Ethiopia

June is the quietest month for travel in Ethiopia and is the best time for travellers on a budget. The rainy season in the Simien Mountains starts in June.

Kenya

The rains give way to cloudy, cooler weather, making for very comfortable conditions, especially in the highlands.

Tanzania

June is the beginning of the dry season and temperatures are cool in the highlands and the plateaus on the mainland. From June to end of August visitors to Ngorongoro and the highlands in southern and northeastern Tanzania are advised to pack warm clothing as it can get a bit chilly in the evening and early morning. Scenery is beautiful with wild flowers and a mixture of green vegetation and golden plains. June is the best time for viewing migratory animals and predators in the central and western Serengeti areas as they head north or west in search of water and greener pastures with some dramatic Grumeti River crossings. Wildlife in Tarangire is excellent from June to October. Tented camps and airstrips in Selous, Katavi, Ruaha, Gombe and Mahale in southern and western Tanzania are now open and the best time for game viewing is during the dry season from end of May to December. June is a good month for forest walks and chimpanzee tracking in Mahale and Gombe. All the game parks offer excellent bird watching in June and beach resorts are open.

Mafia Island

Turtle hatching starts on Juani island. It a 30 minute boat ride way and 40 minute walk across Juani island to the remote East coast beaches favored by the green turtles and hawksbills, protected by SEASENSE. Snorkeling and diving is restricted to inside the bay, which is protected from the strong Kusi (South) winds and huge ocean swell that make it unsafe to venture out into the open ocean.

Weather is cool, comfortable and sometime windy; Good sleeping weather. Sometime it is too windy for sandbank picnics but then great for snorkeling, walking and sailing

Zanzibar

Kilimanjaro & Mt Kenya

The dry season, beginning in June, can be very cold at night, but usually is clear of clouds. June is a good moth for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

Rwanda

The rains have stoped and Rwnada is wonderfully green with lots of flowers and is a lovely time to trek with superb green vistas. June is a good month to see both gorillas and golden monkeys in Volcanoes National Park and chimps in Nungwe National Park .

Uganda

June is the start of the dry season in Uganda. Water levels increase and the water flow over Murchison Falls becomes heavier. June is one of the best times for gorilla tracking because it is the start of the drier months. In the savannah reserves vegetation is thinning out and animals gather around water sources making wildlife easier to spot.

South Africa

Head to: Durban, where the city remains balmy enough to snorkel and swim, despite the winter. You may be lucky to witness the Sardine Run (a unique phenomenon when millions of sardines travel up the east coast of South Africa causing a feeding frenzy that attracts thousands of sharks, dolphins, whales, birds and other ocean predators. Also a good month for a safari in the malaria-free Madikwe Game Reserve. The days can still be warm and comfortable (mornings/evening bit chillier) and game viewing is at its best.

Avoid: Eastern Cape inland (highland) – gets very cold.

Botswana

Typically June is when the African Wild Dog den, which forces them to remain in one area for a longer length of time. The best areas to view wild dogs is in the Linyanti/Kwando regions and the Khwai area of Moremi.

Madagascar

June is winter in Madagascar with a small amount of austral winter rain so quite wet especially in the rainforests and it may bet quite chilly at night. Temperatures are moderate and Madagascar enjoys sunny days. There are several cultural festivals events falling in June, July and August – Returning the Dead, Circumcision and Independence Day. Trekking in the highlands is good as the tracks dry out and if you are lucky you can see whales off the coast at Sainte Marie. June is the mating season for lemurs.

Malawi

Lillian’s Lovebirds congregate in large flocks of hundreds from June – August. This is a phenomenon that is caused by the Candelabra Euphorbia flowering which provides a feast for the birds. At this time, it’s possible to spot larger herds of elephant, which reach into the hundreds. In June and July, crocodile mating also occurs. Mating takes approximately 10 minutes in the water and two months later, the female lays her eggs, which she buries underground and ferociously protects by lying on top of them.

In June and July, the weather is warmer during the day and slightly chillier in the early mornings and evenings.

Mozambique

Namibia

Fish River Canyon hike is open

Great game viewing in the Etosha National Park, including Elephants, Rhino and plains game

Dry, winter season. Less vegetation. Naturally occurring waterholes dry up, so animals congregate around boreholes and man-made waterholes

Virtually no clouds, so great for star-gazing

Zambia

Can see interesting and rarer animals like aardvark, caracal and serval in some camps.

Cool mornings and evenings, days are mild to warm.

Lovely sunsets and warm early morning light. The wildebeest herds in Liuwa start to migrate north.

Zimbabwe

Cool climes, great prices! May and June are the start of Zimbabwe’s winter months with the bush starting to clear making game viewing better. Game viewing will be excellent in Mana Pools National Park (Vundu and Kanga Camps), the Main Camp region of Hwange National Park, Gonarezhou. May and June are the start of the denning season for the African Wild Dogs offering the chance to view dens and puppies. Visiibility of Victoria Falls starts clearing with a good flow of the Falls – a fantastic time to view them.

Republic of Congo

As the end of the first-rainy season draw closer the camps open for the start of the new season. Sitatunga sightings are good in the bai’s around Lango and as water levels start dropping after the rains. Palm Nut Vultures patrol the waterways for trapped fish. Afternoon showers often roll in with only a few minutes notice but disappears as soon as they appeared, leaving clear skies behind, ideal for star gazing.

Bhutan

June is the beginning of monsoon in Bhutan and it is normally good to visit until the third week of June, with light rain falling mainly in the late afternoons and evenings. The temperatures will be maximum 29 °C to 14°C minimum.

June heralds the beginning of Bhutan’s three months off season when the country experiences fewer visitors.

India

June is the driest month of the year and the last operational month for most parks in India as they close for monsoon months to avoid torrential rain that could cause flash floods. A great month for photographers who can take the heat and stake out waterholes. Avoid parks in Western India (Gujarat & Rajasthan) as it is already too hot.

By now it is too hot to be traveling to parks with temperatures ranging from 48°C to 40°C. Hats and water are essential – it’s mostly serious photographers who are in the parks.

There are forest fires during June. Monsoons hit southern states by the end of June and sometimes the parks close at a day’s notice. Although the weather is warm it is a great time to travel to parks in south India. The riverbeds and grasslands dry-up and one often finds male elephants battling each other for mating rights over a herd. Since water sources have shrunk it is a fantastic time of the year to catch the otherwise elusive Black Panther in Kabini / Nagarhole National Park.

Nepal

June is the driest month of the year and the last operational month for most parks in Nepal as they close for monsoon months to avoid torrential rain that could cause flash floods. Temperatures range from 40°C to 45°C and hats and water are essential

There are also forest fires and monsoons hit southern national parks by the end of June. It is not advisable to visit the national parks especially in the lowlands of Nepal.

Sri Lanka

Palu fruit season tails off in Yala in June and encounter rates of sloth bear would remain good. At Wilpattu, sightings of sloth bear on the main road increase as the dry season intensifies between May – early October. Chance encounters in Kumana would also be possible due to the Palu fruit season.

Good variety of resident species can be observed in most of the larger dry-zone national parks. Sightings of endemics should remain consistent in the lowland rainforests and highlands. Conditions can be wet due to the arrival of the south west monsoon. Be prepared for more leeches.

During this month, more elephants can be observed at Udawalawe. As water levels in the dry zone begin to decrease the elephant numbers in Minneriya / Kaudulla national parks should start to increase. The open terrain in Minneriya / Kaudulla provide better opportunities for observing elephant behaviour.

One of the better months for viewing leopard in Yala as conditions should be predominantly dry and visitation is low. Encounter rates in Wilpattu should also increase.  Chance encounters are also possible at Kumana where there are hardly visitors however the leopards may be less habituated.

Concentrations of mugger crocodiles in the waterholes increase as the water levels decline in Yala and Bundala – it is not uncommon to see 30+ individuals at Buttuwa wewa or Koma wewa. Chance encounters of Estuarine Crocodile is also a possibility in Bundala.

Seychelles

The average temperature for June is 29c and South Easterly wind should be blowing steadily. As of now until December the destination feels a lot less humid and the sea breeze leaves the islands nice and cool.

The slightly breezier conditions make it ideal for hiking, surfing and windsurfing. The seas away from the islands can start to be a little less calm at this time but is still great for diving, fishing and island hoping between the 115 islands.

Green turtles, which lay thier eggs throughout the year, are more common June to September. May – September is also the nesting season for Sooty terns and they can be seen by the thousands on Bird Island during June.

Maldives

Temperature between 27-30 degrees Celsius approximately

Stronger winds, rough waters with a high chance of rain

Wildlife to be spotted: Turtles / Reef Sharks / Eagle-Sting Ray / Manta and Whale Shark season slowing down – not as common sightings

Mauritius