When to go to Lake Kariba

Best Time To Go To Lake Kariba | When To Go To Lake Kariba

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. 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.

Lake Kariba offers safaris both on land in the classic safari vehicles and in canoes on the lake itself. The mixture of boating and inland safaris does not really change the best time to go, which alike with most of Southern Africa is in the drier months between the end of May and October. The long rains come in their buckets, and although the parks bloom into life, the wildlife viewing is better in the dry season. At Lake Kariba specifically, the animals tend to congregate around the lake edge to drink more towards the end of the dry season and so this can make for remarkable wildlife viewing. However, it is important to be wary of the high temperatures which creep right up in September, October and November… But in September and October the wildlife is fantastic, so this is one of those compromises you may have to make if you want to be in with the best chance of catching all the height of dramatic dry season wildlife action.