BEST TIME TO VISIT TANZANIA
This article with help you to discover the Best Time to Visit Tanzania. The good wildlife viewing months in Tanzania safari are during the dry season which is June to October. The wet season is divided in two rain seasons which are short rains (heavy rains that don’t last long) in November and December and long rains (light rains but for many hours) in March, April and May. Although January and February months fall on the wet season period, there is usually very light to no rains at all during these two months. Since it wet and the grass is green and short, lots of young ones are born making these two months the best time to see most wildlife with highest chances to see predators hunting. At this period, the famous great migration (estimated to be 1.8 million wildebeests and 700,000 zebras) are in South East Serengeti/North west Ngorongoro. This area with calcareous grass which is extremely dry in the dry season turns green just after the short rains and that attracts the great migration to go and deliver their young ones in the area. The Thompsons gazelles and Grants gazelles are also in the area dropping their young ones, so predators have plenty of preys to hunt. Cheetahs, prides of lions, big clans of hyenas, jackals, vultures and other carnivorous animals are in the area taking advantage of this grace period.
Anybody who wants to see or photograph animals in actions like predators hunting, young animals being born and others, this is the best time to come and they should spend at least 3 to 4 nights in Ndutu (a very special place where off-road driving is permitted) to see these adventures. Nature can sometimes seem rude (on the real sense it is not), so get prepared to see animals dying for the sake of survival of other animals.
The great migration wonder in the area until May which is the end of the rains in the Serengeti and soon the tasty and nutritious grass will turn dry and there will also be no water to drink. This is the time to leave this area and cross the central Serengeti in to get to the Western Serengeti in June. Lying on the shores of Lake Victoria, Western Serengeti remains green a little longer that the central and southern part. Although with plenty of crocodiles that are dangerous for these innocent wildebeests and zebras, the Grumeti river is the main source of drinking water for the migration while in the Western Serengeti. The big cats are also around killing more than what they can eat and hence abandoning lots of carcasses which are consumed by the scavengers. This is not a very big area, so the migration hang around here only for the month of June. During this month they will be mating so as to have new young ones the following February (8 months later)
This is the best time to see the great migration mating, Grumeti river crossing (chances to see crocodiles attacking in Grumeti river are not as high as in the Mara river). It is always exciting to see this huge number of animals moving together (you may stay watching them crossing the road for more than an hour)
In July the migration is approaching the Mara river, ready to cross this big river where lots of them fall preys to crocodiles, on their way to Maasai Mara reserve in Kenya. Here the crocodiles work as the immigration officers and anybody without a visa to the destination they are going must remain in the river. It is a pity that because of being nervous while crossing this dangerous river, many wildebeests simply jump on each other and kill each other. Most of these animalscross to go to the Mara during the last week of July and the first week of August. Since Maasai Mara is a small place for these millions of animals, a few of them will now and then cross to come back to Serengeti and cross to go to Maasai Mara until the last week of September and first week of October when the main group will cross again to come back to the Serengeti. They will move slowly to get to the Southern Serengeti after the short rains that start in November.
Anyone who wants to see or photograph the Mara river crossing, this is the best time to come.