Temperature in South Africa

[atticusclaw2]

I have just booked a family safari holiday in South Africa for two weeks before Christmas. Is the temperature going to be very high at that time of year? Will we need hoodies etc in the evening or is it unlikely to be necessary?

Very excited!!

Where are you going? We are going just after Christmas expecting mid 20s temps. We are mainly Cape Town / east cape-also cannot wait!

Think temps Kruger way generally hotter.

North to Madikwe on the border with Botswana. So perhaps a hotter area?

DSs are going to go crazy when we tell them.

Will be hot during the day but I would definitely take light jumpers for the evening.nalso at that time of year weather can be erratic. Will be amazing!

How exciting! Yes will definitely be hotter there is think, A random FYI I got a load of hoodies/ shorts etc half price at fat face yesterday-trying to get sale bargains in now.

That's a good idea, if I look now I can perhaps still pick up a few summery items in the sale. We have to travel reasonably light because we're taking a very small plane up to the safari lodge.

I'm not going to be able to concentrate on work now! Researching binoculars seems much more important

Take a couple of light jumpers and a fleece or hoodie apiece. If you're shopping I'd suggest natural colours, will suit a wildlife watching trip better. You'll be up at 4am to get early sightings and it'll be chilly but by midday it'll be scorching.
Exciting!

Yes, Northern Cape gets hot! Probably 34-40 degrees late December - but the best times for game drives are dawn and dusk, so you can retire to a shady place/swimming pool for the hottest part of the day.

There are two game drives a day (dawn and dusk like you say sigma) so we'll make sure we have neutral coloured hoodies for then.

The pool is right next to the watering hole and so we should hopefully spot wildlife even when we're chilling by the pool.

The DCs went barmy when we told them where we're off to. High excitement levels in the atticus household!

You don't happen to be going to Tau, do you?

No, Madikwe

sorry, madikwe safari lodge

Fab. Sorry only asked as a friend of a friend works at Tau!

My mate part-owns that lodge (smile). It's fab. Madikwe is very different from the normal safari experience - birds everywhere, lots of leopards, and they used to (probably still do) have more wild dogs than just about anywhere in the world (amazing watching the packs, much cooler than spending hours watching lions meandering round doing nothing).

You will need one hoodie each for the morning ride just before dawn, but that's it, will be hot hot hot once the sun comes up. Remember to pack bikinis for the plunge pools.

I'm even more excited now!!

Friends who went in half term saw all the big five - holiday of a lifetime they reckon. Keen to go next year or so! How old are you kids Atticus?

I have two DSs 8 and 10. They are so excited. We're taking them out of school to go but I'm pretty sure it will be educational as well as fun!

We would probably have waited another year or two ideally but the exchange rate is good and we got an amazing deal on flights. It was too good to miss.

Oh definitely educational! Ours would probably be 10 and 11 if we go next year; the friends' kids were 10 and 13. They did walking safaris as well - lots of education there!

I live slightly more north than that, on the other border with Botswana. It's consistently been 35-40 degrees for the past few weeks.

After storms & rain etc, it can cool down quite considerably. I would pack one pair of jeans and a light hoodie/jumper that you can wear on the plane.

Nothing can beat a safari, it is so incredible. We have been on a few in the past couple of years and they are still so exciting each time. Have the best holiday.