Best time to visit South Africa

[Joy248]

Hello, I am thinking of going on your South Africa solo tour in 2020. I have a couple of questions. What is the best time to visit in order to have the highest chance of seeing a lot of animals at Kruger and of seeing whales from Hermanus and penguins at Boulders Beach? Also, will you be putting on another solos trip during 2020, after the 7 October trip? Thanks for your help.

[Erik RivieraTravel]

Hello Joy,

Below are the best times for visiting the trio that you've mentioned for wildlife spotting specifically:
Kruger - July to September (this is the cold/dry season and so there is less vegetation, making wildlife spotting easier)
Hermanus - July to October (though whales are there from about May to December)
Boulders Beach - February to August (Feb-Aug corresponds to the breeding season when most penguins are on the beach, whilst Sep-Oct there are least penguins around, however the colony is there year-round)

As you can see it's not easy to get all three wildlife peak times to coincide, but generally you're looking at July and August as being the best. However please also note that this coincides with the southern hemisphere winter, and therefore temperatures are lower than at other times of year and on the coast around Cape Town this is also the wettest time of year.

With regards to adding another solo South Africa departure in 2020 after the 7th of October, as things stand we do not plan to have any more departures until early 2021. Whilst that may change if demand is high it is not something we can guarantee at this stage.

I hope that helps,

Erik.

[Joy248]

Hello Erik
Thanks for your very helpful reply. I've been trying to decide between the August, September and October departures. I'm actually thinking of booking the tour starting on 9 September, mainly because it looks likely to be warmer and drier than August and wildlife spotting is possibly better in September than it would be in October at Kruger. My personal preference would be for the weather to be warm and sunny and not too hot, wet and humid, so would September be a good choice do you think? Thanks for your help.

[Erik RivieraTravel]

Dear Joy,

I think if wildlife spotting in Kruger is one of your main drivers then October might already fall into the wet season, whilst August and September should be fine (although September already sees an uptick in rainfall). Please also note that hot and cold are relative terms, so even in July in Cape Town (which is the coldest month) the average daily highs are 17.5 degrees C (which is the equivalent of May in London). So I think both August and September are good choices for wildlife. Though please also be aware of the caveat that the figures I've used are climate averages, and that the weather in any given year can vary quite considerably from the long-term average.

Erik.

[Joy248]

Thanks very much for your help, Erik. I've now booked a place on your September tour and am very much looking forward to it.
Joy