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Month by month

Serengeti in September

September keeps August's crossings with a little more heat and, towards the end, a little less pressure. It is also the last month of TANAPA's peak concession fee and of high season at most camps in the centre.

If you only want the answer

September is prime: the model gives 30.7°C days and 13 mm of rain over 4 days. The Mara River crossings continue in the north, and short grass makes Seronera's resident lions, leopards and cheetahs easy to find. High season ends on 30 September at Lemala, Dunia and Namiri Plains, and TANAPA's concession fee drops on 1 October.

Serengeti weather in September: warming up

The model gives September 30.7°C by day, 18.0°C at night and 13 mm of rain over 4 days. The model runs slightly warm by day in September and October, and measured nights are cooler, around 13 to 16°C, but the trend is real: the park warms through the month ahead of October, its hottest. Monthly rainfall from the model is approximate.

Dust is the main weather problem. Bring a scarf or buff for open vehicles and a cover for camera gear on the long drives between Seronera and the north.

Crossings in the north, cats in the centre

The Mara River crossings continue through September in the north, with the same rules as in July and August: designated crossing points only, a maximum number of vehicles per point and no leaving the vehicle. Crowds are still high in the north.

The centre is at its best for resident predators now, because the grass is short. The Seronera river valley, with its sausage and fever trees, is the classic leopard area, and a camera-trap study there measured about 5.4 leopards per 100 km² in the dry season. If the north is fully booked, a few days at Seronera in September is no consolation prize.

The river the migration depends on

September is when you see why the Mara matters. UNESCO and TANAPA both stress that it is the only perennial river that can sustain the herds through the dry season, and TANAPA's 2024 crossing guideline warns that if it dried up, about 500,000 wildebeest would likely die in the first year. Dams and deforestation upstream in Kenya are the threat it names.

Rates stay high to the end of the month. Lemala Ewanjan charges US$595 per person sharing until 30 September, Asilia's Dunia Camp US$1,200, and TANAPA's peak concession fee of US$70.80 per adult per night runs to the same date. From 1 October the concession fee drops to US$59 and Lemala moves to its mid season, so a trip that straddles the two months saves on the second half.

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