Month by month: temperatures, rain, wildlife and tracks — for every region our routes pass through.
Home Destinations Namibia When to go
The best time to visit Namibia is the dry season from May to October: clear skies, warm days, cool nights, and wildlife gathering at the waterholes. November to April is the green season — hot, with afternoon thunderstorms, newborn animals and almost empty tracks.
At a glance
Month by month
Temperatures are average daily highs and lows, rain is the average monthly total in Etosha. Individual days and years can differ a lot.
| Month | Day / night | Rain in Etosha | Wildlife in Etosha | On the road |
|---|---|---|---|---|
JanuaryGreen seasonNow | Windhoek: day 29 °C, night 17 °C Etosha: day 31 °C, night 20 °C | 95 mm | fair | Hot and green. Thunderstorms build in the afternoon, and the land steams afterwards. Wildlife spreads out, but migrant birds are here — and hardly any other vehicles. |
FebruaryGreen seasonNow | Windhoek: day 28 °C, night 17 °C Etosha: day 31 °C, night 20 °C | 97 mm | fair | The wettest month. After storms the dry rivers in the northwest flow for a few hours and some tracks become impassable. In return, even the desert blooms. |
MarchGreen seasonNow | Windhoek: day 27 °C, night 16 °C Etosha: day 30 °C, night 20 °C | 71 mm | fair | The rain eases and the land is at its greenest. Quiet weeks for anyone who loves storm skies and soft light. |
AprilGreen seasonNow | Windhoek: day 25 °C, night 13 °C Etosha: day 30 °C, night 18 °C | 18 mm | fair | Transition: the grass is still high, the rains are nearly over and temperatures turn pleasant. A good compromise between green and dry. |
MayDry seasonNow | Windhoek: day 23 °C, night 10 °C Etosha: day 28 °C, night 15 °C | 1 mm | good | The dry season begins. Warm days, clear air, the first cool nights — still ahead of the high season. |
JuneDry seasonNow | Windhoek: day 21 °C, night 7 °C Etosha: day 25 °C, night 11 °C | 0 mm | good | Winter in the highlands: around 21 °C by day, cold at night. The bush thins out and wildlife visits the water more often. |
JulyDry seasonNow | Windhoek: day 21 °C, night 6 °C Etosha: day 25 °C, night 11 °C | 0 mm | excellent | The coolest month, around 6 °C at night in Windhoek. Clear days, starry skies, wildlife at the waterholes. The high season begins. |
AugustDry seasonNow | Windhoek: day 24 °C, night 8 °C Etosha: day 29 °C, night 13 °C | 0 mm | excellent | Days grow warmer, wind and dust pick up. In Etosha the animals crowd around fewer and fewer waterholes. |
SeptemberDry seasonNow | Windhoek: day 28 °C, night 11 °C Etosha: day 33 °C, night 17 °C | 1 mm | excellent | Warm, dry, barely a cloud. The bush is bare, the views long, and wildlife viewing at its peak. |
OctoberDry seasonNow | Windhoek: day 30 °C, night 14 °C Etosha: day 34 °C, night 20 °C | 8 mm | excellent | The hottest month in Etosha, 34 °C on average. The game sticks to the last waterholes, and towards the end the first clouds build. |
NovemberGreen seasonNow | Windhoek: day 30 °C, night 15 °C Etosha: day 33 °C, night 20 °C | 34 mm | good | Hot, the first storms. The first young are born, migrant birds return, and wildlife begins to disperse. |
DecemberGreen seasonNow | Windhoek: day 31 °C, night 17 °C Etosha: day 33 °C, night 20 °C | 76 mm | fair | The rains begin and the land turns green. Hot with afternoon storms — only the cool coast is busy, because many Namibians spend their holidays there. |
The choice
May – October
Our main travelling season. The land is golden and dusty, the sky almost always clear.
Why go
Keep in mind
November – April
Storms, green and solitude. For anyone who likes heat and wants the land without other travellers.
Why go
Keep in mind
Region by region
Between the cold Atlantic and the rivers of the northeast lie worlds apart. On the coast the Benguela current keeps days cool and often foggy all year, while the Kunene valley averages 37 °C in October.
Start and end of every journey
At around 1,650 metres. Clear, crisp days and cold nights in winter, afternoon storms in summer.
Values for Windhoek
Desert
Rain is rare here, around 80 mm a year on average. In summer we climb the dunes before sunrise, in winter the nights turn cold.
Values for Sesriem
Northwest
Hot, dry, rocky. Desert-adapted elephants follow the dry rivers. After summer storms the rivers sometimes flow for a few hours.
Values for Twyfelfontein
On the Kunene
Namibia’s most remote corner: Van Zyl’s Pass, Himba villages, the Epupa Falls. Down in the valley it gets hot, and the falls run fullest after the rains.
Values for Epupa
National park
The scarcer the water, the more animals at the waterholes. In the rainy season they spread across the whole park.
Values for Okaukuejo
Northeast
Rivers, woodland and the most rain in the country. Humid, hot summers. From here the road leads on to Botswana and Victoria Falls.
Values for Katima Mulilo
Climate values: 1991–2020 averages calculated from ERA5 reanalysis data of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, retrieved via Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). They describe an area of a few kilometres around each place, not a weather station.
Through the year
Rough periods. Nature does not keep to calendar months, and every year is different.
Dry season: May – October
Green season: November – April
Afternoon thunderstorms: December – March
Wildlife at Etosha’s waterholes: July – October
Cold nights in the highlands and the desert: June – August
Hot days in Etosha, 32 °C and more: September – December
Newborn animals: November – February
Migrant birds: November – April
Epupa Falls in full flow: February – May
Okavango flood in Botswana: June – August
Planning
Our small groups are booked about a year in advance. If you have a particular month in mind, get in touch early.
In winter there are often 15 degrees between midday and dawn. A warm jacket, hat and gloves for early game drives belong in your bag — even if it is 25 °C at noon.
There is malaria in the north, above all in the rainy season and along the Okavango and Zambezi. Get travel-medicine advice before you go.
After storms the dry rivers often flow for only a few hours — but that is long enough to close a track. A route in the green season needs a little room to breathe.
Journeys
Most of our journeys run in the dry season. Tell us when you can travel — we will tell you which route suits that time best.
Frequently asked
For most travellers the dry season from May to October: there is hardly any rain, days are warm, nights cool, and wildlife gathers at the waterholes. For Etosha, July to October is best. If you can handle the heat, November to April shows you a green, almost empty country.
Roughly November to April, with most rain from January to March — mostly as short, heavy afternoon thunderstorms. In Etosha around 66 percent of the annual rain falls in those three months. In the south and on the coast it almost never rains.
From June to August, nights in Windhoek average 6 to 7 °C, and on clear nights in the highlands and the desert it can approach freezing. Days are still 21 to 25 °C. Pack warm clothes for evenings and early game drives.
July to October. Water is scarce then, and the animals come to the waterholes on the edge of the pan: elephants, lions, rhinos, giraffes and large herds of zebra and springbok. In the rainy season they spread across the whole park.
Yes, if you like heat and thunderstorms. The land is green, there are newborn animals and migrant birds, and the tracks are empty. On the other hand, wildlife is more spread out, tracks in the northwest can close after rain, and days often reach over 30 °C.
Inland from October to January. Etosha averages 34 °C in October, the Namib at Sossusvlei 34 °C in January. The coast stays much cooler thanks to the cold Atlantic.
Yes, but not every route suits every month. In the rainy season tracks in the northwest can be closed for a while, and in October Etosha gets very hot. Tell us when you can travel and we will suggest the right route.
As early as you can. Our small groups are booked about a year in advance — if you have a particular month in mind, get in touch early.
Plan a journey
Tell us your travel month and what you want to see — we will suggest a route and dates.
Plan a journeyNo booking yet — just a first conversation. Tell us roughly what you have in mind; we reply within two working days with an honest assessment and a first route.
tuye@african-explorers.comWhatsApp +264 81 292 4206
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