conditions in Sabi Sands in November

Can be very hot (but still a bit cold in the early mornings; you need a light jacket or fleece probably) nad the rains are about to start, but it's impossible to tell when. The vegetation will likely still be brown and "short", though, so animal viewing should still be optimum.

Typically you go out on the second drive in the afternoon when it's light, and usually halfway through stop for sundowners and appetizers at sunset. Then do the rest of the drive in the dark.

BRILLIANT RM!!!
I've been griping here for two months about the short daylight afternoon game drive. Not once did it occur to me (or anyone else) that moving my safari from Sep to Nov would give more daylight time on that drive!!! You're a genius!!! BTW, the typical Sabi Sand safari camp starts the pm game drive at 4pm for "summer season hours".

So to know how much time difference I found a site from which you can get sunrise and sunset times world wide. Here for Johannesburg- -
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=111&month=9&year=2009&obj=sun&afl=-11&day=1
It shows that for Sep 1 the sunset was at 5:56pm and for Nov 1 the sunset was at 6:25pm. Another 29 mins of daylight, now that is worth having on that pm game drive.

The other question is weather in November and I don't have any feel for that. Since 2005 I have been in Sabi Sand (and Kruger) camps in only Sep. But am very tempted to do safari in July for likely better weather. I had a recent thread here on this. Hope we get a lot of other's comments on November.

regards - tom

The weather in Nov seems to get over 100 and it can be very muggy. I agree with Leslie also, that you still get a bit of a night drive, however you may also get more daylight too. Personally I would not want to risk the higher chance of rains to be there in November. My favorite months are Aug and Sept.

Here is a temp/rain chart for the Sabi Sands area.

http://www.places.co.za/html/temperaturegr.html

Mike

As I am going at the end of this week, for two weeks, I will let you know how November works out I am glad to get the longer daylight hours. Also, for a birder (like me , November is definitely the best month for birding as the migrants will be there and everything is in breeding plumage, and also singing. I am a bit concerned about the rain potential, but rain has its upsides too--more green makes for nicer photography and dramatic skies/storms also can contribute. Hopefully grass will not yet be so high or thick as to effect game viewing too much. Over 100 and muggy sounds pretty bad though

I'll report back!

yeah jczinn, you leave Friday if I remember. You are going to Kruger, Nkorho and I don't recall what other camps. How are you getting to Nkorho, driving after Kruger? Anyway, I'm envious. If you could keep a few notes about the weather each day it would be interesting. And of course looking forward to your report and photos.

regards - tom

Tom (et al) if you recall, we hired a birding guide through Lawson's Birding and Wildlife tours http://www.lawsons.co.za/ In fact, so as not to hijack this thread perhaps I'll start another with the specifics so that if I get a chance I can post while away...

The game drive will likely go out later, so you'll have a similar amount of daylight. No problem with vegetation, if you are thinking visibility... grass only gets really tall in late Jan/Feb. Trees and shrubs will have healthy leaf cover, but you drive off road...

Thanks Carey.I see from weather reports that the rains have started this week in the greater kruger area and the temperatures have dropped.I am thinking of going to Sabi sands the first 2 weeks of next november.I dont want the rain to mess up my photography so while I will enjoy the extra daylight I want to stay dry.

RM - thanks, interesting that having some rain there now. Jczinn is there now, left Friday from USA. (She was going kookoo Thursday about flights because of the eastern storms). Will be good to have her report.

I have been rained on (light rain, not heavy) there in Sep the last two years. But even the light rain meant solid overcast skies for two-three days. I'd rather have a heavy rain for an hour then it blow on and have clear skies. I'm still thinking that May or July may be better time of year?? The sun may not be up as long as in Nov but the camps also start the game drives at 3:30pm so the afternoon daylight is as "good" as Sep.

regards - tom

November is a great time of the year to go on safari in the Sabi Sands! The birdlife is prolific, and chances are that animals like the impala would have given birth, and you can see plenty of little babies running around! Weather conditions can be rather hot and humid, and chances of some early summer rains are good. Game drives during summer months (like November) usually start later, as it's too hot to go out on drive any earlier than 3:30 or 4:00 p.m
Mike Karantonis