Summer is arguably the best time for vacation in Africa because it falls on the dry season. However, the best time to travel to Africa will depend on your purpose for travelling.

Establishing your reason for travelling to an African country whether for vacation, business, studies or a volunteer mission will greatly influence your decision on what time of the year to travel. 

Most travellers who travel for vacation, or for adventure consider the dry season which is from July through November to be the best time for travelling to Africa.

This time of the year is the best time to experience the beauty, culture and the wildlife of the continent. 

This period of the year is usually called peak periods because it is the time when tourists visit African countries. 

Choice destinations for vacationing in Africa during these peak periods are Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Morocco, and Mauritius.

Other reasons why summer may be appropriate for travelling can include personal reasons, the weather, that time when schools are on break, people take leave of work during this period, and other factors that will impact the vacation experience.

For better understanding, sub-Saharan  Africa has 2 major seasons.

The sunny dry season and rainy wet seasons. Understanding these can influence how to plan your vacation in Africa. 

The 7 best reasons why summer is the best time to travel to Africa includes various factors both personal and non personal. Let’s get to it.

1. Summer is the best for the greenery and landscape

Summer time travel is appropriate because of the weather, you get to move about and witness wildlife, nature, the wild beast migration. 

If your travel destination is Kenya, it occurs between July and October. 

Lots of people visit Kenya during this time of the year and go on safaris to witness the beautiful migration. 

Due to the weather, it is the best time to visit the vast majority of beautiful beaches like Zanzibar in Tanzania, the romantic beaches in Seychelles, visit cultural and historical sites and take beautiful pictures of wild life. 

Watch live when the wild beasts cross the Mara River. That is such a beautiful thing to watch.

A hot sunny day means no rain to spoil the fun of the day.

During rainy seasons, rainfall can start at any time of the day and soil a perfectly planned day.

2. Finances

Good ol’ money is another reason why you should plan your vacation for further down the year. 

It is assumed that you are planning your vacation for the year months before the D day.

From the beginning of the year you can begin to set some money aside and budget  for your vacation.

This way you wouldn’t need to worry about finances during your time in Africa, because you have had enough time to prepare and plan financially for your trip.

Planning your finances for your vacation makes your travel time even more enjoyable. You don’t have to worry about money.

Most of us struggle with managing our money and budgeting effectively.

This hampers our finances and potentials to make even more money by investing and making our money work for us.

These are the best budgeting softwares according to Investopedia that will help you manage your finances properly.

3. Rainy seasons do not encourage outdoor activities.

Rainy seasons in Africa can be unpredictable. It slows down a lot of activities and movement. Because Africa is tropical, it rains heavily and regularly.

Rainy season starts from as early as March till June. Sometimes it continues through August.

During these periods movement is limited.

Huge projects and activities in the country like; construction are usually paused until dry season and your trip may not be as fun if you travel during these periods. 

This is why it is advisable not to visit during the rainy season especially if your purpose of visiting is solely for fun, and to have a great adventure. 

In addition, you get to avoid the bugs like the one that causes sleeping sickness, malaria causing  mosquitoes and insects which are rampant during the rainy seasons.

4. Summer is the best for time for vacation in Africa because you get to go on vacation with your kids

The little one’s deserve to go on vacations too after a busy school year don’t they?

For parents who would love to travel with school children, and wouldn’t want them to miss out on school work/ activities. They can plan to travel to Africa during summer break when the children are on holidays. 

They won’t miss out on school and they will also have a long, interesting, and educating adventure in Africa.

Of course if you are homeschooling your kids you won’t be concerned about school season because your children can still homeschool while travelling with you. 

Everyone can work around the school season and still have the best African travel experience with the kids!

5. You have time for proper planning ahead of your travel date

Travelling to a new continent especially for the first time is not a walk in the park.

For those who have travelled several times and have made friends it’s much easier to visit again and again. 

But first time travellers have difficulty getting around especially if the country you plan on visiting doesn’t speak a familiar language. 

Planning is very important.

You need to plan for where you will be spending the night, what you will need for your travels, your finances, health,  security measures to take and so on.

All these factors need to be put in place, in order to be adequately prepared and be ready to travel and enjoy your travel experience.

One major benefit to note about travelling outside of the peak summer periods is that places are not crowded with tourists. There are fewer people in most of the tourist sites. It’s calmer and more laid back as there are fewer activities going on.

6. It’s the best time for Fun and Adventure

The dry season is the best period to go on Safaris, visit the lovely beaches, hike the tallest mountain in Africa, enjoy the beautiful scenery, travel large African land miles and take iconic photographs of the beautiful places, animals and people. 

Part of the fun and adventure of vacationing is interacting with the locals and taking in the culture which is versatile and rich.

October periods in places like Kruger in South Africa will open you to seeing  so many animals.

The beautiful evening with the singers, dancers and story tellers at the marketplace in the city of Morocco will definitely impress you.

Visits to cultural and Historical sites like Timbuktu of the great Mali empire, Thebes in Egypt amongst others will expose you to the culture and history of the people.

7. Networking and making new friends

It is very likely that you will make new friends while on vacation because you aren’t the only one travelling to Africa at that time of the year. 

You will likely meet new people and make new acquaintances that can contribute significantly to your life.

You might meet your life partner, business partner, best friend or a new family member, so travel with and open mind

Look to meet new people and make friends both with indigenous people and other people visiting the country.

Conclusion

There are certainly some challenges with going for your vacation during the Summer period, some of which might include lots of tourists visiting at the same time as you, and the  rise in cost of commodities, transport, hotels and so on because of the increase in tourists. 

But if you are someone who doesn’t mind sharing and are open to meeting new people this might be an advantage instead of a challenge for you.

 As for the cost of things, just prepare for it anyways.

Local sellers normally raise the prices of commodities when they have foreign customers because they tend to believe that tourists can afford it.

Generally the difference in price should not be much. 

Quick tip:

You are allowed to bargain prices with the sellers.

Start by slashing the price they say by half and go up from there till you are satisfied with the price. Keep that in mind when buying from the locals.