Plan Your African Adventure: A Calendar of Events

by Dominic Chadbon, 3 January 2008

Plan a holiday in Africa to coincide with one of the remarkable events taking place somewhere on this fascinating continent. Dominic Chadbon helps you identify the year's big events.

You don't want to come all the way to Africa only to find out that you've just missed the great wildebeest migration or an intriguing cultural festival in the Seychelles.

We figured you could use this calendar in one of two ways - to see what's happening when you're planning a trip (so by month), or to home in on something of particular interest to you and make sure you head on holiday in time to take part, or witness something spectacular.

January

It's peak season for gorilla viewing in the mountainous rainforests of Uganda and Rwanda as it's one of the drier times of year. The gruelling hike is worth every step as you track a family of critically endangered gorillas under the expert guidance of local guides.

Sitting mere metres from these contemplative great apes, you may need to remind yourself, as they calmly meet your gaze, just who is observing who.

Other African events in January: zebra migration in Savuti, Botswana; Cape Town's Minstrel Carnival; and the Tamil festival of Thai Pongal on Mauritius.

February

Five hundred million litres of water cascading over the 1.7km wide lip of the Victoria Falls each minute and crashing onto boulders some 100m below, makes quite a noise. No wonder the local Batonga tribe called it "The Smoke that Thunders”.

It's the middle of the rainy season and in February the Zambezi is fast and furious. Either side of the Falls - Zimbabwe or Zambia - will give you superb, soaking views of this Natural Wonder of the World.

Other African events in February: the Sauti Za Busara music festival in Stone Town, Zanzibar, and Mauritius' eye-watering Thaipoosam Cavadee body piercing festival.

March

Renew your gym membership: it's serious sports season in South Africa's Western Cape. Slick pros and wheezing amateurs saddle up for the world's largest cycling event, the Cape Argus Cycle Tour on 9 March.

Super fit runners train for the Two Oceans Marathon on 22 March.

Totally insane mountain bikers line up for the Cape Epic - it begins its torturous route on the 28 March and finishes 900km later on 5 April.

Other African events in March: Cape Town hosts the 9th Jazz Festival on the 28 - 29 March, and Rwanda's compelling Film Festival runs from 16 to 30 March.

April

The end of the rainy season brings one of Africa's most astonishing ceremonies: the Lozi King Festival in remote western Zambia.

'Kuomboka' signals the monarch's annual move from the now flooded Zambezi lowlands to higher ground and is a spectacle of imagery: a huge barge - complete with paddlers and a replica, ear-flapping elephant - makes its way along the river accompanied by drumming and dancing.

Precise dates are hard to pin down: the ceremony works on African time and the King moves when he is ready.

Other African events in April: Gaborone's Maitisong Festivals in Botswana is a performing arts celebration from 31 March to 8 April.

May

Lace up your walking boots as Namibia's Fish River Canyon opens for hiking from 1 May to 30 September. It's a serious five-day hike - 86km with no way out except at the finish or by helicopter. You need to book well in advance and have a certificated medical check up.

The second biggest canyon in the world, it's a snaking maze of sculptured rock and emerald water. The good news? It finishes with hot springs and cold beer.

Other African events in May: The sardine run on South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal coast could begin any time from May, and there's the FetAfrik Festival in the Seychelles on 25 May.

June

Stand by for one of nature's greatest events: tens of thousands of wildebeest crossing the crocodile-infested Grumeti River in Tanzania's Serengeti. You've seen it on wildlife documentaries; nothing compares to actually being there.

The air is pungent with the smell of dust and frightened animals: they know the enormous crocs are lying in wait, and as the tension finally cracks - the instinct to keep moving north is too strong - and the river erupts.

Other African events in June: South Africa's biggest Arts festival in Grahamstown - 26 June to 5 July, the Comrades Marathon on 15 June, also in South Africa, and Zanzibar's Dhow Festival.

July

Head to South Africa's Western Cape and loosen your belt a notch or two: the Knysna Oyster Festival is on from 4 to 13 July, followed by the Stellenbosch Wine Festival from 31 July to 3 August in the country's premier wine region.

Other African events in July: A great time to see the gorillas in Uganda or Rwanda in a drier window period, or to explore Botswana's Okavango Delta in full flood. Zanzibar hosts its African cultural festival.

August

Immerse yourself in the culture of Africa this month: Swaziland holds its famous Reed Dance where young maidens present themselves to the Swazi King; Namibia's Herero people celebrate their proud traditions in Windhoek; Botswana's San Bushmen display their culture at the Kuru Festival near Ghanzi in the Kalahari; the tropical air vibrates with the sound of World Music at Maputo's Avante Mozambique! Festival; and Zambia holds the Livingstone Festival next to Victoria Falls.

Keep a lookout for precise dates nearer the time: many events have to be finalised or planned according to the moon - these are no organised tourist events but genuine expressions of culture.

Other African events in August: the Nairobi Book Fair from 8 to 12 August in Kenya, Johannesburg's month-long Arts Alive Festival in South Africa and Pere Laval Day in Mauritius - a celebration of their anti-slave trade crusader.

September

The soporific little town of Hermanus in South Africa's Western Cape comes alive from 21 to 29 September with the Whale Festival. Only an hour and a half from Cape Town, you'll be treated to the sight of enormous southern right and humpback whales leaping out of the cold Cape waters.

And you can do it without getting your feet wet: Hermanus offers the world's best land-based whale watching.

October

It's possibly Africa's most incongruous event this month: the coastal resort town of Swakopmund in Namibia rings with the sound of Bavarian oompah oompah music as towering plates of sauerkraut, sausage and eisbein are passed around and huge, foaming jugs of beer drained; it's the Oktober Fest ... in the desert.

This cholesterol-packed celebration of Namibia's German heritage is good, clean fun and the icy Atlantic is always on hand to refresh you in the blurry morning.

Other African events in October: Africa's sizeable Hindu communities celebrate Divali, while Malawi thumps the Lake of Stars music festival.

November

Around October to November the Seychelles plays host to what must be the world's biggest creole festival - a riotous, colourful montage of music, song and dance.

It's a celebration of a language and culture that extends from the Indian Ocean to the Americas, and mainly takes place on Praslin and Mahe islands. Book early (the tourism office or your agent should have dates closer to the time) and bring your dancing shoes.

Other African events in November: the beginning of Africa's second biggest wildebeest migration in Zambia's western Liuwa Plains and Kenya's Mombassa Carnival.

December

It's party time. And nowhere in Africa parties harder than Cape Town - it's hot, sunny and the beaches are sizzling. There's so much going on that it's hard to single out a specific event but if you are up for it and possess an open mind, the late December Mother City Queer Project is a celebration of gay culture that will knock your socks off. Straight folks are welcome.

Other African events in December: Cape Town also hosts the more sedate Spier Summer Festival, or catch the wildebeest arriving in the southern Serengeti.