What's the best time of year to go on a Safari Holiday?
There is one question I am asked more than almost any other around safari holidays and it is a tricky one to answer...
“When is the best time to go on safari?”
And I am not trying to be difficult when I answer that there isn’t one!
The ‘best’ time really does come down to what you want from your own trip. I know you might find it easier if I just said, “Book October and be done with it.” But then I wouldn’t really be offering you all of the expertise that I could. Understanding what you actually want to experience makes all the difference between a ‘nice’ holiday and a life-changing one.
So, is ‘peak’ season best?
Nope, peak does not automatically mean best.
For years, safaris have been sold on a sliding scale. Peak season at the very top, shoulder season in the middle, and green season sitting at the bottom. Simple, right? No, not quite. Peak season just reflects demand. It is when the most people want to travel, usually because it lines up neatly with school holidays and the promise of the famous river crossings. But the massive demand at peak season does not automatically make it the right trip for you. It simply makes it the busiest, probably the most costly, and the first to be booked up, often 12 to 18 months ahead.
Here is what I tell my clients: when it comes to East Africa, there is no bad time to visit Kenya or Tanzania. There is only the wrong time for what you are hoping to see. Every season is fantastic, but each will show you a completely different side of the wild. And if you look further south to South Africa, the seasons flip again, with crisp winter bush from May to September and glorious summer sunshine in Cape Town from November to March.
What to expect across the year:
July to October: The Classic Dry Season. The Great Migration reaches the northern Serengeti and the Masai Mara. If timing and luck are on your side, you might witness the river crossings that leave you holding your breath. The bush is thin, water sources dry up, and animals gather in huge numbers, making game viewing reliable and dramatic. It is also when the camps are busiest and most vehicles are out.
January to March: Calving Season. I personally think this is one of the most underrated windows of the lot. Down on the short-grass plains around Ndutu and the southern Serengeti, thousands of wildebeest calves are born every single day. Where there are newborns, the big cats follow, so the predator action is relentless (that is life in the bush, after all). You will get open horizons, far fewer vehicles, and more intimate sightings. If your heart is set on river crossings, this is not your time to go. But if you want raw, unfiltered wildness, this is hard to beat.
June and November to Mid-December: The Shoulder Months. Wildlife viewing stays brilliant, the landscapes are lush, and there are far fewer people around. November usually brings the ‘short rains’, but they tend to arrive late in the afternoon or overnight, deliver a short, sharp burst of rain, and then clear off. You will get space, privacy, and some of the most exclusive lodges at their absolute quietest.
April and May: The Green Season. This is the time of the ‘long rains’, and your safari will almost certainly involve a downpour or two. In green season, some camps even close for a quick spruce-up. These months are definitely not for everyone, which is precisely why they reward the right traveller so well. The moody skies and bright-green plains are a photographer's dream, the birdlife is extraordinary, and you will often have vast stretches of the wild entirely to yourself.
So, when planning a safari, start with how you want it to feel and what you want to see. Do not start with the calendar.
The couple desperate to witness a dramatic river crossing need something entirely different from the family who want quiet plains and baby animals, or someone after a relaxed South African bush-and-beach combination. They should be booking completely different trips, at completely different times of the year.
Matching your vision to the right country, the right camp, and the right season is the hardest part to get right on your own, and it is the part of my job I love the most, so just tell me what you are picturing, and I will build the whole adventure around you.
