The best locations for safari in Africa in March

March is the last month of the green season in Botswana, meaning that the wildlife viewing conditions are improving fast, as the long grass starts to yellow and fall.

The experience is significantly different from the upcoming dry season, but not necessarily weaker. The bush is still more green than yellow and there’s still lots of wildflowers and baby animals around.

The uncomfortably high temperatures of the main green season should have subsided to very comfortable levels, with some chance of showers, but still with plenty of sunshine.

March is also the last month of the spectacular low season discounts in Botswana, which makes this an extremely smart time to be one safari. There’s little doubt that this represents the best value safari in Africa, very popular with savvy safari travellers, so do try to book at least 9-12 months ahead if you can.

The Cape (Cape Town, Whale Coast, Cape Winelands) has a converse seasonality to the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. It is late summer at this time, making it the perfect complement to a Botswana safari.

March is generally considered to be a more challenging time to visit Tanzania.

The weather in March is usually mixed and deteriorating. Some time during the month there should be a major change in the prevailing wind conditions, switching from northeast to southeast. With this change comes the onset of the main rains.

Because there’s usually some rain around in the preceding period and the landscape is therefore not so parched, the breaking of these rains is not usually such a dramatic event as the breaking of the short rains in November. But when they do come, the volume can be considerably greater. We are talking about potentially persistent heavy rains for days and even weeks at a time.

The early part of March is generally considered to be a risk worth taking, but the safari season does tail off significantly into the latter two weeks, meaning that the reserves become pleasantly quiet.

Down on the coast the situation is usually more pronounced, with rain tending to arrive slightly earlier and be rather heavier. Nevertheless there should be a good deal of hot sunny weather in between and daytime temperatures should still continue to reach 25-30C/77-86F in most areas.

Safari in Tanzania in March ranges from good to poor. For the early part of the month the conditions described in the previous month should still be prevailing, but, as the long rains start to move in, so the animals become increasingly scattered, the tracks become more slippery and wildlife viewing becomes more difficult.

The Serengeti migration should still be largely out on the southern plains, just starting to move north and coming into rut, but fewer and fewer people are willing to brave the potentially adverse conditions.

Conditions on Kilimanjaro are variable. With the weather starting to threaten. We tend to wind down our trekking operations, only really outfitting expeditions for hardcore mountaineers and military personnel.

Visitor traffic in March is low and traffic avoidance is not a major issue in trip planning. The one major exception is Southwest Serengeti during the early part of the month, where room availability can continue to be an issue.

March is generally considered to be a mixed time of year to visit Uganda, reasonable for gorilla tracking, but not so strong In the savanna safari areas.

In the Bwindi Forest area, the temperatures are stable at around 22C (70F), but with rainfall up at 125mm (5”) through the month.

This rainfall is slightly higher than usual, but showers tend to be lighter and more fleeting than those later in the year. The difference is probably not enough to significantly affect trip planning.

In the savanna safari areas at this time Queen Elizabeth has similar conditions to the above, but Murchison Falls and Kidepo Valley can be very hot and humid, with increasing rainfall.

Visitor traffic tends to be relatively light in March (although can rise slightly over Easter), but it is always good to book permits as early as possible, to get on the best gorilla families.

March is a good time of year in South Africa if you are prioritising weather conditions in the Cape, rather than in the safari areas.

The Cape (Cape Town, Whale Coast, Cape Winelands) is in late summer at this time, which is a lovely time to explore.

The safari areas of South Africa (Kruger, Madikwe, Waterberg) are in the latter part of their hot rainy season, which is far from ideal, but could be okay if this is a less important part of your trip.

If you want to travel in March and safari is important to you, then it might be worth heading to the Tswalu area in the north, or exploring options in Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania.

Visitor traffic in March can be relatively low in the safari areas (unless Easter is early), but the Cape areas remain popular throughout.

March is generally considered to be a good time to visit Chad.

The Ennedi Plateau area to the northwest experiences a relatively constant arid desert climate, with temperatures rising to around 41C (106F), but with rainfall down at 2mm (0”).

The Zakouma area to the southeast experiences a tropical climate, with temperatures up at a potentially uncomfortable 41C (106F), but with rainfall down at 1mm (0”).

Visitor numbers are always low.

March is generally considered to be a very good time to visit Egypt.

At this time of year, the temperatures are at a comfortable 27C (81F), with rainfall down at 0mm (0”) and sunshine hours up at 10 hours per day, despite the shorter day length.

Temperatures at night can drop as low as 10C (50F).

Visitor numbers are relatively high through the month (especially a week either side of Easter), creating an urgent need for early booking and traffic avoidance measures.

March is generally considered to be a relatively good time to visit the Congo.

In the key Odzala-Kokoua gorilla areas, temperatures are stable year-round at an elevated 34C (93F), dropping to only 18C (64F) at night, which can be a little bit challenging, especially in lodges with fans and no air-conditioning.

This is the third and final month of the short dry season, albeit with rainfall still up around 150mm (6”) for the month. However, this does mean that the tracks should be slightly easier to navigate when out gorilla tracking.

March is generally considered to be a very good time to visit Sudan.

At this time of year, the temperatures are down at a relatively comfortable 30C (87F), with rainfall down at 0mm (0”) and sunshine hours dropping marginally to 10 hours per day.

Visitor numbers are always low.