Visit Serengeti
EN
Where to stay

Month by month

Serengeti in March

March is the hinge of the Serengeti year. The long rains begin, the herds are still on the southern plains in most years, and prices start to fall, first at the lodges and then, from 15 March, at the gate.

If you only want the answer

March is good value in the first half and increasingly wet in the second. The model gives 29.0°C days and 128 mm of rain over 16 days. The herds are usually still on the southern plains, TANAPA's conservation fee drops from US$82.60 to US$70.80 on 15 March, and the seasonal camps at Ndutu close on 31 March.

Serengeti weather in March: the long rains begin

The model gives March 29.0°C by day, 17.7°C at night and 128 mm of rain over 16 days, a clear step up from February's 90 mm. Measured rainfall in the north and north-west is higher than the model, so expect a wetter month there. Monthly rainfall from the model is approximate.

After heavy rain the black-cotton tracks of the south and west become heavy going and some close. If you are driving in from Arusha this month, build spare time into the day.

Where the herds are in March

In most years the herds are still on the southern plains in March, starting to disperse west late in the month. TAWIRI's aerial census of 28 to 31 March 2023 counted 1,571,960 wildebeest, most of them on the southern short-grass plains, with high concentrations in the north-western Ngorongoro area.

The camps that follow the herds start to fold. Asilia's Ubuntu Migration Camp leaves its southern site at Kusini in mid-March, and Lemala's Ndutu camp and Asilia's Olakira close at Ndutu on 31 March. From April, the seasonal camps are dark until June.

The fee and rates fall

On 15 March TANAPA's conservation fee drops to its low-season rate of US$60 plus VAT, US$70.80 per adult per 24 hours, until 15 May. The concession fee for lodge guests stays at its low rate of US$50 plus VAT (US$59) per night, as it has been since October.

Lodge rates slide too. Lemala Ewanjan in the Seronera valley and Lemala Nanyukie in the east move to their low seasons on 1 March 2027, at US$305 and US$585 per person sharing. Elewana's Serengeti Pioneer Camp near the Moru Kopjes charges its mid rate of US$825 in March, down from US$1,020 in February. Asilia's Sayari Camp in the north stays on its secret-season rate of US$1,030 to 31 March, then closes for April and May.

Sources