Imagine hundreds and thousands of wild beests, gazelles, zebras, buffalos moving across rolling grasslands and acacia savannah. This is the spectacular, breath-taking phenomenon of Africa’s most popular mass migration game reserves: Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya and Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. In this region, wildlife roams free, for calving, in search of grazing land and water.
December - March: Most wild beasts are in Southern Serengeti. This is where the march begins. As winter approaches and the grass starts to dry out, the vast, family herds of Wildebeest, scattered over the sweeping grass plains of the Serengeti, join into bigger herds, all moving north towards the Mara, driven by the prospect of sweet, young grass from the impending rains there This is the time when the wildebeest’s reproduce. This also results in predators hunting for their food. So you get to see your share of daily sightings of lions, hyenas and cheetahs and at times the elusive leopard.
April - May: AS they move on other animals join the migration. The animals start tiring out , injury and fatigue result in high mortality rates of the migrant population. Now a large numbers of griffon vultures follow the herds on their journey. Eventually, this massive column of animals reaches the Grumeti River, only to be butchered by hungry crocodile as they plunge into the waters to reach greener pastures.
June- June: Following the rainfalls, the migration moves north before crossing the Kenyan border into the Maasai Mara. It is here that the Mara river crocodiles have a feast. Videos repeatedly shown on national geographic and discovery have captured the scenes really well.
November: The army of animals returns southward to the replenished grasslands of the southern Serengeti, thereby completing the migratory cycle.
As local conditions of drought and rainfall influences grass growth, the timing’s of the mass migration may also change. Nevertheless, this huge congregation of animals breaks up into large herds, and these herds cross the river at different times, and different places so you are not likely to miss out on the action, when to go for the event. In addition the resident wildlife of these wildlife parks is also amazing.
Become a witness to this sea of animals, spread out from horizon to horizon, the experience will be unforgettable.
