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Serengeti in December

December is two months in one. Until about the 19th it is a quiet, green, low-season month with the herds arriving on the southern plains; from the 20th the festive peak starts, and rates jump at the southern camps and across the park.

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December is good in the south, especially early in the month for value. The model gives 26.7°C days and 144 mm of rain over 20 days, level with April as the wettest month. The herds are back on the southern plains, the mobile camps reopen in the south on 1 December, and rates are low to 19 December, then at festive peak from 20 December. Book the Christmas fortnight early.

Serengeti weather in December: one of the two wettest months

The model gives December 26.7°C by day, the coolest daytime figure of the year, 17.2°C at night and 144 mm of rain over 20 days, level with April as the wettest month. Measured records put the short rains in November and December. Monthly rainfall from the model is approximate.

The black-cotton soils around Ndutu and in the Western Corridor become sticky after rain, so road transfers can take longer than planned. Lodges at Ndutu and in the south are best reached by air: Coastal Aviation flies from Arusha to Serengeti South for US$343 one way plus US$32 taxes.

The herds back on the southern plains

By December the herds are back on the southern plains and around Ndutu, where they stay until about March and calve in February. The mobile camps follow them: Lemala's Ndutu camp and Asilia's Olakira reopen at Ndutu, in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, on 1 December, and Asilia's Ubuntu reopens at Kusini, inside the park, in mid-December.

Serengeti Balloon Safaris starts its Ndutu-area flights on 20 December and runs them to 31 March. Migrant birds from Europe are present, and the plains are green.

Low rates to the 19th, then the festive peak

Early December is one of the best-value times of the year. Lemala Ewanjan charges its low rate of US$305 per person sharing and Lemala's Ndutu camp US$330 until 19 December; Asilia's Olakira is at US$1,100 and Sayari at US$1,030. Wilderness's Usawa camp, with park fees included, is at US$1,045 until 15 December.

From 20 December everything changes. Lemala's Ndutu camp goes to US$825, Ewanjan to US$595, Asilia's Sayari to US$2,250 and Namiri Plains to US$2,250, and Elewana's camps move to high season to 3 January. TANAPA names December to February as a peak visitor period, so book the Christmas and New Year fortnight months ahead and pay park fees online to avoid queues at the gates.

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