The case for the green season

Every operator quietly steers guests towards July and August, because that is when the migration is in Kenya and when camps sell out. It is also when a safari costs the most and when you share every sighting. Here is the argument for the other months.

What "green season" means

Roughly November to December, and January to March. The short rains fall in November — heavy afternoon downpours that clear within an hour, not day-long drizzle — and the landscape turns green within days. January to March is dry again but the grass is still green from it.

Why it is better than people think

The light. Dust in the dry season flattens everything into haze. After rain the air is clear, the skies have structure, and the ground is green rather than beige. Every professional wildlife photographer we work with prefers these months, without exception.

The space. A cheetah on a termite mound in February is yours. The same cheetah in August has eleven vehicles around it.

The price. A third to a half less at the same camp. That difference is often the gap between a shared vehicle and a private one, or between two regions and three.

The babies. Most plains game calves in the green months. More young animals means more predator activity, which is the thing people actually come to see.

What you give up

The migration herds are in Tanzania, so no river crossings. If that is your reason for coming, come in August and accept the crowds.

Grass is longer, which makes small cats harder to spot. Some roads are slower. And an afternoon game drive occasionally gets rained off — though sitting in a camp mess watching a storm come across the plains is not the worst hour of a holiday.

The month we would pick

November, if you can. The short rains are ending, the landscape has just turned, rates are at their lowest of the year, and the camps have space. It is our own favourite time to be out there, and it is what we recommend to almost everybody coming back for a second trip.