The wildebeest migration is one of the must-sees on any Kenya or Tanzania safari. However, you need to plan when to visit and where....

The Serengeti–Mara ecosystem is the region trampled by the annual migration of the big grazers of the African plains. Especially vast herds of wildebeest and zebra. The animals move according to the dictates of the seasonal rains. And untroubled by land-ownership or boundaries. Their territory centres on the Serengeti National Park  in Tanzania and the Masai Mara in Kenya. This territory extends into buffer zones outside the parks where wild animals co-exist alongside the local Masai and their cattle.

The great migration is constant

Talk of 'peak season' and 'high season' gives the impression that there must also be an 'off-season' for the wildebeest migration. This impression is reinforced by the fact that many camps close during the long rains. But the migration is a constant pattern of movement.

The cycle of life begins in the sweet grass plains in the southern part of the Serengeti. This is where animals give birth between December and March and the plains teem with game and well-fed predators. But as the dry season approaches, the herds must move north in search of water and better grazing. Between July and August many of them make the dangerous river crossings over the Grumeti and Mara rivers into the fresh green grasses of the Masai Mara. From August to October the greatest concentrations of animals are in the Masai Mara before starting to return southwards back into the Serengeti of Tanzania.