May is a genuine turning point for Africa, with the continent's dry and wet seasons trading places depending on where you are.
Southern Africa's safari regions, including Botswana and South Africa's Kruger area, move into their dry season this month, drawing wildlife toward waterholes and making sightings easier. East Africa's long rains are tapering off by May, though early in the month can still be wet in places, with conditions improving steadily as the weeks go on. Cape Town and the wider Cape region head the other way, moving out of their dry summer and into a wetter, cooler stretch. North Africa stays warm and increasingly dry, building toward the heat of summer. Coastal areas along the Indian Ocean also stay pleasant while conditions shift elsewhere on the continent.
The destinations on our list for Africa reflect that same shift, from a strengthening dry season in the south to a changing one further north.
