The best time to visit Serengeti

The Serengeti is chosen not by weather but by where the herds are: the park is so large that in a given month the migration can be six hours' drive from your camp. The dry season from June to October gives the river crossings in the north, February gives newborns and predators in the south, and April and May give rain and the lowest prices.

The migration is a circle that runs for a lifetime and never stops: the wildebeest calve in the south, move west, cross to the north, then come back. Below is where they are in each month — and what you see if you arrive at the wrong end of the park.

The herds are along the Mara river in the north and cross it at a few known places, with crocodiles waiting. A crossing cannot be ordered: you wait for hours on the bank with the engine off, and sometimes in three days it does not happen once. The northern camps are far and expensive, but there are far fewer vehicles than on the Kenyan side of the same river. The weather is dry and the mornings cold.

The herds are on the short grass of the south, around Ndutu, and calve within three weeks in late January and February, with lions, hyenas and cheetahs waiting. It is the best predator viewing of the year and, for anyone who has already seen a river crossing, the stronger spectacle. Part of Ndutu lies outside the park boundary and is charged differently — ask what is included.

The long rains: downpours every afternoon, mud, tracks that close and vehicles that get stuck. It is also the month the herds leave the south for the west, along the Grumeti river, so they are rarely gathered in one place. In exchange the park is green, empty and the cheapest of the year, with camps halving prices or closing. Not for a first safari; for a return visit and for photographers who want the park to themselves, yes.

Month by month

If you only get one — February — or September if a river crossing is the goal