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Serengeti in February

February is the month the Serengeti is famous for in the south. The calving peaks on the short-grass plains, the predators follow, and the busiest corner of the ecosystem is around Naabi and Ndutu while the rest of the park stays quiet.

If you only want the answer

February is the calving peak: TANAPA says four-fifths of the more than 250,000 wildebeest calves born each year arrive within a few weeks around mid-February, at 8,000 to 12,000 births a day. The model gives 28.8°C days and 90 mm of rain over 14 days. Base yourself on the southern plains or at Ndutu, and expect southern camps at high-season rates while the north is on low rates.

Serengeti weather in February

The model gives February 28.8°C by day, 17.5°C at night and 90 mm of rain over 14 days. Like January, February falls in the drier spell between the short and long rains, but it is never truly dry, and the plains stay green. Measured nights are cooler than the model, about 13 to 16°C. Monthly rainfall from the model is approximate.

This is the month the climate verdict undersells. On rainfall alone February is a shoulder month, but for the southern Serengeti it is a peak, with peak rates in the south to match.

The calving peak on the short-grass plains

TANAPA's crossing guideline gives the numbers: more than 250,000 calves are born each year, four-fifths of them within a few weeks on the short-grass plains in mid-February, at 8,000 to 12,000 births a day. About 70,000 calves die each year, and about half survive to adulthood. The calving grounds lie between Naabi gate and the Ngorongoro highlands, so the herds straddle the park boundary.

This is the best month for predator action on the plains. Lions, cheetahs and spotted hyaenas hunt among the herds, and a 2015 survey on the south-eastern plains measured 14.36 lions per 100 km². Asilia's Ubuntu Migration Camp sits at Kusini inside the park from mid-December to mid-March, a 90-minute drive from the Serengeti South airstrip; the Ndutu camps are in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where NCAA charges US$70.80 entry and US$59 concession per adult per night.

Book early for the south, cheaply for the north

TANAPA names December to February as one of its two peak visitor periods and advises booking park fees online through its reservation system to avoid queues at the gates. Southern camps are on high rates: Ubuntu charges US$1,080 per person until 28 February, and Namiri Plains in the east US$2,250.

The north is the bargain. Lemala Kuria Hills is on its low rate of US$520 until 28 February 2027, and Lemala Ewanjan in the Seronera valley on its mid rate of US$427. If you split a trip between Seronera and the south, the Coastal Aviation flight from Arusha to Serengeti South costs US$343 one way plus US$32 in taxes.

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