<b>What's a good time of the year for Southern Serengeti? April/May?</b>

Hari, in theory (but rarely this precise in practice) Tanzania has a long dry period from June - October, then a &quot;short rainy season&quot; November - December, then &quot;short dry season&quot; January - mid-March, then &quot;long rains&quot; April and May. This is when the really torrential rains blow in.

The &quot;short rains&quot; in Nov - Dec in theory cause the short grass to sprout on the Serengeti and the zebra and wildebeest herds are (or should be) there in big numbers starting in January.

You can look at my trip reports from April 06 and January 06 and 07 to see what we found ... April was really wet, with some areas closed off, but rates were lower and there were many fewer people. January was better for us.

For my tastes mid-January thru say mid-March is the ideal time in south Serengeti (and also good at Manyara, Ngorongoro crater and central Serengeti, but not Tarangire so much, which shines during the dry season).

Note that you never know when the rains will come though ... in Jan 2006 there had been little rain and the plains were brown and dry, with no big concentrations of wildebeest/zebra, but in Jan 2007 it was much wetter than normal, with record rains in December. This meant everything was very green and beautiful and twice we got into the great herds of the migration, plus all the cats etc. But just two weeks before we got there they had a lot of flooding and stuck jeeps (and a few weeks after we left more flooding) so there's a bit of luck in hitting the sweet spot. I think we had to put the roof up on the jeep twice for 20 minutes in 12 days, so we had ideal weather

Ideally you could be there when the wildebeest are calving, which is typically during the period mentioned.

<b>Ndutu should have cheetah action Feb/March?</b>

Yes, January, February and March should be excellent because of all the gazelles. It's much easier to see the cheetahs on the open plains. Ndutu area (both in the NCA and the Serengeti) and also Gol Kopjes in Serengeti (about an hour drive from Ndutu). Ndutu Lodge seems to book solid for this period a year in advance but the tented camps (which I think you prefer) nearby seem to be easier to book.

Maybe we'll see you there, we are going mid-to-late February next year, trying to catch more of the wildebeest birthing.

Bill

<b>What's a good time of the year for Southern Serengeti? April/May?

Ndutu should have cheetah action Feb/March?</b>

Hari, just a couple more data points on this, since there seems to be some disagreement about cheetah sightings in Tanzania ...

Here's a report by Joe McDonald of a trip to this area Jan 22 - Feb 5, 2005. He and his wife are famous US nature photographers who lead tours to Kenya and occasionally Tz and they spent a lot of this trip near Ndutu.

They saw 212 lions and 31 cheetahs (but were seemingly more impressed by filming a couple of wildebeest births), which is more than we saw this past January (170 lions, 20 cheetahs for us).

http://www.hoothollow.com/Tanzania%2...Report%20.html

Also, the professional photographers who set up our first trip in 2006 told me that in 2005 at Ndutu, when it was much greener than in 2006, they saw 18 cheetahs around Ndutu (we only saw 6 or 7 in 2006 - I think 6 at Ndutu and one in Ngorongoro crater).

Also, Andy Biggs, who runs photo tours to Tz, posted a report on his January &amp; February trips (maybe I saw this on his blog) and although his groups spend a lot of time on landscapes and people they also saw a lot of cheetahs, I forget the number but 13 or 15 or 18, something like that, on a shorter trip than ours.

So this is the right place at the right time, especially if they had the right rains in December to green it up a bit. On our best morning game drive we saw 8 cheetahs, on another morning six and another morning drive five, so I feel they are available if you go searching specifically for them.

Bill

I just want to add my support to Bill's comments about cheetah and off-roading in the Serengeti!

I have links to several blog photographs of safaris by clients since January 2007 until recent. Cannot post these due to advertizing rules but rest assured they have picture after picture of cheetah!

I don't know how we came to a conclusion that Tanzania is not good for cheetah. I will leave it at that.

Off-roading is generally disallowed but the Serengeti has 5 blocks designated as low-use. Each year, SENAPA declares certain parts for off-road usage. I am not prepared to share the details here - your safari planner should know the details; if not then change outfitters!

Even in designated areas, off-roading is prohibited after rains and only radio-equipped 4x4's are allowed.

Thanks, Bill H and Eben. I was at Grumeti River Lodge/camp, TUC and Crater Lodge all this year for 9 nights of safari. We were driven one day to the Seronera area too and still no off-roading allowed for us. I can only speak of my own experience which was none of them would drive off-road and all explained that to us. And then we saw only the one cheetah in the distance, in the grass, in the crater. I think perhaps the message might be to ask your outfitter to be certain you will be in the areas where you are allowed to drive off-road then.

It was frustrating to have to get out the binoculars and still barely be able to see an eye and an ear in the far far distance whereas other countries we could be right next to cats. Now I see it may depend heavily on your outfitter and where they take you.

Clem

That explains it - you were in a High Use Zone for 9 days! No off-roading.

There is a substantial Low Use Zone in the Western Serengeti but the tsetses are bothersome and wildlife too spotty!

And you were not in the best areas for cheetah although Seronera has a fair number of cheetah families!

Eben, I wanted to thank you again for your comments here about the transfers in Tanzania. You were absolutely right and you saved us from missing our connection! I have some room photos if you need them, but you may already have these covered.

Bill H and Eben.....thanks for all the detailed information!!!

Bill: having read this....i will 100% do Serengeti in 2009.

Thanks
Hari

I echo Hari's thanks to you both, Bill and Eben. As always, very valuable information for us to consider when planning an itinerary.

Hari, I'm so pleased to hear you'll be doing the Serengeti in 2009! My hope is to go in the green season in '09, but that'll be a quick turn around after my July 2008 trip. I'm not sure how to swing it, but that's the plan.

I have found that planning properly for Tanzania has a lot more of these naunces and really requires a knowledgeable operator. This is one reason I have previously done all southern Africa trips where the quality was easier to ensure and I knew I could have the things I wanted like off road driving, crowd avoidance, and open sided vehicles.

Working with Kiliwarriors I have found the same things can be delivered on the northern circuit of Tanzania but only by having a great operator that knows all the rules, locations, and strategies. I'm very excited for my first Tanzania trip in February where we can hopefully see the calving, migration, cheetah, etc. and enjoy the benefits of off-road driving.