Tanzania · Tanzania
January
Wildebeest calving season begins in Ngorongoro — one of the great wildlife events, in a dry and photogenic January.
Best match
#6 of 12 months
There are better months for Tanzania — see the full ranking below.
See when to go instead →Climate
High
28°C
Low
14°C
Rain
50mm
Sun
8hrs/day
30-year climate normals · Open Meteo ERA5
How January scores in Tanzania
Weather
Very good
Value
Above average
Crowds
Above average
Events
Very good
Atmosphere
Excellent
What you gain in January
- ↑Wildebeest calving season (January–February) in the Ndutu area of the Southern Serengeti and Ngorongoro Conservation Area is one of the wildlife world's most extraordinary events: 400,000–500,000 calves are born in a compressed 3-week window, and the attendant predator activity — lion prides working the calving grounds, cheetah sprinting after day-old calves, hyena in packs — creates safari footage and experiences that the July migration crossings cannot replicate
- ↑January weather is excellent for safari: the short dry spell between the November short rains and the March long rains delivers clear skies, 8 sunshine hours, and warm days at 28°C; the Serengeti plains remain green from the November rains and the photographic light is soft and golden
- ↑Kilimanjaro climbing conditions are good in January — the mountain is technically climbable year-round, but January's warm, clear weather (Machame and Marangu routes are clear between rains) makes the final summit push through the high-altitude snowfields less demanding than the April–May wet period
What you sacrifice
- ↓January is a mid-season pricing month: not the budget window of April–May, nor the peak prices of July–August; camp and lodge rates are moderate, but the most celebrated properties (Four Seasons Serengeti, &Beyond Klein's Camp) still require advance booking
- ↓Short rains can occasionally extend into early January — while the classic rainy season is November, late starters mean January can see some afternoon showers in the Serengeti's southern reaches; they rarely last long and don't significantly affect game drives
- ↓The calving action is concentrated in Ndutu (south-west Serengeti/Ngorongoro) rather than spread across the full ecosystem — visitors who focus on northern Serengeti circuits in January may find fewer dramatic predator interactions than those who specifically track the calving herds south
How January compares to February (best month)
| Factor | January | February ★ |
|---|---|---|
| Weather | 7 | 8 |
| Value | 5 | 5 |
| Crowds | 5 | 5 |
January in other destinations
Lisbon (13.6°C)Barcelona (13.2°C)Tokyo (9.8°C)Bali (30.2°C)Santorini (13.4°C)Paris (7°C)New York (3.3°C)Marrakech (17.3°C)Amsterdam (5.6°C)Maldives (30.1°C)Rome (11.6°C)Bangkok (31.1°C)Istanbul (8.7°C)Vienna (3.2°C)Seoul (1.1°C)Dubrovnik (11.1°C)Rio de Janeiro (30.9°C)Kyoto (9.2°C)Phuket (31.5°C)Cape Town (26.1°C)Prague (2°C)Amalfi Coast (12°C)Mexico City (21°C)Medellín (28°C)Fiji (31°C)London (8°C)Sydney (26°C)Iceland (2°C)Tulum (28°C)Dubai (24°C)Singapore (30°C)Hoi An (24°C)Chiang Mai (29°C)Miami (24.1°C)Florence (9.2°C)Queenstown (22°C)Madrid (9.4°C)Porto (14°C)Edinburgh (7°C)Copenhagen (4°C)Budapest (4°C)Kraków (2°C)Tbilisi (6°C)Palawan (29°C)Hanoi (18°C)Osaka (9°C)Goa (32°C)Cusco (19°C)Buenos Aires (30°C)Mykonos (13°C)Zanzibar (32°C)Sri Lanka (31°C)Costa Rica (25°C)Cancun (28°C)Krabi (32°C)Athens (13°C)Seville (15°C)Cartagena (31°C)Siem Reap (29°C)Havana (26°C)Split (10°C)Taipei (19°C)Kuala Lumpur (32°C)Valletta (15°C)Ho Chi Minh City (33°C)Hawaii (27°C)Cappadocia (4°C)Dominican Republic (28°C)Jamaica (30°C)Seychelles (30°C)Nepal (18°C)Jordan (12°C)Azores (17°C)Bora Bora (30°C)Los Angeles (19.8°C)Cairo (19.1°C)Kenya (26.8°C)Jaipur (22.2°C)Las Vegas (13.9°C)San Francisco (13.2°C)Madeira (19.5°C)Vancouver (6.9°C)Muscat (26.4°C)Lima (26.2°C)Cinque Terre (11°C)Kotor (10°C)Tel Aviv (18°C)Santiago (30°C)Bogotá (19°C)Bruges (5.8°C)Penang (31.5°C)Lombok (30.8°C)Cape Verde (26.2°C)Fez (13.8°C)Kerala (31°C)Kigali (26°C)Hong Kong (18°C)Oslo (-1°C)Auckland (24°C)
Climate data: 30-year normals (1991–2020) from Open Meteo ERA5 reanalysis. Scores compare months within Tanzania, not across destinations. Methodology →