Choosing the best time to travel to Pemba Island

When deciding on the best time to travel to Africa, do consider your destination country’s climate and tourism seasons. It’s equally important to determine what activities you want to do, the best season to do them and the types of experience you want.

For instance, game viewing is a major attraction on the continent. It’s best enjoyed during the dryer seasons when wildlife is easier to access. However, for many of us, shoulder seasons when short rains are happening, or rains are just starting, are also wonderful times that create whole new opportunities. During quiet times, you may find yourself in a camp with few others and having wildlife encounters to yourself, which very few people experience and many people enjoy.

In this post, we’ll suggest some considerations about the ‘best time to travel’ to our various target destinations.

Learning About Seasonality

Climate Varies Across the African Continent

The most critical variable to determining the best time to travel to Africa is the expected climate & weather for your destination country. Africa’s scale, and presence in both the northern and southern hemispheres, and its envelope around the equator, results in contrasting weather across the continent, and HUGE variances within very small distances; a great example is the great migration, following the rains, and the new grass the wildebeest and Zebra are seeking.

Dry Season is Ideal for Viewing Animals but it’s Not Always Peak Tourist Season

The peak tourism season most often falls during the Northern hemisphere’s summer holidays, late June through end of August. But this is due to people’s ability to travel at this time, not necessarily the best time to visit some destinations!

Wildlife safaris are the number one drawcard for people who visit Africa. It’s easier to spot wildlife and big game during the dry season. When the grass and natural vegetation are sparse. Due to the scarcity of water in the dryer seasons, you’ll find large groups of animals congregating around available waterholes, rivers, and lakes. This will also give you a better chance of witnessing many different species in the one area you’re visiting.

Visit Southern Africa All Year Round to See Game

Although this is true, June, in Southern Africa is the coldest month and, in many areas, you can get frosts. Game drives in the morning can be freezing cold. By the end of August, things are warming up again and October is the hottest month of the year!

With warmer weather and moving into November, when first rains can start in some areas, a lot of the wildlife that was hibernating during June and July, start to become very active with the heat, and the moisture in the air. Bird migrants arrive from the North, insects, cold blooded reptiles, and all the sounds that come with warmer months fill the air.

Rainy Seasons Offer Dramatic Skies

Many guests book during the rainy seasons, which does not mean it’s very wet, but more an exciting later afternoon thunder storm, with that comes dramatic skies, amazing photography opportunities, and generally some excitement! Water brings life, and EVERYTHING comes alive!

Africa’s parks have dirt roads, and then all-season roads, which require a lot more maintenance, so they can be used in the wetter months. The most important fact to understand, is Africa’s soils vary a lot, some dirt roads can be driven all year, even when wet, you can generally be fine, but some soil types, make it impossible to move as soon as the rain comes. There is a lot to consider.

Wet Season Overview

• Rainfall takes place at different times across the continent and is often unpredictable.
• In Southern Africa, you can generally expect most of the rain to fall between December and mid-March.
• Some African regions experience torrential downpours from December to March. Others have very little rain. For example Namibia is primarily a desert, and some downpours do happen, but overall, their wet season, is still very dry compared to what many people from North America and Europe understand as wet. The wet season is a great time to see many reptiles in southern Africa, along with turtles, tortoises, frogs, toads, and so many amazing insects and beetles, especially the dung beetles.
• During June and July, the colder months of the year, in Southern Africa, all these species have hibernated.
• Do consider how a little bit of rain, and warmer weather, can make your safari far more interesting.