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Month by month

Amboseli in May

May is the long rains running out. The tracks start to dry, the elephant birth season reaches its height, and every lodge that publishes its seasons holds its lowest rate until the last day of the month.

If you only want the answer

May brings about 43 mm of rain, well down on April's 72, with 26.4°C days. It is the height of the elephant calving season (May was the peak month in 2025) and the last month of low-season rates, which makes it the value month of the long rains. The plains game is still spread out on the ranches.

Amboseli weather in May: the long rains run out

May averages 26.4°C in the afternoon and 17.5°C at night, with about 43 mm of rain, an approximate figure scaled to the station's measured annual mean, against about 72 mm in April. The baboon project's records date the start of the long dry season to May, while KWS's plan has the long dry period beginning in June, so the month is a transition: wetter early, drier late.

Kilimanjaro stays shy. On modelled cloud data about one May morning in seven shows a clear summit at dawn, and Expert Africa puts the heaviest summit snow of the year between March and May.

The height of the elephant birth season

Amboseli's elephant births peak from March to June, and in 2025 May was the peak month. That year more than 220 calves were born, adding almost 12 per cent to the population, after the 2022-23 drought had cut conceptions to the point where only 32 calves were born in 2024.

Gestation runs to 22 months, so the size of a calving season reflects conditions about two years earlier. For a visitor the practical point is simpler: the smallest calves are easiest to see from April to July, and May sits in the middle of that window.

The last month of low rates

Every lodge that publishes its seasons stays at its lowest rate until 31 May: Ol Tukai Lodge, inside the park, at $380 per double room on full board and Tortilis Camp at $317 per person sharing, both on 2026 cards. On 1 June the prices move. Ol Tukai goes straight to peak season at $650, and Tortilis to mid season at $491.

Porini Amboseli Camp in the Selenkay Conservancy is closed until 31 May and reopens in June. Airkenya's Wilson to Arusha flights, useful if you are combining Amboseli with northern Tanzania, resume on 21 May after their break from 1 April. Park fees stay at $90 per non-resident adult per 24 hours.

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