The Northern Circuit Parks, including Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, Tarangire, Arusha and Kilimanjaro offer some of the most exhilarating safaris in the premier wildernesses of Tanzania. They can be visited all the year round but get heaving at peak times. Millions of wildebeest, zebra and other ungulates, brave predators and swollen rivers, drought and exhaustion on their annual Great Migration, followings the rains from their mass calving in southern Ndutu from December onwards, and baby drops peaking by February in a three week birthing marathon, to the distant northern Mara River from July to October.

During the other months from March to June, you can also follow their epic journey through south central to western Serengeti and then north where the cross over to the Masai Mara in Kenya. Up Hill Treks can arrange an unforgettable wildebeest migration vacation in northern Tanzania for you to coincide with their passage. Predators and herbivores are easier to track and spot during the dry season from June to October when they gather at permanent water sources and when the vegetation is sparsest. November to May coincides with the two wet climatic seasons in Tanzania (short and long rains) but is best time to go to Lake Manyara and Tarangire for birding trips, but not canoeing on the Momella Lakes unless you do not mind getting drenched while kayak gliding on the alkaline lake.

January and February is the clearest time to see the glistening peak of Mount Kilimanjaro and acclimatize yourself by climbing Mount Meru with Uhuru Trails by Up Hill Treks before tackling the highest African mountain and the world highest free standing mountain. The weather during this time is also humidly hot and partly dry with pockets of short rain showers in January and February that started in November, or from July to September when it is dry, but colder to climb. January and February, or July to October are most popular Kilimanjaro trekking months but also on days of the full moon. Tarangire teems with migratory wildlife including elephants from June to October when the primary river is the only source of water since the surrounding waterholes have dried out.

Selous and Ruaha are isolated Southern Circuit Parks which are rarely busy compared to the northern parks, but game viewing is better in the dry from late June or early July to October as the foliage is less dense and congregating wildlife arrive at central water sources. Many lodges close in the wet during from middle of March to end of May. Mikumi is more easily accessible all year round. From December to March, it gets hot and humid, especially in less crowded parks in southern and western Tanzania, but the finest time to trek the mountains in pursuit of chimpanzees in the Western Circuit Parks of Gombe and Mahale is during the dry season, that initiates from late May to early October but peaking to the best in the months of June to September. This is also a superb time to spend time on the beach and in the waters of Lake Tanganyika or on a fishing tour around Rubondo Island in Lake Victoria from July onwards.

Remote Katavi presents its most impressive dramas in the driest, from August to October, when crocs and hippos battle for cooling mud in shrinking rivers. Kitulo, the Garden of God, riots with wild flowers between December and May. Coastal Sadaani in the east is great in January and February after the short rains, or from June to August, when wildlife stays in the park. Mkomazi is best for large mammals in July and August, although its avian beauty is at its height from March to June. The Tanzania east coast of Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo, Kilwa and the off-shore islands of Zanzibar, Mafia, Pemba, Fanjove, Lazy Lagoon, Mnemba, Chumbe and Chapwani offers year-round warmth and humidity tempered by Indian Ocean breezes and monsoons along with similar wet spring seasons in November and December (short rains) while middle of March to early June welcomes the awaited long rains. The beach shores of Tanzania set a rich enlightenment experience to many historical sites including UNESCO World Heritage Sites like Stone Town and Ruins of Kilwa punctuated by cultural festival like Sauti za Busara in February or the Zanzibar Film Festival in June. The safari-cum-beach holiday choices and logistics are complex, but Up Hill Treks can make it simple and hassle free by guiding you through the best travel season experiences in pursuit of your African dreams in Tanzania.