Weather & Seasons In South Africa - Best Time To Visit Kruger National Park
South Africa is one of the most visited countries on the Dark Continent because of several factors: it is a safe African destination, has plenty of tourist attractions and features extraordinary national parks for game viewing. Kruger National Park is internationally recognized as one of the best locations in the world for safari tours. For this reason, safari packages to South Africa are highly demanded on the travel scene and tourist industry in the country is blooming. Kruger Park is a year-round vacation place, but the weather is quite different in the four seasons present there. As a consequence, travelers are advised to check out how are the current weather conditions before to start the trip.
South Africa has a subtropical climate featuring four seasons (that are opposite to those from the northern hemisphere, respectively the summer is between November and January, the autumn from February to April, the winter lasts from May to July, and the spring is comprised in the interval August – October), but with specific characteristics because of the oceanic influences on three sides, as well of the high altitude of the interior plateau. Generally, the weather in South Africa is much drier and colder than in other countries located at the same latitude and, excepting some regions such as Kruger (in the provinces of Mpumalanga and Limpopo), the daytime temperatures are not hot and are usually under 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) even during summer. Still, the wintertime is warmer than one could expect because of the air masses coming from the oceans (Indian and Atlantic). Therefore, the frost is mild especially in the coastal regions and snowfall is very rare (excepting the high mountains of the Cape and the Drakensberg region in KwaZulu-Natal). A special characteristic of the South African climate is the presence of the passing afternoon thunderstorms in summer, phenomena that leave a warm and unique perfume in the air.
But when is the best time to visit Kruger National Park, one of the most famous travel destinations in South Africa? It is located in the north-eastern part of the country, and as result the weather is warmer than in other regions. The summer months (November and December) are hot and humid and feature continual rains or typical afternoon thundershower. The period January – March (autumn) is pretty dry and features very few hot days, being particularly good for observing the migratory birds. The last autumn month, April, is characterized by the changing of the thick lush green bush to an evident brownish vegetation. In winter (May to mid-July) the nights are cold and the days chilly, the vegetation is totally brown and the trees are generally without leaves, allowing fantastic game viewing; particularly there can be seen large herds of elephants. From mid-July to end of August taking safari tours in Kruger National Park is fantastic because the weather becomes warmer and the water sources are pretty rare, concentrating the game around them and offering in this way extraordinary opportunities for observing plenty of wild animals specific to Africa such as lion, leopard, hyena, elephant, rhino, buffalo, wild dog, cheetah, antelope, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest and many others. September and October are characterized by hot dry winds and are also very good for safaris, but after mid-October appear the first rains and the wet season is starting again.
Tours in South Africa are unique life experiences and most people who stept at first time on the Dark Continent in this country returned to home enchanted by the extraordinary moments relished in the region they explored. However, the country is very large and features several climatic zones with specific weather (seasons in South Africa feature different characteristics), and as a result tourists are invited to get informed about the characteristics of the area where intend to go. For example, only Kruger National Park is stretching on almost 11,800 square miles (19,000 square kilometers), so it is obvious that in the same time there are several different weather conditions over its territory.
Travel article written by Victor Tuszing. See his profile on:
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