Seasons by city

The year in Polokwane

Polokwane stands on a high, dry plateau in the bushveld of Limpopo, about 50 kilometres south of the Tropic of Capricorn.

Biome Savanna
Rain Summer rain
Altitude about 1 230 m
Rainfall about 480 mm a year
Province Limpopo

Where the year begins

Rain falls in summer, often in short, heavy storms, and the year is dry overall. Summer days are hot; winter days are mild and sunny, with cold nights.

Savanna, or bushveld, is grass with scattered trees such as thorn trees and marulas. It is the largest biome in South Africa, warm for most of the year, with summer rain and a long dry season.

What summer rain means here

Most of the year's rain falls between October and March, often in afternoon thunderstorms, and winter is the dry season.

Keep outdoor lessons to the morning in summer, when storms are least likely, and treat the first big storm of spring as an event to mark together. Winter is the long, dry season for walks, fires and gathering seed.

The turning points of 2027

Dates are in South African time. Sunrise, sunset and daylight are worked out for Polokwane's rounded location.

Solstices and equinoxes in 2027, with sunrise, sunset and daylight in Polokwane
Turning point	Sunrise	Sunset	Daylight
Autumn equinoxSaturday 20 March 2027	06:05	18:13	12 h 8 min
Midwinter, the shortest dayMonday 21 June 2027	06:44	17:23	10 h 40 min
Spring equinoxThursday 23 September 2027	05:51	17:58	12 h 7 min
Midsummer, the longest dayWednesday 22 December 2027	05:12	18:49	13 h 37 min

Summer: December, January, February

The heat comes early in the day, so walks and garden work belong to the first hours after sunrise. Marula fruit ripens and falls in late summer, and its smell fills the bush.

First signs to watch for

Cicadas singing
Mopane worms on the trees
Longest day
Woodland kingfisher calling
Dung beetles rolling
Marula fruit falling

Dung beetles rolling balls of dung along the road after rain

In the evening sky

On 22 December 2027, midsummer, the longest day, at about 20:04: the moon is waning crescent, 25 percent lit, not yet up, and the Southern Cross is below the horizon or too low to see. Planets: Saturn, high in the north; Venus, low in the west. For early risers: Jupiter before dawn in the north-east.

Also up: Grus, the Crane, halfway up in the south-west; The Small Magellanic Cloud, halfway up in the south; The Large Magellanic Cloud, halfway up in the south.

On the nature table

Deep green cotton with a band of red-brown felt for a dirt road, with marula stones, washed and dried after the fruit is eaten; seed pods from under thorn trees (check them for thorns); a feather found on a walk; a small potted plant.

Safety this season

On midsummer's day the sun is highest at 12:00, 90 degrees above the horizon, so a child's shadow almost disappears at noon; keep the hours around it for shade, hats, sunscreen and water.
Snakes are about in the warm months: stay on paths, look where you step, and leave any snake alone.
Ticks are in the long grass now: check arms, legs and hair afterwards.

Festivals

Midsummer Festival on Wednesday 22 December 2027; Christmas on Saturday 25 December 2027 (Christian).

Three things to do outside

Watching the Weavers

Nature walk, 30 minutes

Sitting quietly near a tree with weaver nests and watching the birds build, call and fly.

Water: an adult stays within arm's reach of every child near water, the whole time.
Weaver colonies are often over water. Hold hands near any dam or river and stay well back from the edge.

Catching Shadows

Game, 30 minutes

Watching shadows grow short and long through the day, and noticing how long the summer evening light lasts.

Play in shade as much as you can between 10 and 3, and wear hats and sunscreen.

Washing the Stoep

Water, 40 minutes

On a hot day, scrubbing the stoep together with buckets, brushes and a little soap, splashing as you go and leaving everything clean and cool.

Water: an adult stays within arm's reach of every child near water, the whole time.
A small child can topple head first into a bucket. Keep only a little water in each, stay within arm's reach, and tip the buckets out as soon as you finish.

Autumn: March, April, May

The rains end and the bush begins to dry. Grass seeds stick to socks on every walk: a good chance to talk about how seeds travel.

First signs to watch for

Last summer storm
Swallows gathering
Impala rut begins
Kingfishers gone
Leaves turning copper
First cool morning

The woodland kingfishers gone quiet, then gone north

In the evening sky

On 20 March 2027, autumn equinox, at about 19:28: the moon is waxing gibbous, 96 percent lit, halfway up in the north-east, and the Southern Cross is halfway up in the south-east. Planets: Jupiter, halfway up in the north-east; Mars, halfway up in the north-east. For early risers: Mercury before dawn in the east; Venus before dawn in the east.

Also up: Canis Major and Sirius, almost overhead in the west; Orion, high in the north-west; Carina and Canopus, high in the south.

On the nature table

Golden yellow cotton with a copper-coloured ribbon for the turning mopane leaves, with fallen copper and yellow leaves, such as mopane or bushwillow; bushwillow seed pods with their four papery wings; dry grass seed heads; a smooth stone.

Safety this season

At the autumn equinox the midday sun, at 12:09, still stands 66 degrees high and burns quickly, so hats stay on and the late afternoon becomes the pleasant time to be out.
Snakes are about in the warm months: stay on paths, look where you step, and leave any snake alone.
Ticks are in the long grass now: check arms, legs and hair afterwards.

Festivals

Autumn Harvest Festival on Saturday 20 March 2027; Easter on Sunday 28 March 2027 (Christian); Freedom Day Family Stories on Tuesday 27 April 2027.

Three things to do outside

Hide-and-Seek in the Bushveld

Game, 60 minutes

On a cool winter day, hide-and-seek in a patch of familiar bushveld with the boundaries tied in bright cloth, a home tree, a whistle call and a seeker who counts to one hundred in fives.

Play only on land you know well, such as your own plot or a farm camp where there are no large animals. If anyone sees a snake or a large animal, they stand still and blow their whistle.

Finding the Southern Cross

Sky watching, 30 minutes

On a clear autumn evening, finding the two bright Pointers and following them to the Southern Cross, then using the Cross to find south.

Go out soon after dark so that younger children are in bed at their usual time. By April and May the Cross is already well up in the south east early in the evening.

Shelling on the Stoep

Practical life, 30 minutes

Sitting together in the shade of the stoep, your child pops green peas out of their pods in spring or rubs dry kernels off mealie cobs in autumn, counting as they go.

Dry mealie kernels are small and hard. Keep them out of the reach of babies and toddlers, who can choke on them.

Winter: June, July, August

Dry, sunny days and cold nights. Aloes flower red on the koppies, and the bare bush makes birds and animals easier to see.

First signs to watch for

Aloes flowering
Waterhole busy
Coral tree in flower
Coldest night
Knob thorns flowering
First hot wind

Bare trees and dry, golden grass, with wide views through the bush

In the evening sky

On 21 June 2027, midwinter, the shortest day, at about 19:00: the moon is waning gibbous, 94 percent lit, not yet up, and the Southern Cross is high in the south. Planets: Mars, high in the north-west; Jupiter, halfway up in the north-west. For early risers: Saturn before dawn in the north-east.

Also up: Centaurus and the Pointers, high in the south; Leo, the Lion, halfway up in the north-west; Scorpius, halfway up in the east.

On the nature table

Dusty gold cotton with a small blue cloth in the middle for a waterhole, with fallen seed pods and twigs from bare trees; dry golden grass; stones to make the edge of the waterhole; a small potted aloe.

Safety this season

On the shortest day the sun reaches only 43 degrees, at 12:03, and midday shadows are long, but it still burns; cold mornings mean water play waits for a warmer day.

Festivals

Midwinter Lantern Evening on Monday 21 June 2027; Women's Day on Monday 9 August 2027.

Three things to do outside

Naming the Sunset Colours

Sky watching, 30 minutes

On a clear winter evening, sitting together to watch the sun go down and naming each colour in the sky as it changes, then painting them the next morning.

Look at the sky around the sun, never straight at the sun itself, even when it is low and red. If it dazzles, look away.

Midday Shadow Tag

Game, 20 minutes

A running game for a cold, bright winter day. Around midday, when the low winter sun still casts long shadows, the catcher tries to step on the other players' shadows.

The winter sun is low but can still burn at midday, especially at altitude. Wear hats, and put sunscreen on faces if you play for long.

Seedlings on the Windowsill

Garden, 30 minutes

In late winter, sowing tomato, sweet pepper and basil seeds in an egg box on a sunny windowsill and caring for them each morning until they are ready to plant out in spring.

Some bought seeds are coated and are not for eating. Put the packets away after sowing and wash hands afterwards.

Spring: September, October, November

Thorn trees put out cream and yellow puffball flowers before the rain, and the heat builds until the first storms break.

First signs to watch for

Weeping boer-bean flowering
New leaves before the rain
Swallows back
First summer thunderstorm
Jacaranda in bloom
Woodland kingfisher back

Woodland kingfishers and paradise flycatchers arriving

In the evening sky

On 23 September 2027, spring equinox, at about 19:13: the moon is last quarter, 47 percent lit, not yet up, and the Southern Cross is low in the south-west. Planets: Mars, halfway up in the west. For early risers: Saturn before dawn in the north-west.

Also up: Sagittarius and the Teapot, almost overhead in the south-west; Scorpius, high in the west; Pavo, the Peacock, high in the south.

On the nature table

Pale green silk over dusty gold cotton, with scraps of deep red felt for the boer-bean flowers, with fallen red flowers from a garden boer-bean or coral tree; fresh fallen leaves; grass and twigs for a nest; feathers found on a walk.

Safety this season

By the spring equinox the midday sun is back up at 66 degrees, at 11:54, and UV climbs quickly towards October, so bring the hats out before the heat arrives.
Bees are busy with the spring flowers: walk calmly past hives and flowering trees.

Festivals

Spring Festival of Blossoms on Thursday 23 September 2027; Heritage Day on Friday 24 September 2027; First Rains Festival on Monday 25 October 2027; Diwali on Monday 1 November 2027 (Hindu), a date that moves; check locally.

Three things to do outside

The Worm Heap

Garden, 40 minutes

Building and feeding a compost heap together, turning it now and then and finding the earthworms that turn kitchen peels into dark, crumbly soil.

Spiders and the odd scorpion like warm heaps. Wear gloves, and the adult lifts the top layer with the fork before small hands go in.

A Friendly Scarecrow

Practical life, 75 minutes

At spring planting time your child builds a scarecrow from two poles, old clothes and dry grass, gives it a kind face and a name, and plants it in the vegetable bed to keep the birds off the seedlings.

If you cut long grass for stuffing in spring or summer, wear boots, make plenty of noise as you go and let the adult do the cutting, because snakes rest in long grass.

Dawn Bird Calls

Nature walk, 40 minutes

Getting up just before sunrise to walk quietly and listen to the birds waking, learning one or two calls by ear and ending with a warm drink as the sun comes up.

Walk on pavements and garden paths you know well, as the light is low. Hold small hands near any road or driveway.

Places to walk

Polokwane Game Reserve

A large reserve on the edge of the city, where families can walk and drive among zebra, giraffe and antelope.

Bakone Malapa Northern Sotho Open-Air Museum

A living museum of Northern Sotho village life south of the city, with pottery, building and crafts.

Where these facts come from

Biome, rainfall regime, solstices, equinoxes, sunrise, sunset, the midday sun and the evening sky are computed by Selemo's season engine for Polokwane at 23.90 degrees south, 29.45 degrees east, rounded to about 5 km, using Meeus's astronomical algorithms and the NOAA solar equations.
Biome names follow the national vegetation map of South Africa (Mucina and Rutherford); first signs, the nature table and festivals come from Selemo's seasons library, version 1; activities come from Selemo's activity library, chosen by the Outdoor Matcher for a typical clear morning in each season after the safety rules; altitude and rainfall are rounded long-term figures, being checked against South African Weather Service climate data.

Registering for home education in Limpopo

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