When to go to The South Luangwa

Best Time To Go To The South Luangwa | When To Go To The South Luangwa

When you are looking to travel to such a place as Sub-Saharan Africa, the chances are you are not hoping to be rained on. African holidays are made up mostly by time in the wilderness on safari and on the beach in a little slice of Indian Ocean paradise. For a safari, it is generally better to travel in the drier months which are, as a rule of thumb, usually in the British Summer Time of end of June – October. Very sweepingly, this is when most of the parks in both east and southern Africa are drier, making the animals forced to congregate around waterholes and easier to spot generally. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. Some travellers may want to see the African bush in all it’s green glory in rainy season, catch some rare wildlife experiences whilst paying low season rates… Essentially it is completely down to you and to which individual park you are going to, but if wildlife viewing and brilliant beach time is a priority then the classically dry months are generally speaking a safe bet.

The South Luangwa operates on a pretty extreme version of the general umbrella of southern Africa rainy and dry seasons. The camps mostly close from the beginning of November until the early May because the rains make parts of the park simply inaccessible via road. Once they do open though, it is an unbelievable park to be in! As the park gets drier and drier from May through until October, the wildlife gets better and better. Going in October is not for the faint hearted though; it is extremely hot and almost unbearable, but if you love the heat and wildlife is your priority then the predator action and general game viewing is excellent.