Many travellers ask when the best time to travel is, but this is not easily answered because different reserves have different peak seasons for game viewing, even within the same country, and because climate and game viewing conditions vary from year to year.

With that in mind, we’d say generally speaking, the dry months of July through October and mid-December through February are the best game viewing times in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), when shorter grasses make animals easier to find. An exception to this would be the Serengeti, where the migration of wildebeest and zebra occurs from November through June, centred around different sections of the reserve as the animals make their way north to Kenya’s Maasai Mara, where the migration generally peaks from July through August. Heavy annual rains fall from late-March through May in East Africa and are good for observing calving, and for fresh green appearance and dust-free conditions. Just after the rains, June and early December are beautifully green and dust free.

In Southern Africa (Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa), July through October is generally prime season, when animals flock to rivers and water holes in great concentrations. During the rainy season of November through March, animals are more dispersed among taller grass.