Best Time to Visit: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda & Zanzibar

Tanzania at a glance

• Dry season, late June to October: the best months for wildlife. Vegetation thins out and animals gather around rivers and waterholes. Skies are clear, there are few mosquitoes, and mornings and evenings are cool.
• Short rains, November to December: brief afternoon showers, green plains and good game viewing at lower prices.
• Calving season, late January to February: hundreds of thousands of wildebeest give birth on the southern Serengeti and Ndutu plains, and predators follow.
• Long rains, March to May: the wettest months. Some roads become muddy and a few camps close, but the parks are quiet and beautiful and lodge rates are at their lowest.

The northern circuit parks (Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara and Arusha National Park) are good all year round. Tarangire is the exception: it is at its best in the dry season, when elephants and other large animals crowd its river, and many of them move out into the wider ecosystem in the rains.

The Great Migration month by month

The herds follow the rain, so timings move by a few weeks each year. We place your camps where the herds are expected for your dates.

Southern and western Tanzania

Nyerere (Selous), Ruaha, Mikumi, Katavi, Mahale and Gombe are best from June to October. These parks never feel crowded, even in the high season. Mahale and Gombe chimpanzees can be tracked all year, but forest trails are easier in the dry months.

Kenya

Kenya's main dry seasons are late June to October and January to February. The Mara River crossings usually take place between July and October. The long rains fall from March to May and the short rains in November.

Uganda

Gorilla and chimpanzee trekking runs all year. The driest months, June to September and December to February, make forest trails easier to walk. In the wetter months the forests are greener and permits are easier to find; Uganda also offers lower gorilla permit prices in some low-season months.

Zanzibar and the coast

The best beach weather is from June to October and from December to February: sunny, dry and warm. March to May brings the heaviest rain. Late October and November can see short showers, but there is still plenty of sunshine.

Climbing Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro can be climbed all year. The most popular and reliable months are January to mid-March and June to October. Read our Kilimanjaro guide for route-by-route advice.

High season, low season and crowds

June to September and the Christmas holidays are the busiest and most expensive times in the northern parks. Even then, most of the parks feel spacious; only the Ngorongoro Crater floor and central Serengeti (Seronera) get busy. April and May are the quietest and best-value months.