When to See the Great Migration

The first thing I try to tell guests about the Great Migration is that it is not an event. It is not a day or a week or a place on a map. It is a year-long rhythm, carried out by something like 1.5 million wildebeest and several hundred thousand zebra and gazelle, who spend their entire lives walking a vast figure-of-eight around the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. That rhythm is set by the rain, which is set by the grass, which is set by the ancient soils of the southern Serengeti. Understand those soils and you understand the migration.

Guests sometimes ask when the migration "arrives" in the Mara. What I usually say is: it never really leaves. The bulk of it, yes, has spent six months in the southern Serengeti. But an advance guard is almost always up near the Mara River, and some wildebeest never migrate at all. So the real question is not "is it here?" but "which part of the cycle do I want to see?" Here is how I think about the year.

January to March — the short-grass plains

This is, for me, the quiet masterpiece of the calendar. The wildebeest are down in the southern Serengeti, on the short-grass plains of Ndutu, the Gol kopjes and the Salei. The grass here is rich in calcium from volcanic ash blown off Ol Doinyo Lengai a long time ago; it is the reason this is the only place in the ecosystem where wildebeest choose to calve. In mid-February more than 400,000 wildebeest are born inside about three weeks. Predator action is extraordinary. Cheetah hunting is some of the best anywhere in Africa. Photographs you take here will stand up in any portfolio.

The Mara, in these months, is quiet. The public reserve is still excellent; the private conservancies are particularly beautiful; and if you have been before and want the Mara without the July crowds, this is the time.

April and May — the long rains

The long rains come. The herds leave the short-grass plains and move north-west into the central Serengeti. Camps close, tracks flood, the light is often spectacular and sometimes impossible. Few safari companies run trips during these months; we run them for photographers and for guests who want something other than the classical dry-season experience. It is cheaper, quieter and in many ways more beautiful, but you must accept that the days do not always behave.

June — the grasslands of the Western Corridor

By early June the herds are in the western Serengeti, moving toward the Grumeti River. The Grumeti crossings are earlier, quieter and in some ways more dramatic than the famous Mara crossings, and the country is astonishing. Worth thinking about if you have already done the Mara and want something different.

July and August — the Mara River crossings

This is what the postcards are about, and they are not wrong. From late July to early October, depending on the rain, the leading edge of the migration reaches the Mara River at the Kenya-Tanzania border. They mill on the banks, sometimes for a day, sometimes for a week, and then they cross — thousands at a time, in a narrow channel, with crocodiles waiting at the bottom. It is one of the genuinely great wildlife spectacles on earth. We do see the bulk of it from Seringet Mara Camp and from our Mobile Camp when it is pitched in the Mara during this period.

The migration is not an event. It is a year-long rhythm carried out by 1.5 million wildebeest who spend their entire lives walking a vast figure-of-eight around the ecosystem.

September and October — the Mara in full

For many guests, this is the ideal window. The big crossings continue through September. The Mara is full of wildebeest and zebra. Predator action is non-stop. The weather is dry and cool. If there is a single month in which to see the greatest number of famous species in the greatest number, it is probably September. It is also our busiest month, so our Mobile Camp books out twelve months ahead for these dates.

November — the short rains and the turnaround

The short rains arrive, which the wildebeest can smell a long way off. The herds begin to move south again, through the Lobo region of the northern Serengeti and back toward the short-grass plains. November is an overlooked month: green landscapes, beautiful light, fewer vehicles, excellent resident wildlife, and the migration still accessible in small parts.

December — back to the short-grass plains

By December the leading herds are back in the southern Serengeti, feeding up before the calving. The cycle, which never stopped, is visible again. And if you are out there in mid-December there is a particular pleasure to standing on one of the old kopjes at Ndutu, watching the first wildebeest walk past the rock you walked past six months ago, and realising that the story has no beginning and no end.

So — when should you go?

Here is how I answer that, when a guest asks me. First time, and wildebeest crossings matter to you: August or September. First time, and you want the quietest possible experience for the money: February in Ndutu. Returning and want something unfamiliar: June in the Western Corridor, or November anywhere. Photographer: February. Family with small children: any of the above, but we'll build the days around them.

Whatever month you choose — and whichever part of the cycle — I would argue strongly for staying long enough to watch the migration, not chase it. Three or four days in one good camp beats seven one-night hops. That is true of safari in general, and doubly true here.