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Month by month

Serengeti in May

May is the month the Serengeti turns from wet to dry. The long rains ease, the herds mass in the centre and the Western Corridor, and the last green-season rates of the year overlap with the return of the full park fee.

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May is a shoulder month, good in the Western Corridor and the centre. The model gives 28.0°C days and 42 mm of rain over 7 days, though the real figure is probably higher. Green-season lodge rates run to 31 May, but TANAPA's conservation fee goes back up from US$70.80 to US$82.60 on 16 May, and the tracks dry out towards the end of the month.

Serengeti weather in May: the rains ease

The model gives May 28.0°C by day, 17.5°C at night and 42 mm of rain over 7 days. That is probably too dry for the centre: TAWIRI's description of the measured climate puts the long rains from March into June, so treat May as a wet month that clears towards the end. Monthly rainfall from the model is approximate.

Roads improve through the month. The black-cotton tracks that were impassable in places in April start to dry out late in May, so a trip at the end of the month is easier on the road than one at the start.

The herds mass in the centre and west

In May the herds gather in the centre and the Western Corridor, along the Grumeti and Mbalageti rivers, on their way north. TANAPA's crossing guideline describes the rut, when about 300,000 females conceive in less than a month, though it does not name the month. Crowds are still low, so May is a good month to have the Western Corridor largely to yourself.

The camps of the Grumeti area reflect this. Singita's Sasakwa Lodge in the Grumeti reserve, just outside the park, starts its peak season on 16 May, earlier than anyone inside the park, because the Western Corridor is where the herds are from May to July.

The last cheap weeks, and a fee change mid-month

Green-season rates still apply to 31 May: Asilia's Dunia Camp from US$560 per person in 2026, Elewana's Serengeti Migration Camp at US$584 on full board, and Lemala Ewanjan at its low rate of US$305 to 31 May 2027. Wilderness's mobile Usawa camp charges from US$998 per person from 1 March to 31 May 2027, one of the few Serengeti rates that includes park fees.

The park fee does not wait for the lodges. TANAPA's conservation fee rises from US$70.80 to US$82.60 per adult per 24 hours on 16 May, so a trip in the first half of the month gets both the low fee and the low lodge rates. The concession fee for lodge guests stays at its low rate of US$59 per night, with VAT, until 30 June.

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