I went to the Serengeti for the first time as a child in April. My uncle was a professional guide and he took me along on a quiet week — there were three vehicles in the central park that day and one of them was ours. The light was extraordinary. The plains were the green you only see after rain. We sat with a leopard for forty minutes on a wet branch and watched her wash her face like a house cat. There were no other vehicles. There was no engine noise. Just the leopard and us and the dripping leaves.
I tell this story because I want you to understand that the green season — the months of March, April, and May, when Tanzania gets the long rains — is not the bad season. It is a specific season, and it suits a specific kind of trip. If you have flexibility, a tolerance for some weather, and an interest in not sharing every sighting with twenty other Land Cruisers, this is the season I'd send you in.
The reputation — and what's wrong with it
The standard advice is "don't go to Tanzania in April." Most operators repeat this without questioning it. The reasoning is correct in three parts and overstated in two.
Correct: it does rain in the green season. Some mobile camps close (or move to permanent locations) for two months. The dirt roads in the southern Serengeti turn to black-cotton mud that even Land Cruisers struggle with. Game viewing in some parks (Tarangire especially) drops because the herds disperse — water is everywhere now.
Overstated: the parks are unusable, the wildlife disappears, you'll get soaked all day. None of this is true in the way the marketing suggests. The rain comes in concentrated afternoon storms — usually 90 minutes to three hours of heavy rain between 2pm and 6pm, with clear mornings and clear evenings. You can get a full morning game drive in almost every day. The wildlife doesn't go anywhere; it just spreads out.
Here is what each month actually looks like.
March — the shoulder edge
Early March still feels like dry-shoulder season. The long rains haven't fully started. The calving on the southern plains is winding down but the calves are still small and the predator activity is still high. The herds are beginning to drift north-west toward the central Serengeti.
Mid-March is when the rain pattern starts to set in. Afternoon storms become regular. Lodge prices begin to drop — sometimes 20–25% off peak — but most camps are still fully staffed.
Late March is the wet edge. Roads start to get harder. Some camps close. Game viewing in Tarangire drops. Game viewing in the Serengeti is still good — the migration is moving through the central, predators are still on the herds — but mornings are humid and the light is heavy.
If you can flex your dates, the first two weeks of March are an excellent value window. Calving spillover, decent weather, lower prices. We send a meaningful number of repeat clients in this window.
April — the deep green
April is the wettest month of the year. It's also the cheapest, the quietest, and the most beautiful in a specific way.
The rain. Storm patterns build through the morning and break around 2 or 3pm. Most days have a 2–4 hour heavy rain window. Mornings are clear most of the time. Evenings clear up by sunset. We've also had three-day stretches where it rained continuously and we waited out the worst of it in camp.
The animals. Lions are still everywhere; they don't migrate. Elephants in Tarangire have dispersed into the bush so sightings drop there but herds still find the river. The wildebeest migration is in the central Serengeti, moving north-west. The grass is high and the cats are harder to spot but the herds themselves are visually striking against the green.
The light. This is the photographic argument. April skies are dramatic — towering thunderheads, broken light, rainbows. Photographers who care about light over animal count often choose April specifically. The Tanzanian photo workshops we work with run in March and November because those are the best months for skies; April is right behind.
The camps. Maybe a third of the permanent camps close or run skeleton operations. The premium camps stay open. The budget mobile camps usually pull out. What's left are the mid-range and premium permanent properties at 30–40% discount. We had clients last April in a $620-per-night premium tented camp for $400 per night.
The crowds. There are no crowds. Some sightings will have your vehicle alone for the whole hour. We have driven for two hours without seeing another vehicle in the central Serengeti in April. The contrast with August is significant.
Who should go in April: photographers, repeat visitors, value travellers with date flexibility, and couples who want the parks to themselves. Who shouldn't: first-timers who haven't built any flexibility into the trip, anyone allergic to wet boots, and parties on a tight 5-day window where one washed-out drive ruins the math.
May — the underrated month
May is the secret. The long rains taper off through the month and by late May the country is at its greenest with the weather mostly behaving. Discounts still apply through about May 20th, after which peak-season pricing returns at most camps.
Early May still has the April pattern — afternoon storms, lush green, quiet parks. Mid-May the rain starts to ease. By late May we're effectively in dry season again but with the green still in the grass and the discounts still on offer.
The migration is moving up through the central Serengeti and into the Western Corridor. June crossings at the Grumeti River are starting to look possible. Wildlife in Tarangire is starting to converge on the river again. Lions are easier to spot as the grass dries.
May is the month I'd send first-time visitors who want value and don't have peak-season dates on offer. The risk of weather affecting your trip is real but lower than April. The crowds are a fraction of June onwards. The light is gorgeous.
The best-time-to-visit-tanzania post and the when-to-go travel guide both go deeper on the monthly pattern.
What the discounts actually look like
Concrete numbers from our 2026 contracts.
A mid-range tented camp in the central Serengeti runs $480 per person per night in August. The same camp in April runs $290 per person per night. A 6-night safari at this tier comes to around $5,200 in August versus $3,700 in April — a difference of $1,500 per person, or $3,000 for two.
A premium camp at $850 per person per night peak runs at $550–620 in April. A 6-night premium safari falls from $9,000 per person to around $6,200.
The bush flight pricing doesn't move (operators run regardless). Park fees don't move. The vehicle, fuel, and guide cost is roughly the same. What moves is the lodging line — which is the largest line.
The honest discount on a green-season safari is 30–40% off peak, almost entirely in the accommodation. We've written more about where each dollar goes in the cost breakdown post.
Who it suits and who it doesn't
Five filter questions.
Are you flexible on dates? If yes, green season is on the table. If your dates are fixed in March–May and you don't want green season, switch the trip.
Is this your first safari? First-timers can do green season but should not do peak-rains April unless they have flexibility built in. May is the better first-timer option.
How important are river crossings? If you must see a Mara crossing, green season is wrong — the herds are nowhere near the river. Book August or early September.
How important is photography? Green season is the best photographic season in our view. Dramatic skies, soft light, lush colour, no crowds. If you came for the photographs, this is your window.
How tolerant are you of weather affecting plans? If a rained-out afternoon would ruin your morale, skip April. If you'd open the bottle of wine and read a book on the deck while it rained, April is fine.
We send maybe 8% of our trips in green season. We'd send more if the marketing wasn't so heavily set against it. The plan-my-safari page is the place to start if you want to talk through whether green works for your trip. I usually answer those queries personally — green-season trips are some of my favourite to plan.
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