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When to travel, month by month
Which of the thirteen destinations Famous Africa plans is at its best in each month of the year, and why the season falls when it does.
Photo Pop & Zebra / Unsplash
The short answer
There is no single best month for Africa, because the continent does not have one season. The dry winter months of roughly June to October concentrate wildlife around water across most of the safari countries and are the classic choice, but the Cape is at its best in the southern summer, Madagascar is dry from April to November, and Antarctica can only be visited between November and March.
Famous Africa plans across 13 destinations with 13 different calendars, so the useful question is not when to travel but where to travel in the month that suits you. The month-by-month guide below answers that directly.
January
January is at its best in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. Rwanda, South Africa and Antarctica are also good this month.
The dry months concentrate game across the Serengeti. January and February bring the calving season on the southern plains. Zanzibar follows its own monsoon pattern.
February
February is at its best in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. Rwanda and South Africa are also good this month.
The dry months concentrate game across the Serengeti. January and February bring the calving season on the southern plains. Zanzibar follows its own monsoon pattern.
March
No destination peaks in March, but several travel well. South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania are also good this month.
Year-round. The dry winter is prime for Big-Five game viewing in the Kruger, while summer suits Cape Town, the Winelands and the coast. Namaqualand's flowers are a narrow August–September window.
April
No destination peaks in April, but several travel well. South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana are also good this month.
Year-round. The dry winter is prime for Big-Five game viewing in the Kruger, while summer suits Cape Town, the Winelands and the coast. Namaqualand's flowers are a narrow August–September window.
May
May is at its best in Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The cool dry winter is best: game gathers at the Etosha waterholes and the desert light is at its cleanest. Summer is hot, with short and dramatic rains.
June
June is at its best in Botswana, Rwanda, Namibia, Uganda, Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Madagascar, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Kenya is also good this month.
Peak safari coincides with the Okavango flood and the dry season, when wildlife concentrates on the water. Green season is lush, much quieter, and considerably better value.
July
July is at its best in Botswana, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi and Madagascar.
Peak safari coincides with the Okavango flood and the dry season, when wildlife concentrates on the water. Green season is lush, much quieter, and considerably better value.
August
August is at its best in Kenya, Zambia, Botswana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda, Mozambique, Malawi and Madagascar.
July to October is the Mara at its most dramatic, when the migration herds are in the reserve. January and February are quieter, green and excellent for cats.
September
September is at its best in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Namibia and Malawi. Rwanda and Uganda are also good this month.
The classic walking-safari season is the dry winter, when South Luangwa and the Lower Zambezi are at their best. Many bush camps close entirely in the green season.
October
October is at its best in Madagascar, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania, Malawi, Kenya and Namibia.
April to November is dry and settled, and September to November is when lemur infants appear. January to March carries a cyclone risk on the coasts.
November
November is at its best in Madagascar and Mozambique. South Africa, Antarctica, Malawi and Namibia are also good this month.
April to November is dry and settled, and September to November is when lemur infants appear. January to March carries a cyclone risk on the coasts.
December
December is at its best in Antarctica and Uganda. South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania are also good this month.
The season is the austral summer only: roughly November to January, with Emperor penguin chicks in November and December. Outside that window the continent is closed to visitors.
A note on what these judgements are
These are seasonal patterns, not forecasts. They describe the structure sources agree on for each place — the dry and green season split, the migration and calving windows, the gorilla-trekking dry months, the Zambezi's high water, the Antarctic operating window. They are not rainfall measurements, temperature normals or sighting probabilities, and nothing here is a number a traveller could be held to.