When to go to the Selous Game Reserve

Best Time To Go To The Selous | When To Go To The Selous Game Reserve

When going on holiday to Tanzania the chances are the aim of the trip is to either go for a safari, or to the beach or both. As a general rule of thumb, the best time to be in Tanzania on safari is in the dry season from July – October when the weather is dry and sunny. As the parks dry out, the bushes become less dense and the animals are easier to spot because of this, but also because they are forced to congregate to the remaining water holes. There are short rains in November (which sometimes trickle through into December, January and March) before the long rains which come in April and May. The Selous can be particularly wet in the rainy months…

The Selous temperatures are generally late 20’s and early 30’s all year round. It can get quite humid in the build up to the rains out of Tanzania’s winter (the dry season of June – September). You should avoid the Selous in April and May as the long rains hit Tanzania. A lot of the camps close at the middle to the end of March because the tracks simply become inaccessible. The best time to go to avoid rain and get the best wildlife viewing is from June – October when the animals congregate to waterholes, and the bush isn’t so dense to they are easier to spot. If you don’t want to pay high season rates and don’t mind being showered on though, you can also look at the period from November – February, though it may well rain on you and the wildlife simply isn’t as prominent. There really isn’t much break from the rains in between the “short” November rains and the heavy April and May ones. What begins as short showers in November increases to longer and longer ones throughout December, January, February and March before the long rains really kick off…. The Selous in dry season is all in all the best idea!