Chase the seasons - or run from them?
Hi all,
Departure date for my African trip is flexible, I just want it to start some time in 2018, so I have the opportunity to plan around good weather (a bit).
I'm allowing 4-6 months from London to Cape Town down the West coast and money will be more of a restriction than time.
I'd prefer to hit Southern Africa in Spring or Summer, but it's not mandatory. Obviously to maximise sunlight/warmth I would aim to leave close to the June Solstice and arrive close to the December Solstice.
There are two considerations to this: - Heat in North Africa
- Rain in West Africa
I've tried to compile a bit of info on temperature and rainfall to work out what the optimal time would be to leave. Unfortunately some regions have two "spikes" of wet seasons, and of course individual cities and regions would have different patterns so this is a very rough stab in the wet.
The trickiest areas seem to be around Nigeria and Cameroon where the wet season is more consistent, and there isn't a gap in the middle as there seems to be further South:
I'm also concerned about heading towards Cameroon as September/October approach, having tried to arrive in Togo after July when the rain is heaviest.
I got my temperature and rainfall stats from this site, by the way: https://weather-and-climate.com/.
So it seems that the best way to avoid the wet is to shift the trip by a few months and ride between the equinoxes rather than the solstices.
I'm wondering from those who have done it how much of a factor the wet season really is, and whether it's worth sacrificing summer weather in Europe and Southern Africa to make it a slightly smoother trip?
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