South Africa's September Sweet Spot

Kruger and the northern safari parks peak May to September, when thinning vegetation makes game viewing easiest. Cape Town and the Garden Route run the opposite way — November to March, summer, for warm and dry conditions on the coast. Those two calendars don't naturally overlap, which is the whole planning problem with a country-wide South Africa trip.

September and October are the answer: safari conditions in the north are still excellent, and the Cape is coming into a pleasant spring rather than deep winter. It's also whale-watching season along the coast, peaking in September, with Hermanus among the best land-based spotting anywhere in the world.