South Luangwa in June
 

Hi,

I will be visiting South Luangwa/Vic Falls for 11 nts at the beginning of June and I am trying to find out what the temperatures drop to at night. All the advice says to bring warm clothing for June and July as the nights get cold.
The weather almanacs do not list data for this regions and was just wondering if anyone has any first hand experience of temperatures, as one persons idea of cold is not necessarily anothers. As we are limited on weight I do not want to drag jackets etc around unless absolutely necessary.

Many thanks.

Mark.

antipest,

I have spent each of the last two Junes in South Luangwa. Although it does get a little bit chilly, if there is anyplace in Southern Africa that you want to be in June, South Luangwa is definitely the place, as it is just about as far north as you can go on safari.

Mornings and nights were a crispy cool, but they were not a shivering cold, if that makes any sense. Just a light jacket will probably suffice.

Are you already booked? If so, where are you visiting?

If you are not yet booked, I do have a couple contacts that I could put you in touch with whom will likely give you better pricing than you could get through most any other source.

Victoria Falls will definitely be much cooler at night than South Luangwa, but at least you are not likely to be doing night game drives in Victoria Falls unless you are staying at Matetsi Water Lodge.

Will this be your first visit to South Luangwa?

Rocco, thanks for the info. Any idea of a number for the temperatures? Even a rough quess would be good!
Yes, I have booked, 8 nts Bushcamp Co spread between their 4 temporary camps and 3 nts at The Islands of Siankaba.

antipest,

My guess would be the temps would be in the mid to high 50's at night (farenheit) and in the high 70's in the daytime.

Rocco, My gosh will it be that warm in South Luangwa in July too? I was assuming the weather would be similar to Botswana in July which was freezing at night (30's). Maybe I don't need to take all the winter stuff. Is the Lower Zambezi NP similar? Thanks

Lin,

I would say that South Luangwa is closer to Tanzania than it is to Botswana.

I met a couple women at Chichele last year who had just arrived from about a 10 night mobile tented safari in Botswana and they said that it was about 10 - 15 degrees warmer at night in South Luangwa than it had been in Botswana (Linyanti and Moremi). I may have just been lucky, but I do think that since SLNP is possibly 800+ miles north of the Okavango Delta that it should be significantly warmer.

Although I hate cold weather, even I would not hesitate to visit South Luangwa in June or July. Now the Lower Zambezi, that is another story, as I froze while at Kulefu last year, and even LZNP must be at least 400 miles south of South Luangwa.