October is early summer in the Kruger Park and is heralded by the first hard rains. Daytime temperatures soar, and if the rains are late, so does the humidity. Due to the increased availability of water and improved grazing, game begins to disperse. For many antelope it's the start of their breeding season, and birds engage in courtship rituals and displays. Most of the northern migrant raptors arrive in October.
September is spring in the Kruger Park. The mornings are fresh and the days warm, even hot. Nights can still be cool though. Temperatures range between 13 deg Celsius overnight to 29 deg Celsius during the day. Occasional showers can be expected. Average rainfall in September is around 26mm.
August is late winter in the Kruger Park. The mornings are cool and the evenings can get quite cold. The days are mild as temperatures and humidity rise. August is a windy month. The wind and increasing moisture are sure signs that spring is on its way.
When people inquire about the accommodation we offer at the Kruger Park, they often want to know when the best time of year is to visit The Park. The answer largely depends on what you wish to see.
Kruger Park has very hot, wet summers with cool, dry winters. During winter (June-August) game viewing is generally easier because the bush is thinner and water more scarce, forcing the animals to visit waterholes and rivers. Alternatively, summer offers splendid foliage, flowers and the chance to see the animals giving birth, with babies in abundance. Summer is also the time to see all the migrant birds that flock to the Kruger Park.
Did you know that the hottest temperature ever recorded in the Kruger Park was at Shingwedzi on 26 February 1992. The air temperature reached 48deg Celsius!
If you can get a group of no more than 8 fit, experienced hikers together who are between the ages of 16 and 65 and looking for something more primitive combined with the thrill of trekking through Big-5 country, this hike in the Kruger National Park is for you.
You will be required to get a medical certificate confirming that you can survive the 4 day ordeal over rugged terrain in a climate where temperatures reach 30 deg Celsius. You will be required to carry your own tent and food. You will be required to make and break camp yourself. You will be required to cook for yourself. You will have to bathe in the river with hippo's and croc's, and you will have to dig your own toilet. You will even have to purify your own drinking water from the river. And, you will have to do all this under the watchful amazement of dangerous game including the Big-5!
Traveling to the Kruger National Park in mid December 2006?
Consider visiting the Dullstroom Arts Festival from 16 to 18 December.
Dullstroom, only three hours drive from Johannesburg, is South Africa's premier fly-fishing destination. The festival features music, visual and performing arts and the Dullstroom Bird of Prey and Rehabilitation Centre offers educational talks.
Two of the towns dams will be open to all, which means entry, fly-fishing, and fly-casting sessions will all be FREE!
Accommodation goes fast...so book now!
For festival accommodation and info, contact +27 13 254 0254 / +27 13 254 0020.
South Africa's cyclone season spans November to April, peaking in January and February. However, few cyclones get close enough to South Africa to be destructive. Generally, only cyclones that develop north of 25 degrees south put South Africa at risk. When they do make landfall, they typically affect the provinces of KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo. Because Kruger National Park straddles both Mpumalanga and Limpopo, and is closer to the coast than much of these provinces, it tends to bear the brunt of the cyclone's anger. Recent examples of destructive cyclones are Domoina (January 1984), Imboa (February 1984) and Eline (February 2000).
Like other semi-arid regions of the world, the Kruger National Park is subject to great variations in rainfall from year to year. This is because the Kruger National Park is situated beneath a zone of dry, descending air.
Kruger National Park’s climate, like the rest of the subcontinent, is influenced by anticyclonic systems that move over southern Africa from west to east. In summer, these systems give rise to extremely hot and dry conditions that can persist for up to two weeks at a time, often followed by the development of low-pressure cells over the interior that draw in moist equatorial air from the north and northeast. It is this moist air that underpins the development of thunderstorms. However, the low-pressure troughs often produce widespread and persistent rain.
The Kruger National Park's climate is sub-tropical with warm days and cool nights.
Summer rainfall occurs during the months of October through April. Because the Kruger National Park is on average less than 300 m above sea level, summer days can be hot and clammy making the brusque, convectional, heavy rainstorms that advance across the veld a welcome relief. On average, thunderstorms occur on only 25 days of the year. Although unusual, summer daytime temperatures can reach into the early 40 deg C.
