Where to go in Africa in March

Our Recommendation for March

By March, the majority of ‘Safari Africa’ is moving towards the end of its heavy rains. The end of March sees the first signs that the rains are ending, and this is a great time of year to travel for value. Tanzania is just beginning to start its main rainy season, but it is still a great destination this month. The Great Migration is in full swing and the newborn wildebeest have boosted migration numbers to the heaviest volumes. South Africa is at the tail end of its summer. The country has fewer visitors, and so can also be a very clever destination this month.

Tanzania

Even though the heavy rains are on the horizon, game viewing in Tanzania’s Serengeti is still very good at this time of year. The migration is in full swing and the newborn wildebeest have boosted the Great Migration to its heaviest herds.

Tanzania’s Northern Circuit is a very good destination in March – indeed, the Serengeti is outrageously good throughout January, February and March, with the park being the finest place in Africa to view cheetah at this time of year. The sheer concentration of predators on the huge open plains is astonishing. We also use a couple of camps down in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (effectively an extension of the Serengeti), which offer in addition some of the finest cultural interactions and walking operations on the continent. Designing a trip around the Serengeti and Ngorongoro is a superb trip for March, and one that can be very good value, as many of the camps have dropped their rates to ‘low’ season.

South Africa

South Africa's Cape is a very good place to travel to at the beginning of March. The weather is still good, and driving trips up and down the famous Garden Route are a great option. The negative to travelling at this time of year, however, is that combining the fabulous Cape with high-quality safari is hard – Botswana is in its rainy season and the vast majority of Zambia is still closed, due to rain and floods. Nevertheless, South Africa’s own safari, specifically the Kruger and Sabi Sands, is still superb – and this is the area we would combine with Cape Town for a short add-on safari.