Best Time to Go on Safari

The single most common question we receive is: when is the best time to go on safari? The honest answer is that there is no universally best time. The right time depends on where you want to go, what you want to see and how you want to experience it.

East Africa has no true "off season." Every month in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania delivers something remarkable. The question is matching your priorities to the conditions. This guide explains exactly how to do that.

East Africa broadly has two dry seasons and two wet seasons annually, though the exact timing varies by country and by altitude.

The Long Dry Season: June to October

This is the most popular safari period across all five countries. In Uganda and Rwanda it means firmer forest paths for gorilla trekking, better road conditions and clearer skies. In Kenya and Tanzania it coincides with the peak of the Great Migration river crossings in the Masai Mara and Northern Serengeti (July to October). Wildlife concentrates around water sources, grass is short and game viewing is reliably excellent.

Best for: Gorilla trekking, Great Migration river crossings, general game viewing, photography, families travelling in school holidays.

The Short Dry Season: December to February

Often overlooked by first-time travellers, this is one of the finest windows across East Africa. Gorilla trekking in Uganda and Rwanda is excellent. Kenya and Tanzania offer spectacular predator viewing with far fewer visitors than peak season. Tanzania's southern Serengeti calving season (January to March) delivers some of the most dramatic wildlife spectacles anywhere on earth.

Best for: Gorilla trekking, Tanzania calving season, predator viewing, value.

The Wet Seasons: March to May and October to November

The wet seasons have an undeserved bad reputation. Yes, some roads are muddy. But the forests are lush and green, gorilla encounters are just as extraordinary, lodge prices drop 20 to 40 percent and crowds thin dramatically. The light for photography is often exceptional.

Best for: Budget-conscious travellers, photographers, birdwatchers, those who prefer solitude.

Gorilla trekking runs year-round in both Uganda and Rwanda. The gorillas are habituated to humans and do not migrate or hibernate. They simply range within their defined territory regardless of the season.

The dry seasons (June to September, December to February) are generally preferred because forest paths are firmer, the trek is less physically demanding and the surrounding landscape is drier and easier to move through. The wet season delivers the same extraordinary gorilla encounter in a more lush, atmospheric forest.

In Uganda, the best months for combining gorilla trekking with wildlife in Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls are June to September, when the dry conditions concentrate animals and produce excellent game viewing across the full circuit.

The Great Wildebeest Migration is a continuous year-round movement with different highlights at different times of year.

• —January to March: Calving season in Tanzania's southern Serengeti (Ndutu). Up to 8,000 wildebeest born daily. Extraordinary predator concentration. Highly underrated window.
• —April to June: Northward movement through the Serengeti Western Corridor. Grumeti River crossings. Lush green landscape.
• —July to October: The famous Mara River crossings straddling Kenya and Tanzania. Peak crossing season in August and September.
• —November to December: Southbound return to the Serengeti. Quieter season with excellent game viewing and lower prices.

East Africa is a globally significant birding destination. Uganda alone holds 1,061 bird species. The best birding is during the wet seasons when Palearctic migrants (birds from Europe and Asia) join the resident species. October to April is generally the most productive period across all five destinations.

November is considered by many ornithologists to be the single best month for birding in Uganda, when both resident species and migratory visitors are present in maximum numbers.

If budget and solitude are priorities, the green season months (April to May and October to November) offer compelling advantages. Lodge rates across all five countries drop 20 to 40 percent. Gorilla permits remain the same price year-round. Roads are quieter. Trails are emptier. The wildlife experience is equally extraordinary and the landscape is at its most lush.

January and February also offer excellent value in Uganda and Rwanda, dry weather, fewer visitors than the June to September peak, and accommodation at moderate rather than peak pricing.