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How hot does the Kruger Park get in December? I normally only visit in August but I have been to the Park on two occasions in May. My last visit in May was extremely hot.

I am thinking of a quick 4 night visit in mid December and I see that there is accommodation available. But I am weary of the heat.

Aircon & swimmingpools But December does get very hot, sometimes obove 40 with humidity of note.

But then, sometimes it is nice and cool with some rain. Best time for me.

We were there in March of 08 and it was plenty hot there then....well high 20's is hot for us but the day of the cricket in around mid March was 40 and maybe a bit more
I think Dec will be very hot

Scip's gave it in a good way. It gets HOT, yes the rain helps and if you need to know the temperature, think of the swimming pools at between 30 and 32 at that time, and yes when you get in you cool down.

Mizzbee, it can get very,very hot but for me the hottest i have ever been in kruger was in March one year when it was well over 40°C.

But my family often go in December and although its hot its worth it to see all the greenery and new borns If you are like me and like to travel the whole day it just means that (as much as i hate it) at midday you close the windows for a little and let the aircon cool you down.

Hey Mizbee when we were there in Jan 2 Years ago we hit 47 one day . Like Sprocky and oddesy said the Pool and Aircon are your friends but on the plus we saw far more game than our last April/May trip. Looking forward to being there in Jan again .

Have had 45 once at Satara a few years ago

We visited Kruger between Xmas and NY last year. Luckily it was cloudy and very pleasant. Its warmer than Durbs but not as humid. Think of 'Maritzburg in summer and you will get an idea.

May is sometimes even hotter than Dec, because of the absence of thunder storms to cool you down.

Never been there in December , but once at end November , and then towards end January . Hot and humid both times , but after a rainshower in the afternoon , its not too bad

Have been VERY hot there, and unexpectedly, very cold. The weather always take strange turns, but prepare for mostly heat.
I remember my father coming out of the air-conditioned hut and concerned and confused asked: "Where is the fire?" This happened about 30 years ago and it is still the same!

I really enjoy December... all the new horns, the newish green the busy birds . I love the beginning of December when it is still rather quiet. My hottest month has tended to be October though. On my last trip I experienced 45 degrees.

About 10 years ago we visited Kruger in December - we stayed at Shingwedzi in a bungalow with no air con (only one night thank goodness) It was all that was available - at least there was a S/Pool we convinced ourselves....
We rushed to the pool to cool down and there was no space in the pool everyone else had the same idea! We booked a night drive and that helped a lot!!!

Needless to say we left very early the next morning for our air-con camp (Now with the 2pm check-in, it means you have to drive around in the heat of the day

As the others have said, the weather is unpredictable and have experienced very cold weather as well

On the 1st of October this year Lower Sabie's temp was moving towards the mid 40's, so you can add some plus a whole lot more humidity and you'll get your average day in December. Two years ago at Skukuza on one day it was still 39 at 18H00 in the evening so you can imagine what 13H00 felt like. The swimming pools can feel like bath water at times.

Rainy days are nice and cool though

But despite all that heat, one of my favourite times of the year.

Hi Mizzbee

It can get close to unbearably hot - our worst was probably 39 degrees C at 9pm at Bataleur one year. Aircons are great - if the power doesn't go down (as it did at Bataleur that year!). I personally try to manage the heat by constantly wetting whatever shirt I am wearing - if it's hot enough, I literally walk into the shower fully clothed and repeat the exercise as soon as the clothes dry and this works quite well as a personaly aircon! Wet sarongs or towels also work well - especially at night if you don't have aircon.

But then, as people have said, it can be cloudy, cool and overcast - we've been flooded out of a camp and had to buy jerseys - also in December so nothing is guaranteed.

But Kruger is beautiful in Dec - green and lush, lots of babies, wonderful birds - and so, despite the above, we are doing a 10 day trip in Dec comprising one night in a camp with a pool, 3 nights in camps with tents (and therefore no aircon), 3 nights on a Wilderness Trail and 4 nights in a 6 sleeper where only one room has aircon (still got to figure how we're going to allocate that one!).

PS We take a lot of Game to drink because it is really quite easy to de-hydrate in such conditions

We wilted in 45 degrees in SEPTEMBER one year.

Shower at midday, in your clothes and let them dry on you. Repeat every 10 minutes...

The way we beat the heat was to buy up a large stock of those frozen fruit juice sachets. We would drive around and rub it on our necks & arms and then puncture the sachet & drink it. Rather sticky than too hot. You learn not to be fussy very quickly.

In December, it could rain a lot to cool it down a bit. One December after an overnight thunderstorm, it was like a Cape day in July.....