Month by month
Nyerere in May
May is the rains loosening their grip while the camps stay exactly as closed as they were in April. Rainfall drops hard from the previous month's peak, but reopening is tied to the calendar rather than the weather, so most of Nyerere remains shut until the first of June regardless of how dry May itself turns.
If you only want the answer
May is the rains winding down while the camps stay shut, a quiet gap between the discounted fee ending on the 15th and the June reopening.
The numbers ease before the camps do
The thirty-year average for May drops to 38 mm of rain over 7 days, a steep fall from April's 144 mm, with days at 29.8°C and nights cooling further to 21.2°C. The land is visibly drying out through the month, yet almost nothing reopens until June arrives on the calendar.
That gap between weather and operations is the defining fact of May: by the middle of the month conditions on the ground often look ready for guests weeks before any of the seasonal camps actually are.
The fee window closes mid-month
TANAPA's low-season conservation fee runs only to 15 May, so the second half of the month reverts to the standard rate even though the great majority of camps are still shut. Anyone hoping to combine the discount with an open property has a narrow first-half window and a short list of candidates.
That list is the same handful of year-round claimants from April: Selous Impala Camp, Selous Serena Camp, Serena Mivumo River Lodge and Africa Safari Selous. Each is worth a direct call, since their own listings are the ones flagging this exact period for confirmation.
Waiting it out, or not
For most travellers May is not a booking month so much as a scouting one, a chance to lock in June or July dates while the small camps are still finalising their reopening logistics rather than taking reservations for May itself.
If you do want to be here in May specifically, the tip is to ask any year-round camp for its most recent occupancy, not its published season, since May's honest availability changes week to week as roads dry and staff return.