Travel by Month
Africa reads differently in every month of the year. The herds move, the rivers rise and fall, the calves drop and the whales arrive. Pick your month and we will tell you exactly where the best of it is happening — then plan the trip around it.
Choose your monthJanuary
Africa's Green-Season Opening Act
Wildebeest calving begins across the southern Serengeti and Ndutu, with predators close behind. Southern Africa is green and warm, newborns are in the Kruger grass, and Cape Town is at its summer best.
See the January guideFebruary
The Month of a Million Newborns
Calving peaks in the Ndutu plains — up to 8,000 wildebeest born a day and the busiest predator month of the year. Namibia carries its green flush and Cape Town stays warm and dry.
See the February guideMarch
The Quiet, Green Shoulder Month
Calving tails off and the herds start their slow move north. Southern Africa stays green with fewer vehicles about, and the Cape winelands come into harvest.
See the March guideApril
The Month of Water and the Falls at Full Flood
The quietest, best-value window of the year. The last rains clear, the Okavango floodwaters begin to push in from the north, and lodge rates sit at their lowest.
See the April guideMay
The Shoulder-Season Sweet Spot
The dry season takes hold across East and Southern Africa. Bush thins out, water sources shrink, and game viewing sharpens by the week. The Okavango flood is rising fast.
See the May guideJune
The Dry Season Opens in Earnest
The Okavango is in full flood — mokoro season at its finest. Victoria Falls runs at high water, and the migration herds spread through the western and central Serengeti.
See the June guideJuly
The Crossings Begin
The first Mara River crossings begin as herds reach the Kenya border. Sabi Sand and Kruger game viewing is at its sharpest, and southern right whales arrive off the Cape coast.
See the July guideAugust
Peak Migration, Peak Game Viewing
The Mara crossings are in full swing — the classic river drama. Southern Africa game viewing peaks, and whale numbers off Hermanus and the Overberg are at their highest.
See the August guideSeptember
The All-Rounder's Month
Crossings carry on in the Mara while the bush is at its driest and animals cluster at water. Spring returns to the Cape, and the Namaqualand wildflowers open in the west.
See the September guideOctober
The Dry Season's Dramatic Finale
The final big crossings happen before the herds turn south. Hot and dry conditions pull elephant and buffalo to the waterholes of Hwange, Mana Pools and Kruger — the year's best big-game month.
See the October guideNovember
The Green Season Returns
The short rains draw the migration back toward the southern Serengeti and Ndutu. Southern Africa greens up into its emerald season — dramatic skies, newborns returning and lower rates.
See the November guideDecember
High Summer and the Festive Season
Calving starts again in the south as the herds settle on the short-grass plains. Cape Town peaks for summer, and the Indian Ocean islands — Zanzibar and the Mozambique coast — are at their warm, clear best.
See the December guideNot sure which month is yours?
Tell us what you want to see — the Mara crossings, the Okavango in flood, newborn game in the green season, or Cape Town in high summer — and one of our consultants will match it to the right month and the right camps. No call centre, no pressure, just someone who has been there.