With temperatures ranging from warm to hot, there’s really never a bad time to do a Zimbabwe safari, but if you want to avoid afternoon rain showers, spot animals easily, and stay away from occasionally uncomfortable humidity, then the best time is during the dry winter season from April through October. If you travel in the wet summer season from November through March, you may find lower rates, but you will also discover that it might be harder to spot wildlife and the weather isn’t always on your side.
Wildlife gathers on the Zambezi river floodplain
Dry Season: April-October
The best time to visit Zimbabwe for safari is undoubted during the dry winter season when the animals gather around the watering holes and less vegetation makes spotting them easy. This doesn’t only make wildlife spotting easy, this also makes it extremely easy to predict where they’ll be, giving the safari guides a further advantage when trying to predict the animals’ whereabouts in their parks. Another advantage of traveling during this time is long dry days with fewer mosquitoes. Travelers should be prepared for cold nights and mornings that require warm winter clothing for the open-air game drives. During the day, it does generally fluctuate between 60°F and 85°F (15.6°C and 29.4°C), so be sure to dress in layers that are easy to remove.
Wet Season: November-March
In the wet summer season, temperatures heat up and bring the rains starting in October when the low-lying areas might get well over 90°F/32°C during the day. There are also short afternoon rain showers, but these usually don’t impact your safari. Do be warned that it’s possible for some rains to last for days, which could put a damper on your trip. The upside to traveling during this season is the lush green vegetation, lower prices, excellent bird watching, and amazing photo opportunities.
Another unique sight to see during this season is the birthing of newborn animals. Since it’s the birthing season you’re a lot more likely to see some predator action on the safari. However, the 4x4 routes in Mana Pools National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, may be difficult to navigate due to the road conditions.
Aerial view of Victoria Falls
Best Time to Go to Victoria Falls
Between June and Augustis the ideal time to visit the falls (right in the middle of the dry season) because there’s plenty of water flowing, little rain, relatively stable temperatures, and if you choose to go wildlife viewing this is in the best season for that. Ironically, though the Zambezi River is at its peak from March-May, it isn’t actually a great time to visit Victoria Falls due to the large mist that almost entirely obscures your view of the Falls. October through December are also bad months to visit Victoria Falls for the opposite reason - the Zambezi River is at its lowest point and the water volume of the Falls is at its lowest point in the year.
However, the best time to raft at Victoria Falls is during the low water season from August to December. Rapids intensify when the water level declines.
Best Time to Visit Hwange National Park
Hwange is a year-round attraction, but the best time to see wildlife is during the dry season, when animals concentrate near waterholes, particularly elephant herds in September and October. Some lodges close during the rainy season (December – March) and it is at its most crowded between June and October. With its vast size, Hwange National Park is one of the most significant wildlife sanctuaries in Africa. It is home to the Big 5, large herds of elephants, buffalo, zebra, and wildebeest, and many species of antelope as well as predators including lion, leopard, and wild dog.
To make your African safari dream trip a reality, contact Adventure Life’s travel experts now! They’re happy to help and find you the best time to go to Zimbabwe!
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
2 days ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
2 days ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
1 week ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
1 week ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.