and book early. If you care about the calving season, travel early in the year. If you want the parks to yourself and don't mind working harder for sightings, take the green season and enjoy paying less for it.

If your dates are fixed by school holidays or a wedding, tell us the dates, not the season. There is almost always a version of the trip that works well in a given month. It's just not always the obvious route.

Itineraries

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An elephant walking through a herd of wildebeest on dry grass.
Season by season

Each part of the year, honestly

January to March
Hot and mostly dry in the south of the ecosystem, with the herds on the short-grass plains and calving peaking in February. Excellent light, green country, high predator activity. The northern parks are quieter than in the dry season.
April and May
The long rains. Heavy afternoon storms, some camps closed, western roads difficult. Also the cheapest travel of the year by a wide margin and the emptiest parks. On a longer itinerary the weather is far less damaging than it sounds.
June to October
The dry season. Grass short, animals concentrated on permanent water, best visibility, coldest mornings and the most vehicles. The Mara River crossings usually fall in this window.
November
The short rains: afternoon showers instead of all-day rain, green country, thinning crowds and animals moving south again. Consistently the most under-booked good month.
December
Green and busy over the holidays, with the herds arriving on the southern plains. Rates over Christmas and New Year are the highest of the year.
Wildebeest scrambling out of a river over rocks during a crossing.
Choosing

Which month suits which traveller

The best month depends on what you want, and the honest recommendations diverge quite sharply.

For a first safari with no particular agenda, June to October is the safest choice: predictable weather, short grass and easy game viewing. Accept the crowds and the dust.

For photography, December to March. Storm skies, low sun through cloud gaps, green ground instead of dust, and the calving. It is the best light of the year and it's under-used.

For the river crossings, late August to September in the far north, with at least three nights there.

For value, April, May and November. Rates fall sharply and the parks are close to empty. May is the wettest and the cheapest.

For a family or anyone who dislikes crowds, November or early December: good conditions, thin traffic and reasonable rates.

For Kilimanjaro combined with a safari, January to mid-March lines both up well. A quieter, warmer climbing season and the calving on the plains.

The year, month by month

Dry Shoulder Green Long rains

January

Green, warm and settling. The short rains have usually finished and the herds are on the southern short-grass plains around Ndutu. Good light, moderate crowds, and the crater at its greenest. A strong month that most people overlook.

February

The peak of the calving on the southern plains, with roughly four hundred thousand wildebeest calves dropped inside two to three weeks. The densest predator activity of the year anywhere on the circuit, and the best light. The Ndutu camps fill twelve months ahead.

March

The last of the green season and the start of the turn. The herds begin to string out northward, the rains build through the month, and rates drop from mid-month. Quiet, green and good value if you can take the weather.

April

The long rains proper. Some camps close, the western Serengeti roads become difficult, and afternoon storms are routine. It is the cheapest month of the year by a wide margin and the parks are close to empty.

May

Still wet, still cheap, still very quiet. The herds move west and north toward the Grumeti. Not a first-safari month, but on a longer trip the weather costs less than it sounds and the landscape is extraordinary.

June

The dry season begins. Grass shortens, animals start concentrating on permanent water, and Tarangire begins its best stretch. The Grumeti crossings can happen late in the month. Cold mornings arrive.

July

Dry, clear and busy. The first herds reach the far north and the Mara River. The timing swings by weeks. Tarangire is at its best. Book well ahead for anything in the northern Serengeti.

August

Peak season. The Mara River crossings are at their most likely, the crater is busiest, and every good camp is full. Excellent game viewing, the most vehicles of the year, and the highest rates outside Christmas.

September

The other peak crossing month and, for many guides, the better of the two: the same odds on the river with slightly thinner traffic. Dry, dusty and cold at dawn.

October

The dry season ends. Game is still concentrated on water and Tarangire is still excellent, but thunder clouds build late in the month and the herds begin drifting south. Quieter than August and September.

November

The short rains. Green country, thinning crowds, animals on the move and rates well below peak. Consistently the most under-booked good month of the year.

December

Green and increasingly busy. The herds arrive back on the southern plains through the month. Rates over Christmas and New Year are the highest of the year. The first three weeks are much better value.

A crocodile lunging from the water at wildebeest crowded along a muddy riverbank.
Planning

What does not change with the season

Know which parts of a trip are season-proof, because they make a fixed-date holiday work.

The Ngorongoro Crater is close to constant. The walls are steep enough that most of the plains game stays put year-round, so there's no month in which the crater is empty. Comfort and crowding do change. Dry, dusty and busy from June to October. Green, cool and much quieter from November to May.

The central Serengeti holds resident game in every month. The Seronera river keeps water when the seasonal drainage lines have stopped, which supports a resident prey base and one of the densest big-cat populations in Africa regardless of where the migration is.

Lake Manyara and Arusha National Park both work year-round, with the balance shifting from birds in the wet season to general game in the dry.

Tarangire is the exception and swings hardest: excellent from July to October, much weaker outside it.

So if your dates can't move, build the trip around the crater and the central Serengeti and it will work.

A dusty herd of wildebeest moving across a dry plain.
Practical

Booking windows through the year

Availability, not weather, usually forces a decision, and it moves through the year in a predictable way.

Christmas and New Year fill first and carry the highest rates of the year across the whole circuit.

February at Ndutu fills next, roughly twelve months ahead, because the calving concentrates everybody into the same fortnight and the good mobile camps are small.

August and September in the northern Serengeti fill on the same timescale, for the same reason.

June and July fill several months out. October is easier.

April, May and November have availability much later and rates fall much. If you can travel then, that's where the value is, and on a longer itinerary the green-season weather is far less damaging than it sounds.

Balloon flights over the Serengeti have limited capacity and sell out in the high season, so book them with the camps, not on arrival.

If your dates have any flexibility, ask what's available before fixing the route. Camp position affects your game viewing more than most other variables.

A dense column of wildebeest pressed along a steep riverbank.
Practical

What the seasons mean for prices

Rates on the northern circuit move in three broad bands and the differences are substantial.

High season runs roughly June to October, plus Christmas and New Year. Camps charge their peak rates, the good ones fill months ahead, and the parks carry the most vehicles of the year.

Shoulder season covers much of December to March. Rates are lower than peak, the Ndutu camps in February are the exception and price accordingly, and conditions are green and photogenic.

Low season is April and May, and rates fall sharply, often by a third or more. Some camps close entirely and the western roads can be difficult, but the parks are close to empty.

November sits between shoulder and low, and is consistently the best value good month of the year.

Park fees don't move with the season. They are set per person per day by TANAPA and the NCAA and are the same in May as in August, which is why a low-season saving is smaller in percentage terms than the accommodation discount suggests.

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