African Safaris in January – Where to Go & Why

Quick snapshot:

• Best for: Cape Town & Cape Province touring, East Africa safari (with a Serengeti or Masai Mara as a highlight), and good-value “green season” options when on safari in Southern Africa
• Weather: Southern Africa is in summer (hotter, with more chance of afternoon storms in some regions, dry mediterranean climate in the Cape)
• Watch-outs: Cyclone season for Mauritius, Madagascar (especially the east coast), and sometimes Mozambique with very heavy rain reaching the Kruger sometimes.

Top destination picks for January:

• South Africa – Cape Town / Winelands / Garden Route for summer touring, plus the Eastern Cape for safari; northern KwaZulu-Natal is great for turtle tracking
• Kenya – generally excellent in January: short grass in many areas and good visibility; warm days and cooler evenings, with brief showers
• Tanzania (Serengeti / Ndutu area) – a standout time in the southern Serengeti as herds gather ahead of the calving period
• Uganda (north) – the heart of the dry season in Murchison Falls and Kidepo, with more predictable animal movement (though it can be extremely hot in the far north)

What’s happening in January:

January is a wonderful time for South Africa’s Cape: it’s high summer in Cape Town and the Western Cape (Winelands and Garden Route) with its Mediterranean climate (low rainfall and long, sunny days).

If you’re set on a safari within South Africa at this time of year, the Eastern Cape is often the strongest option, followed by Madikwe and parts of KwaZulu-Natal.

Elsewhere in Southern Africa, the summer rains are now well established. That can mean some classic safari areas are less straightforward in January – and in Zambia, many regions are closed due to seasonal flooding (including the Lower Zambezi, Busanga Plains of Kafue and much of South Luangwa).

In Kenya, January is often very rewarding: short grass in many areas improves visibility, and conditions can suit walking in the right conservancies.

In Tanzania, the picture can be more mixed if rains linger in some areas, but the southern Serengeti can be superb as the herds gather in the south ahead of calving, accompanied by plenty of opportunistic predators.

In Uganda, January is a great time in the northern parks (Murchison Falls National Park and the lovely Kidepo Valley National Park) because it’s firmly dry season and wildlife movements are more predictable. But Kidepo in the far north can be very hot (approaching 40°C/104°F).

It is also marginally less rainy in the gorilla and chimpanzee tracking forest habitats of the south, where  the altitude means there’s no problem with heat.