Zambia
When To Visit
The seasons in Zambia are distinct and offer very different travelling experiences. Road travel, game viewing and visiting Victoria Falls can be vary depending on the time of year you visit.
ZamBia's Climate
The dry season, May to November, is the easiest time to travel, as then you are unlikely to meet rain and can expect clear blue skies. This is ideal if this is your first trip to Africa, or if seeing lots of big game is top of your wish-list. June and August are the coolest and the heat gradually builds up from September onwards. Lower altitude places like the Luangwa and Lower Zambezi can get very hot towards the middle of October.
May to October are the best months for viewing cats - leopards are easier to see as they come earlier in the evening and lion sightings become more frequent because the buffalo are in large herds near the limited remaining water sources, just before the rains start.
November is a variable month, but many days can be cooler than October, as the gathering clouds shield the earth from the sun. Sometimes these bring welcome showers, sometimes they simply build, and with them come tension and humidity.
The wet season, December to March, is totally different, and the days can vary enormously from one to the next. Even within a day, skies will often change from sunny to cloudy within minutes and then back again. Downpours are usually heavy and short. Even in the lower valleys, temperatures are pleasant, rising to only around 30°C, and the nights moderately cool (typically down to perhaps 10°C). You will need a good waterproof for the rainy season, but it seldom rains for long enough to really stop you doing anything. (Except when travelling on bush roads…)
The bird life in Zambia is certainly best when the foliage is most dense, and the insects are thriving in the wet season. The many resident birds are nesting and in their bright breeding plumage. This coincides to a large extent with the 'summer' period, from around October to March, when the Palaearctic migrants from the Northern Hemisphere are seen.
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