When to go to South Africa?
To know when to go to South Africa, you have to rely on the seasons, but the country is so big that the weather varies from region to region!
November, December, January, February, March: it is summer in South Africa and the best time to visit the beaches of Cape Town, the south, the Indian coast and the Atlantic coast. Very high heat in the Karoo and Kalahari. On the Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Kwazulu-Natal side, temperatures are tropical with storms in the late afternoon. The Drakensberg is often rainy at the end of the day, not ideal for hiking in the mountains. In Joburg, hot weather during the day, stormy at night
April, May, June: It's autumn in South Africa. Rainfall is decreasing and temperatures are rising in tropical regions (Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Kwazulu-Natal). The weather is ideal in the Karoo, it is often sunny in Cape Town and better in the Kalahari. It is also the right time to hike in the mountains of Lesotho and Swaziland. And if you go to South Africa between April and June, don't miss the whale season on the Overberg coast.
June, July, August: winter is here and tropical storms stop on Joburg, the cold settles in at night. The months of July-August in South Africa are perfect for observing animals in Mpumalanga, Kwazulu-Natal and Kruger reserves. Beautiful dry weather in Karoo and Drakensberg, but very cold at night, with snow-covered peaks. It's the wrong season to go to Cape Town where it rains a lot. Good temperature in the Kalahari on the other hand.
September, October: it's spring! The Namaqualand is flowery and the climate is temperate in Kwazulu-Natal. In Cape Town, on the Indian coast and in Pretoria it is the return of the sunny days as well as in the provinces of Mpumalanga and Gauteng. It is the ideal time for mountain hiking in Swaziland, Drakensberg and Lesotho, but the temperature drops at night.
