For many people, the aim of a trip to Tanzania or Kenya is to see the “Great Migration”.

The migration is not a once-off event, it’s a continuous annual process – the attached graphics show where the main herds generally should be at any particular time, but often they are NOT!  The herds often move backwards and forwards, and across the park, sometimes over 40 km overnight! It is also not one huge herd of animals, but numerous large and small herds, all with their own particular agenda.

The movement of the herds is governed by a variety of factors, each of which independently and jointly make the animals move.  Amongst others:

• Rainfall – the time of the rains, and also the duration and intensity of the showers has an effect on the grazing and water quality.
• Water sources and quality – basically, many of the streams and rivers that cross the Serengeti have a high chloride and fluoride content. The water smells and animals do not like drinking it – a good quantity of rain will flush out a lot of salts, leaving pools of decent water… low quantity of rain will not.
• Controlled burning by National Parks and (uncontrolled) by poachers and natural fires on the edge of the parks – often drives the game away, until the new grass comes back – which can often only take a week or two.
• Predation
• Poaching and hunting outside the parks
• Numerous other factors – it’s not an exact science

Another point is River Crossings – the famous “huge crocodile catches baby zebra” photo we all want.  Apart from the fact that professionals spend months at a time in the park obtaining the right image, you have to have patience. Often you can sit at a great spot, with a large mass of wildebeest on one bank waiting to cross, and they do nothing for 2 days …and as soon as you wake up late, or leave your spot for an hour, you return to the spot and THEY HAVE ALL CROSSED in 20 minutes and are standing on the opposite bank, with only a few fat crocodiles to show where they were!!!! (We once saw a whole wildebeest completely eaten in 4 minutes by 11 crocs on the Grumeti River).

The following should be used as a guideline when planning your safari to East Africa – movement of wildlife depends on a great many aspects – but this helps to explain the seasonality of game viewing. Remember there is resident game throughout the year in the Serengeti/Ngorongoro eco-systems.

JAN / FEB / MARCH

The big herds of wildebeest are generally in the southern plains of the Serengeti eco-system, calving takes place over approximately two weeks. Lots of predators, good visibility of game, mix of open plains and some woodland.

APRIL / MAY

The herds start moving toward central Serengeti. This is typically the rainy season, however, game viewing is still excellent and there are some great discounts available at lodges and camps. It generally doesn’t rain all day. Photography is generally superb with moody skies and good depth of colour.

JUNE / JULY / AUGUST

The wildebeest move from the central area and split to the west and north, continuing their trek toward the Mara River. River crossings may be seen in both the western corridor (Grumeti area) and north (Mara River) within the Serengeti.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER

Whilst some of the wildebeest successfully reach the Masai Mara, there are still hundreds of thousands remaining in the northern region of Serengeti, offering those with patience the chance to see river crossings (the Mara River runs through the Serengeti).

NOVEMBER / DECEMBER

The big herds start to return from the north, to the southern plains, to start the whole process again!

REMEMBER…..

There is excellent game viewing throughout the year both in Tanzania and Kenya.