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Each year, the Great Wildebeest Migration occurs. It’s a trademark spectacle that cements the grandness of Maasai Mara and Serengeti Game Reserves as the finest in the world. Hailed as the Seventh wonder of the world, the Serengeti to Maasai Mara,

In the migration itself, there are over 1.5 million wildebeest that pound the Mara plains, along with 200,000 browsers crossing the dangerous 1800 miles in search of food. What makes the scenery more exciting is to watch the predators stalking the animals and getting fat at the easy kill they get during this season.

The precursor to the riotous clock wise spectacle is the birth of over 400,000 calves in a six week span beginning late January to mid March. Then, 80 percent of the wildebeests give birth. The many births trigger an impatient instinct in the wildebeests to search for rain ripened grass.

During the months of April to May, many of these animals have depleted the food at the Western Corridor of the Serengeti. Because of the shortage of food, they begin to move towards the North where there are long rains. When the month of June reaches, the animals are at the Lamai wedge where the breeding occurs. Here is where we have a transitional time between the rain and dry season.

During the month of July, we have thousands upon thousands of wild herds move in a chaotic manner toward the Mara river bank. There is a lot of chaos at the animals push and shove as they seek to cross the river. The most brave of the animal finally jumps into the river that is infested with crocodile on full alert. The animals start jumping en mass and in the ensuing pandemonium, the weaker ones get trampled upon and other end up drowning in the jaws of the waiting crocodile.

Even though the crossing area is shallow, many of the wild animals drown or get mauled by the crocodiles. Dead animals float along the river and the crocodile feast and gorge themselves with food. The time to cross is dependent by the rainy season. When we have little rain, few animals cross the Mara river to the Masai Mara. We also have resident wildebeests that do not cross the river at all.

From late July to October, the wildebeests feed on grass abundant in the Maasai Mara up to November when it’s exhausted. November has short rains that trigger the migration back to Southern Serengeti via the bloated Mara River. Then, the Serengeti has ample grasslands to feed the wildebeests that make the crossing.

Along the migratory route, are lodges and camps where tourists can view this epic instinctive spectacle. At the Maasai Mara, the camps are, Governors II Moran Tented Camp, Governor’s Main Camp, Little Governor’s Camp and Bataluer camp. Serengeti has lodges like Faru Faru River and Sasakwa Hill Lodges. The camps there are Sabora Plains Tented Camp, Grumeti River Camp, Migration Camp and Kirawira Camp.

When November is about to end, the migration moves towards the Southern Serengeti. The next cycle of migration will begin once again the following year. Lets just be cautious and say that there are no specific day by which you will be able to witness the crossing of the Mara river. The best bet would be for you to be there even before the migration starts! For those that wish to fly to the Masai Mara, they can do so from the Wilson Airport where many flights fly from.

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