THE WILDEBEEST MIGRATION
Each year Tanzania’s Serengeti and Kenya’s Masai Mara play host to the world’s greatest natural spectacle, the Great Wildebeest Migration. Between the open plains of the Serengeti and the Masai Mara, thousands of wildebeest and zebra migrate to greener pastures as the seasons change and the circle of life and death continues. Predators follow the Wildebeest Migration closely, waiting for an opportunity to strike as the great herds traverse across their different territories.
There is no real beginning or end to a Wildebeest’s journey, life is an endless pilgrimage, a constant search for food and water. During the calving season (usually between late January to early March) large herds amass in the Southern Serengeti. Their young attracting the ever opportunistic predators.
The precise timing of the Wildebeest Migration changes annually and it is a very unpredictable and spontaneous natural event. Usually by April, May the short grass plains of the Southern Serengeti are unable to sustain the vast herds and so the Migration begins sweeping North and West towards the Serengeti’s Western Corridor where there is an abundance of food in the long grass plains and woodland. By the end of May the great Wildebeest herds have decimated the grassy plains and so must move further north in search of better grazing. By July the promise of rain and fresh life giving grass in the north brings more than 1.3 million Wildebeest together into a single massive herd. They pour across the border into the Masai Mara, making a spectacular entrance in a surging column of life that stretches from horizon to horizon.
The best time to see the migration is usually between June and August when the wildebeest congregate and prepare to cross the famous Mara River. The great herds remain in the Masai Mara until the arrival of the short rains in November when once again they make their way back to the replenished grassy plains of the Southern Serengeti where once again they will feed and calf before beginning their amazing journey once again.
We at Africa Uncovered, believe that the Great Wildebeest Migration is a true natural wonder and sure to leave an ever lasting impression on those that bear witness to this amazing event. There are also some excellent safari camps from which to base one’s self whilst observing The Great Wildebeest Migration. The Serengeti Safari Camp in the Serengeti, Tanzania and Little Governors Camp in the Masai Mara are Africa Uncovered’s highly recommended Safari camps for viewing the Wildebeest Migration.
